abstract: 'Policy debates about whether wages and benefits from work provide enough

  resources to achieve economic self-sufficiency rely on data for workers,

  not working families. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we

  find that almost two-thirds of families working full time earn enough to

  cover a basic family budget, but that less than a quarter of low-income

  families do. A typical low-income full-time working family with wages

  below a family budget would need to earn about \$11.00 more per hour to

  cover expenses. This wage gap is larger for black, Hispanic, and

  immigrant families. Receipt of employer-provided benefits varieshealth

  insurance is more prevalent than pension plans-and both are less

  available to low-income families, and black, Hispanic, and immigrant

  working families. Findings suggest that without policies to decrease

  wage inequality and increase parents'' access to jobs with higher wages

  and benefits, child opportunity gaps by income, race--ethnicity, and

  nativity will likely persist.'
affiliation: 'Joshi, P (Corresponding Author), Brandeis Univ, Heller Sch Social Policy
  \& Management, 415 South St, Waltham, MA 02453 USA.

  Joshi, Pamela; Walters, Abigail N.; Noelke, Clemens; Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores, Brandeis
  Univ, Human Dev \& Social Policy, Heller Sch Social Policy \& Management, Waltham,
  MA 02453 USA.'
author: Joshi, Pamela and Walters, Abigail N. and Noelke, Clemens and Acevedo-Garcia,
  Dolores
author-email: pamjoshi@brandeis.edu
author_list:
- family: Joshi
  given: Pamela
- family: Walters
  given: Abigail N.
- family: Noelke
  given: Clemens
- family: Acevedo-Garcia
  given: Dolores
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.5.04
eissn: 2377-8261
files: []
issn: 2377-8253
journal: RSF-THE RUSSELL SAGE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
keywords: wages; self-sufficiency; race-ethnicity; nativity; low-income
keywords-plus: CHILD-CARE; EMPLOYMENT; WELFARE; WORK
language: English
month: AUG
number: '5'
number-of-cited-references: '75'
pages: 67-95
papis_id: 86850f8c337dbc2e5cca5b9cf854c040
ref: Joshi2022familiesjob
times-cited: '6'
title: 'Families'' Job Characteristics and Economic Self-Sufficiency: Differences
  by Income, Race-Ethnicity, and Nativity'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000841670600004
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '7'
volume: '8'
web-of-science-categories: Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
year: '2022'