Earlier quantitative entrepreneurial studies with a focus on poverty rate has centred their arguments and analyses entirely on income differences which has resulted in a high poverty rate among self-employed. Their results shows that variables such as age, gender, hours of labour and structure of the household significantly affect the poverty rate among self-employed. In this study we aim the focus on material living standards instead of income differences, thus using a more representative approach while studying entrepreneurial poverty. The purpose of the study was to examine how personality traits (big five) affect the material living standards among the self-employed in Sweden, using a group of employed as a control group. Variables earlier known to affect the poverty risk among self-employed where used as control variables together with education and household income. With this new aspect on entrepreneurial research, we found that four out of five personality traits affect the material living standard among self-employed. Two out of the five personality traits, openness and extraversion, where found uniquely on self-employed. Among the control variables only gender and household income seemed to affect the material living standard, thus excluding the effect of age, hours of labour, education and household structure. This indicates that personality traits should be considered using while studying poverty among the self-employed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2010. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 106 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-94).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr.Gregory Thompson, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2005) Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 104 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Recent empirical evidence reveals that, in many countries, there is a growing group of workers having jobs but struggling to make ends meet: they are the "working poors”: many of them are women. This dissertation examines gendered in-work poverty by considering two processes - decommodification and defamilialization - to explore how the female working poors groups locate in the labour market and welfare institutions. Decommodification refers to the level of workers’ economic independency produced by the social protection system. Defamilialization raises the issue of dependency and independency of women both in the family and on the labor market. A third process is also taken into consideration: gendered employment segregation. The analytical framework is thus three-dimensional.From a methodological perspective, the research roots in the tradition of international comparative analysis incorporating both quantitative and qualitative data. Statistical data about Belgium come mainly from Eurostat – Labour Force Surveys statistics (LFS) and Income and living conditions (SILC), and, for China, the data mainly come from The National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC) and the Chinese general social survey (CGSS).The comparison of the cases of Belgium and China and, more specifically, the analysis of gendered in-work poverty in China, allows the identification of different processes leading to in-work poverty. Two distinct forms of female in-work poverty are described and discussed. The dissertation also addresses broader insights, including the importance of the conceptualizing “in-work poverty” in social policy debates, the analysis of the relationships between women’s economic independence and social security, the links between women’s family obligations and state-level care provisions, the role of gender employment segregation in shaping women’s status in the occupational hierarchy and the cultural construction of gender ideologies and stereotypes. The findings suggest that work-based welfare, power and “economically conditioned” status disqualification, together shape the gendered trends in-work poverty. Due to the cross-national differences in requirements, systems, and cultural constraints in access to economic and social activities, variations within above mentioned three dimensions de facto leave considerable space for the pluralistic development of gendered in-work poverty. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The purpose of this study was to expand our understanding of the utility of identification in the reduction of out-group derogation. Specifically, this research examined the extent to which individuals can be persuaded to identify with members of a perceived out-group, particularly through the use of online games. Spent is an online, point-and-click game that places users in the role of the working poor. Spent was used to test the potential of serious or prosocial games to increase players’ identification with a group of people who are often on the fringes of social acceptance. Specifically, this research (a) developed a new measurement of cause identification, the Identification with Perceived Out-Group Scale (IPOGS), (b) tested the validity and reliability of the IPOGS, and (c) examined the change in identification with America’s poor after playing the online game Spent. Following a pilot test of the Identification with Perceived Out-Group Scale, 55 young adults (ages 18-35) were recruited to participate in a quasi-experiment. Initially, participants completed the IPOGS and then played the online game Spent. Upon completion of the game, participants took the IPOGS again. Participants were also asked questions about their game play experience and basic demographic information. Results indicate that individuals who had lower levels of identification with America's poor had significantly higher levels of identification after playing the online game. The increase in identification was evidenced in a greater perception of common interests and values, greater affective attachment, and greater willingness to interact with the working poor after playing Spent. These findings suggest that nonprofit organizations may find online gaming beneficial when trying to cultivate identification with their causes, particularly among young adults.

This thesis contributes insight into the lives and injury experiences of the working poor of London, UK during the “long” eighteenth century. The distribution of fracture types within individual bodies and the larger experiences of those living and dying during this period are explored. Skeletal evidence, drawn from five London cemeteries, and historical evidence, in the form of contemporary hospital admission records and surgeons’ and physicians’ notebooks, speak in concert to reveal evidence of sex-based differences in fracture patterning and evidence for interpersonal violence. Sex-based differences in fracture patterning reveal that males and females suffered differing constellations of fractures and that the risk of fracture for males and females differed throughout the life course. Patterning of fractures in the male skeletal sample suggests that males’ lives were punctuated with episodes of interpersonal violence, supporting the historical data found in contemporary court records. Significant differences observed in the fracture frequencies in the skeletal and archival datasets indicate that not all fractures were being treated in a hospital setting. These results allow for examination of the intangible notion of human choice regarding health care in the past. The mixture of healed, healing, and perimortem fractures found in the skeletal sample allows for a relative timeline of fracture events to be reconstructed, contributing to a more comprehensive life course understanding of fractures in this group. Ultimately, the combined skeletal and archival datasets contribute to anthropological and historical studies of fractures and health care by placing the working poor at the centre of their own narrative. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (MDF (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die langtermynversekeringsindustrie het voorheen slegs finansiële produkte en dienste ontwerp, wat gefokus was op die middel tot hoër inkomstegroepe. Die armes was dus uitgesluit, primêr as gevolg van die laer inkomstegroepe wat nie lewensversekeringsprodukte kon bekostig nie. Inteendeel, arm huishoudings is, en was, meer kwesbaar vanweë die feit dat hulle geredelik blootgestel word aan meer diverse risiko’s – mensgemaakte, sowel as natuurlike risiko’s - terwyl hulle juis diegene is wat minder middele het om dit bestuur. Hierdie toedrag van sake het egter drasties verander gedurende die afgelope paar jaar. Die onderskeie partye, insluitend verteenwoordigers van die langtermynversekeringsindustrie, het konsensus bereik ten opsigte van die ontwikkeling van die Finansiële Sektor Handves wat in ooreenstemming is met die nasionale swart ekonomiese bemagtigingstrategie. Die oogmerk van die Finansiële Sektor Handves was nie net om mense in die laer inkomstegroepe te bemagtig nie. Dit het ook ten doel om finansiële insluiting te verseker, en mettertyd, die aktiewe deelname van die armes in die hoofstroom van die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie. ’n Stel toegangstandaarde was gevolglik ontwikkel en geïmplementeer, wat die langtermynversekerings-produkaanbiedinge aan LSM 1-5 reguleer (met ander woorde vir die doeleindes van hierdie verslag, huishoudings wat minder as R3 000 per maand verdien). Die doel van die standaarde wat ontleed word in hierdie verslag, is om te verseker dat die langtermynversekeringsindustrie geskikte produkte ontwerp wat die minimum standaarde soos beskryf in die Finansiële Sektor Handves, nakom. In beginsel word die toepaslikheid en geskiktheid van die toegangstandaarde in hierdie verslag geëvalueer, met die oogmerk om te bepaal wat die standaarde inhou vir beide die verbruiker asook die lewensversekeraar van ’n verslaggewingsperspektief. Die eerste deel van die toegangstandaarde wat goedgekeur is deur die Finansiële Sektor Handves in 2007, het slegs begrafnisdekking ingesluit, terwyl die tweede deel gefokus het op nie-begafnisprodukte en sedert 2008 geïmplementeer is. Laasgenoemde het die volgende dekking ingesluit: lewensversekering, dekking vir fisiese ongeskiktheid, kredietlewensversekering en gewone lewensversekering. Die toegangstandaarde wat van toepassing is op verbandlenings is egter nog nie gefinaliseer nie en is gevolglik nie ingesluit in hierdie verslag nie. ’n Fundamentele vraag ten opsigte van die daarstelling van toegangsprodukte vir die laer inkomstegroepe, is wat die rol is van die publiek vergeleke met die privaatsektor en dié van die regering. Terwyl die regering optree as die wetgewer, moet dit ook daarteen waak om nie te veel van ’n rigiede proses vir die privaatsektor daar te stel nie. Die wetgewer moet die relevante reëls en regulasies stipuleer en sekerheid verskaf ten opsigte van die inhoud daarvan. Terselfdetyd moet die wetgewer ook die privaatsektor asook `n klimaat van innovasie ondersteun, sowel as die daarstelling van ’n stabiele regulerende atmosfeer. Behalwe die ontwikkeling van geskikte, bekostigbare en minder komplekse produkte, berus die verantwoordelikheid op die privaatsektor om vertroue te skep in die langtermynversekerings-industrie asook om die noodsaaklikheid van risiko-dekking te propageer. Versekeraars het verder nodig om die laer inkomstegroepe as ’n winsgewende segment te beskou, terwyl die armes versekering as ’n noodsaaklike vereiste moet beskou. Hoe meer vertroue geskep word deur die versekeringsindustrie, hoe minder sal mense in die laer inkomstegroepe hul geld belê in die informele sektor wat gekenmerk word deur die afwesigheid van regulering, minder sekuriteit en hoër risikos. Dit is verder noodsaaklik vir die sukses van die verskaffing van toegang tot finansiële produkte, om in gedagte te hou watter impak dit op die verbuiker sal hê. Met betrekking tot die produkte wat ontwikkel en bemark word deur die lewensversekeringsindustrie: spreek dit werklik die behoeftes van die laer inkomstegroepe aan en dra dit positief by tot transformasie? Die privaatsektor is as gevolg daarvan grotendeels afhanklik van marknavorsing en analises oor verbuikerstendense gemeet oor tyd. Die impak wat finansiële produkaanbiedinge het op die laer inkomstegroepe, kan gevolglik nie onafhanklik beskou word nie want die behoeftes, verwagtinge en profiel van die onderste deel van die piramide sal met verloop van tyd verander. Mededinging dra as sulks ook positief by tot die daarstelling van toegang tot finansiële produkte en dienste. Dit dwing die privaatsektor (die lewensversekeringsmaatskappye) om vorendag te kom met innoverende wyses om effektiewe toegangsprodukte en dienste te kan lewer aan die armes. Die bring mee dat die verbruiker waarde vir geld kry wanneer finansiële produkte en dienste aangekoop word van lewensversekeraars. Met verwysing na die toepaslikheid van die langtermynversekeringsindustrie se toegangstandaarde en of dit die behoeftes van die armes bevredig: die lewensversekeringsindustrie het inderdaad baie bereik gedurende die afgelope paar jaar, deurdat konstruktiewe geleenthede geskep is vir die laer inkomstemark. Gegewe die minimum-vereistes soos uiteengesit in die Finansiële Sektor Handves, kan die armes nou ook langtermynversekeringsprodukte bekom wat uitdagings soos fisiese beskikbaarheid, toegang tot transaksies, bekostigbaarheid, diskriminasie en kompleksitiet aanspreek. Dit is daarom noodsaaklik vir die doeleindes van effektiewe finansiële insluiting, om vir verbruikersopleiding ook voorsiening te kan maak. Finansiële geletterdheid sal in beginsel die laer inkomstegroepe in staat stel om hulself te kan bemagtig en terselfdertyd die teikengroep in staat stel om meer ingeligte besluite te kan neem ten opsigte van hul finansies. Laasgenoemde kan egter nie in isolasie geskied nie. Finansiële geletterheid en dus verbruikersopleiding, is minstens net so belangrik. Dit is juis daarom dat, bo en behalwe die regering wat die rol as wetgewer vertolk deur die toepassing van die reg, al die betrokke partye veronderstel is om ’n gemeenskaplike oogmerk te hê. Met ander woorde, dit verwys direk na transformasie en die doelwit om mense in die laer inkomstegroepe te bemagtig – nie net om finansiële insluiting te bewerkstelling nie, maar van meer belang, om te verseker dat die armes oor die vermoë beskik om meer ingeligte besluite te kan neem oor hul finansies. Hierdie aspek sal veral bydra tot effektiewe toegang tot finansële dienste in die ware sin van die woord - as die armes ’toegelaat’ word om meer aktief deel te kan vorm van die hoofstroom van die land se ekonomie. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Previously, the long-term insurance industry only developed financial products and services that were mainly targeted at the middle to high income groups. The poor have thus been excluded, primarily due to them not being able to afford financial products and services offered by life insurers. However, poor households are, and have been, more vulnerable because they are often exposed to more diverse risks, both ‘man- made’ and natural, whilst having fewer instruments to manage them. This state of affairs has drastically changed during the past couple of years. The respective stakeholders, including representatives from the long-term insurance industry, reached consensus with regards to the development of the Financial Sector Charter which is aligned to the national black economic empowerment strategy. The objective of the Financial Sector Charter is not only to empower people in the lower income groups. It also aims to ensure financial inclusion and, eventually, the active participation of the poor in the mainstream of the South African economy. A set of access standards that governs life insurance products and services offered to LSM 1-5 (i.e. for the purposes of this report, households earning less than R3 000 per month), were developed and implemented accordingly. The objective of the access standards, analysed in this report, is to ensure that the long term insurance industry develops appropriate products that meet the minimum standards defined in the Charter. In principle, this report evaluates the feasibility of the access standards with the aim of ascertaining what the standards imply for both the consumer as well as the life insurer from a reporting perspective. The first set of access standards, approved by the Financial Sector Charter in 2007, included funeral products only, whereas the second phase, which focused on nonfuneral products, came into effect in 2008. The latter is applicable to the following financial products: life cover, physical impairment cover and credit life cover. The access products standards relevant to mortgage protection are not yet finalised and have therefore been excluded from this report. A fundamental question in terms of providing access to the low income groups is the role of the public versus private sector delivery as well as that of government. Whilst government acts as the lawmaker, it also needs to be sensitive towards not creating too much ‘red tape’ for the private sector to comply with. The regulator should therefore stipulate and clarify the relevant rules and regulations, but at the same time support the private sector and encourage a climate of innovation as well as creating a stable regulatory environment. Apart from developing appropriate, affordable and less complex insurance products, the private sector’s responsibility is to create trust in the insurance industry as well as to promote the need for risk insurance. Insurers thus need to see low income earners as a profitable segment, whereas poor people need to see insurance as a necessity. The more trust is created by the insurance sector, fewer people in the low income groups will invest their money in the informal sector which entails no regulation, less security and higher risks. It is furthermore pivotal for the success of access to financial services to take into account how this will impact on the consumer. With respect to the products developed and marketed by the life insurance industry: does it really meet the needs of the poor and does it contribute positively to transformation? The private sector is therefore heavily dependent on research and analyses of consumer trends measured over time. As a result, the impact that financial product offerings have on the low income earners cannot be dealt with on its own, because as time passes so will the needs, expectations and profile of the bottom of the pyramid change. On its own, competition tends to also contribute positively towards access to financial services. It forces the private sector (i.e. life insurance companies) to come up with innovative ways of providing effective access, products and services to the poor. This ensures that the end user gets value for money, when procuring financial products and /or services from life insurers. In respect of the viability of the long-term insurance industry’s access standards and whether or not it speaks to the needs of the poor: the life industry has indeed achieved a lot over the past couple of years, by creating constructive opportunities for the lower end of the market. Given the minimum requirements as per the Financial Sector Charter, poor people can now also obtain long-term insurance products that address challenges with regards to physical accessibility, transactional access, affordability, non-discrimination and the level of complexity. However, more important for the low income group to participate effectively in the mainstream of the South African economy, is the fact that the need for financial literacy is even bigger. It is one thing to have the right of entry (i.e. access) to the financial services sector in terms of life insurance product offerings, but it is different if that same target audience does not have the ‘know-how’ to use and implement the products developed. It is hence an imperative for the purposes of effective financial inclusion to also make provision for consumer education. In principle, financial literacy will enable the lower income groups to become more empowered and at the same time, ensure that the target audience is equipped to make more informed decisions about the finances. Given the latter, it can however not happen in isolation. Financial literacy and thus consumer education, is equally important - if not more. It is therefore critical that, apart from government fulfilling its role as regulator by upholding the rule of law, all the stakeholders should have a universal goal. In other words, this directly addresses transformation and the objective of empowering people in the lower income groups – i.e. not only to ensure financial inclusion, but more importantly to enable poor people to make more informed decisions about their finances. And only this will contribute to effective transformation in the true sense of the word - if poor people are ‘allowed’ to become more actively involved in the mainstream of the South African economy.

Esta Tese tem como questão central o processo de transformações recentes das periferias urbanas da metrópole de São Paulo, no contexto do mundo do trabalho (políticas neo-liberais pós anos 70). Com base neste questionamento, realizou-se uma pesquisa sobre a estruturação da indústria da reciclagem, enquanto objeto plenamente implicado pela questão inicialmente posta. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida a partir de três premissas. A primeira diz respeito ao processo de formação da periferia urbana, bem como de suas transformações recentes, tendo como fundamento as determinações do mundo do trabalho. A segunda premissa se refere às formas de inserção dos trabalhadores pobres urbanos no processo de industrialização-urbanização. Parte-se do pressuposto de que o urbano sempre ocupou contigentes de trabalhadores pobres não inseridos em atividades formais. Trata-se, nesta pesquisa, de compreender os termos pelos quais, no contexto da urbanização crítica (Damiani), a indústria da reciclagem se ergue arregimentando milhares de catadores, na condição de trabalhadores sobrantes. A terceira premissa se remete ao fortalecimento do Terceiro Setor, enquanto parte constitutiva do Estado em reforma, cujo fundamento se encontra no contexto das políticas neo-liberais, pós anos 70. Com base nestes fundamentos, a pesquisa foi realizada de acordo com os Níveis e Dimensões do urbano (Henri Lefebvre, 1999) correspondentes aos níveis do real. Por sua vez, privilegiou-se o Nível Misto, propriamente urbano. Enfatiza-se a (re)inserção produtiva de trabalhadores sobrantes nas atividades inscritas no urbano periférico, noção desenvolvida no escopo da Tese. Neste contexto, as periferias urbanas constituem territórios da base desta indústria, inclusive como frentes de formação de capital. Caracterizam-se, neste sentido, como territórios de expropriação, ou ainda, como território de escassez da riqueza produzida. / The central question of this thesis is the transformation process of the recent urban peripheries in the city of São Paulo, concerning to the world of work (neoliberal policies after 70s). Based on this question, was held a search on the structuring of the recycling industry, while object fully involved in the issue originally called. The research was conducted from three premises. The first concerns the formation of the urban periphery, as well as its recent changes, with the plea determinations of the world of work. The second premise refers to integration forms of poor urban workers in the process of industrialization-urbanization. It is assumed that the city always held contingent of working poor not entered into formal activities. It is, in this research, to understand the terms by which, in the context of urbanization critical (Damiani), the recycling industry is built recruit thousands of cart-pullers on the condition of spare-workers. The third premise is referring to the strengthening of the Third Sector as a constituent part of the reforming State, whose foundation is in the context of neo-liberal policies, post 70s. Based on these reasons, the search was carried out according to the Levels and Dimensions of Urban (Henri Lefebvre, 1999) corresponding to the levels of reality. In turn, the emphasis is the Mixed Level, as a proper urban. We emphasize the productive (re) integration of spare-workers in the activities shown in the peripheral urban, developed concept within the scope of the thesis. In this context, the outskirts of urban areas are underpinned this industry, including as fronts for capital formation. They are characterized, in this sense, as areas of expropriation or, as territory of the shortage of wealth.

The major goal of this study is to test the direction and strength of the relations of low-income single mothers’ depressive symptoms to their employment and income experiences over a time period following major welfare policy changes in the U.S. (2001 to 2003). The Panel Study of Income Dynamics provided data on 623 low-income, single mothers. The economic characteristics studied were: employment status, hours of work, wages, earnings, a job’s provision of personal control, family income, and welfare receipt. The mental health measure was the K-6 Non-Specific Psychological Distress Scale. The study adds to our understanding of the temporal relations between employment experiences and mental health by testing the social causation, social selection, and interactionist (bidirectional) perspectives. Specifically, this study tested the different perspectives with a wide range of economic indicators, tested mechanisms that may link mental and economic well-being, and combined multiple employment factors to see if patterns emerged that related uniquely to psychological distress. The findings supported social selection as earlier psychological distress predicted future employment, hours, wages, earnings, household income, and welfare receipt. The tested mediator of days of lost work affected by psychological distress indicated an indirect effect of poor mental health predicting diminished job productivity that, in turn, predicted reduced employment, hours, wages, and earnings. Results were similar for subgroups of mothers based on the age of their youngest child or prior welfare history. The single significant finding was that a longer span of welfare receipt predicted worse mental health as compared to mothers who reported a shorter period of welfare receipt. Latent class analysis identified three patterns of employment and welfare receipt across time: a) exchanged earnings for welfare, b) high employment and earnings growth with reduced welfare, and c) moderate employment growth. The groups that exchanged earnings for welfare (about 10% of the sample) evidenced increased psychological distress compared to mothers with high or moderate employment growth. Support for the social selection hypothesis suggests that policies and interventions that help low-income mothers improve their psychological well-being could also enhance their economic well-being. Implications for future research could explore the effects of such policies. / text

This thesis focused on the consequences of remittance inflows in developing countries. The first partexplored the causal impacts of remittances on some indicators of aggregate welfare while the secondpart examined the effects of remittances on public policy. Several results emerged. First, remittanceinflows help reduce the proportion of individuals selling low wages and this effect is stronger in acontext of low level of financial development, high macroeconomic instability and less unpredictableremittances (Chapter 1). Second, remittances have a robust stabilizing impact on the privateconsumption. However, this effect tends to decrease with the levels of remittance inflows and financialdevelopment. Moreover, remittance-dependent economies seem to be strongly sheltered against thedamaging effects of various types of shocks affecting consumption (Chapter 2). In Chapter 3, theresults highlighted that remittance inflows dampen the positive effect of natural disasters on the outputgrowth volatility. However, this impact was strongly reduced as the level of remittances increased.The second part of the thesis revealed interesting results regarding the effects of remittance inflows onpublic policy. First, remittance inflows reduce the insurance role played by the governmentconsumption in more open economies and this effect is more likely to hold when remittances exhibit acountercyclical behavior (Chapter 4). In Chapter 5, the results showed that the fiscal retrenchmentinduced by remittance inflows, is particularly marked for the public education and health spending incountries characterized by various types of governance problems. Finally, the thesis showed that theeffects of remittances do not only concern the expenditure side but also the revenue side. Remittancesare more likely to increase the fiscal space in receiving economies that rely on the value added taxsystem. In these countries, remittance inflows help increase both the level and the stability of thegovernment tax revenue ratio (Chapter 6).