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August 1989

Reasons for not working: poor and nonpoor householders

Mark S. Littman

Compared with their nonpoor counterparts in 1986, poor male householders were more likely to cite inability to find full-year work, illness, or disability as reasons for working part year or not working, and poor female householders with young children were more likely to indicate family responsibilities. This article compares the work experience of poor and nonpoor households between 1959 and 1986.

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