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A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF JOBLESSNESS ON POVERTY, ETC.

William Julius Wilson (born 1935) is an African-American sociologist, who worked at the University of Chicago (1972-1996) before moving to Harvard. He is also the author of important books such as ' The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy.'

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1996 book, “For the first time in the twentieth century most adults in many inner-city neighborhoods are not working in a typical week. The disappearance of work has adversely affected not only individuals, families, and neighborhoods, but the social life of a city at large as well� The consequences of high neighborhood joblessness are more devastating than those of high neighborhood poverty. A neighborhood in which people are poor but employed is different from one in which people are poor and jobless. Many of today’s problems in the inner-city ghetto neighborhoods---crime, family dissolution, welfare, low levels of social organization, and so on---are fundamentally a consequence of the disappearance of work.� (Pg. xiii)

He adds, “This book attempts to demonstrate that social structural factors are important for understanding joblessness and other experiences of the inner-city poor, but that there is much these factors do not explain. Although race is clearly an important variable in the social outcomes of inner-city blacks, much ambiguity remains about the meaning and significance of race in certain situations. Cultural factors do play a role� Social psychological variables � must be integrated� We need a broader vision that includes ALL of the major variables and� reveals their relative significance and their interaction in determining the experiences and life chanced of inner-city residents.� (Pg. xiv)

He continues, “The tendency of some liberals to deny the existence of culturally destructive behavior and attitudes in the inner city is once again to diminish the importance of the environment in determining the outcomes and life chances of individuals. The environment embodies both structural and cultural constraints and opportunities� This book also emphasizes that the disappearance of work and the growth of related problems in the ghetto have aggravated an already tense racial situation in urban areas.� (Pg. xviii-xix) He outlines, “I have in mind a vision that promotes values of racial and intergroup harmony and unity and rejects the commonly held view that race is so divisive that whites, blacks, Latinos, and other ethnic groups cannot work together in a common cause� I believe that this vision, supported by a public rhetoric of interracial unity, is essential to address the problems discussed in this book.� (Pg. xxi-xxii)

He states, “ghetto-related behaviors often represent particular cultural adaptations to the systematic blockage of opportunities in the environment of the inner city and the society as a whole. These adaptations are reflected in habits, skills, styles, and attitudes that are shaped over time.� (Pg. 72)

He notes, “There are many factors involved in the precipitous decline in marriage rates and the sharp rise in single-parent families. The explanation most often heard in the public debate associates the increase of out-of-wedlock births and single-parent families with welfare� However, the SCIENTIFIC evidence offers little support for the claim that AFDC benefits play a significant role in promoting out-of-wedlock births�. There is no evidence to suggest that welfare is a major factor in the rise of childbearing outside marriage.� (Pg. 94)

He observes, “Affirmative action policies, however, did not really open up broad avenues of upward mobility for the masses of disadvantaged blacks� they provided opportunities for those individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds with the greatest educational and social resources. A careful analysis of data on income, employment, and educational attainment would probably reveal that only a few individuals who reside in the inner-city ghetto have benefited from affirmative action.� (Pg. 197)

He continues, “The major distinguishing characteristic or affirmative action based on need is the recognition that the problems of the disadvantaged---low income, poor education, cultural and linguistic differences---are not always clearly related to previous racial discrimination. Children who grow up in homes plagued by these disadvantages are more likely to be denied an equal chance in life because the development of their aspirations and talents is hindered by their environment, regardless of race. Minorites would benefit disproportionately from affirmative opportunity programs designed to address these disadvantages because they suffer disproportionately from the effects of such environments, but the problems of disadvantaged whites would be addressed as well.� (Pg. 198)

He suggests, “A comprehensive race-neutral initiative to address economic and social inequality should be viewed as an extension of---not a replacement for---opportunity-enhancing programs that include race-based criteria to fight social inequality. I feel that such programs should employ flexible criteria of evaluation in college admission, hiring, job promotion, and so on, and should be based on a broad definition of disadvantage that incorporates notions of both NEED and RACE.� (Pg. 205)

He concludes, “Increasing the employment base would have an enormous positive impact on the social organization of ghetto neighborhoods. As more people become employed, crime, including violent crime, and drug use will subside; families will be strengthened and welfare receipt will decline significantly; ghetto-related culture and behavior, no longer sustained and nourished by persistent joblessness, will gradually fade� The attitudes of employers toward inner-city workers will undergo change, in part because they would be dealing with job applicants who have steady work experience� The long-term solutions that I have advance would reduce the likelihood that a new generation of jobless workers would be produced from the youngsters now in school and preschool. We must break the cycle of joblessness and improve the youngsters� preparation for the new labor market in the global economy.� (Pg. 238)

This book will be of great interest to those studying the economic and sociological factors affecting inner cities.