Abstract
We explore the implications of hours demand constraints on the propensity to experience poverty. Our analysis of British data suggests that whilst the extent of poverty increased over the period 1985–2001, its intensity, under some measures, declined. In terms of hours constraints, we find that even the most generous elimination of underemployment vis allowing workers to supply as many hours as they prefer (but not as few) without encountering any negative employment and/or hourly wage implications, leaves the poverty rate and poverty gap virtually unchanged.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to two anonymous referees for valuable comments. We are also grateful to the Social and Community Planning Research and the Data Archive at the University of Essex for collecting and supplying the British Social Attitudes Surveys of 1985, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. We are also grateful to Professor Stephen Pudney for valuable advice. The normal disclaimer applies.
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Brown, S., Sessions, J.G. & Watson, D. The contribution of hour constraints to working poverty in Britain. J Popul Econ 20, 445–463 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-006-0086-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-006-0086-7