7.4b Structural Explanations

Structural explanations of poverty emphasize how the economy and the organization of work limit or expand individual choices, which influence poverty rates by affecting the options available to an individual. For example, how employers schedule employees who work shifts is a structural factor influencing poverty.

About one in five workers (19%) are given their work schedule only a few days in advance (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019) by employers who use just-in-time scheduling as a means of saving labor costs. Such unpredictable changes to or cancellations of their shifts leave workers unable to predict their earnings, leading to more challenges, such as budgeting for housing.

In a study of 30,000 workers from 120 large retail and food-service companies, scholars found that just-in-time and unpredictable scheduling increased material hardship (Schneider & Harknett, 2019). Workers who received 0-2 days’ notice of their schedule, had canceled shifts, or both were more likely to experience hunger and housing insecurity as a result (Schneider & Harknett, 2019). Moreover, low-wage workers are significantly harmed by just-in-time scheduling because many social safety net programs, such as SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), require individuals to work a minimum number of hours per week to receive benefits (Guyot & Reeves, 2020).

Photo 7.11

Employees with Unpredictable Schedules More Often Experience Hunger and Housing Insecurity