Poverty isn't a static condition. New research is showing how unstable life is for many low-income families. For them, poverty is a roller coaster, marked by uncertain and irregular employment, erratic work schedules, fluctuating public benefits, shifting household composition, frequent housing moves, and other changes that undermine not only their precarious finances but also, evidence suggests, the health and well-being of their children.
The September 2017 issue of the Social Service Review focuses on the problem of economic instability, its consequences for low-income families, and its implications for public policy. The researchers shine a light on the everyday struggles of families as they try to feed themselves with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits that run out before the end of the month and struggle to arrange child care that fits irregular and unpredictable work schedules. Finally, they take stock of ways in which public policy and the social safety net both alleviate and worsen instability, and how they might do better.
By devoting an entire issue to economic instability the SSR hopes to draw attention to an aspect of poverty that researchers say has been overlooked and underappreciated. “We think a lot about how people don’t have enough,” said Marybeth Mattingly, Director of Research on Vulnerable Families at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy and one of the issue’s guest editors. “We don’t know a lot about how that fluctuates over time.”