Author’s Perspective
The article created by Damaske, Bratter, and French (2016) focuses on the households headed by single women, revealing their perspective on diversity. The authors conducted a longitude study to find out what tendencies in the framework of employment, race, and poverty among the representatives of the selected populations were observed during the decade 2000 – 2010. In general, the concept of diversity presupposes that all people are different and have various life experiences. However, professionals presuppose that particular trends can be observed in the way individuals with similar characteristics live. Thus, they manage to develop three hypotheses:
- There is an association between race and poverty, regardless of employment status across time.
- Black and Hispanic women who are not married and take care of their children themselves are more likely to experience economic issues than white single mothers.
- Employed women in 2010 are less likely to suffer from poverty than in 2001.
Development of Perspective
Due to their research, the authors managed to reveal that the number of single mothers with economic issues increased with the course of time even though racial disparities reduced significantly and were not so critical in 2010 as they used to be in 2001. It happened because poverty among white mothers increased, but Black and Hispanic people remained more likely to face this issue because the gap between these populations was critical and did not reduce.
While the first two hypotheses were supported by research, the last one was refuted. Damaske et al. (2016) proved that even employed individuals are at risk of poverty in 2010 while they were expected to have better financial conditions in 2001. All in all, professionals revealed that racial diversity was associated with disparities even among a rather limited population of single mothers.
Their perspective on diversity, Damaske et al. (2016) managed to develop when checking their hypotheses and obtaining those results that were discussed in the previous paragraph. In order to reach this target, professionals analyzed and synthesized data obtained from American Community Survey. In particular, information from 2001, 2005, and 2010 was used. However, the article started with the introduction that revealed the findings of literature review based on more than 15 high-quality sources that discuss information appropriate for the research topic.
As a result, background information was obtained, and it was possible to identify research questions that were worth discussing. The most general information regarding race, poverty, and employment in the selected population was revealed further to obtain enough data for the development of hypotheses. The research sample included millions of single-mothers but was eventually limited to a little bit more than 200,000 families, as valid information on their employment status and child’s age was needed. In addition to three major variables, attention was paid to demographic characteristics, acculturation, family composition, mother’s education, and occupation.
Mainly, the multivariate analysis was based on the identification of the likelihood of the sample’s presence in poverty. Data obtained from the survey reports were put in a table so that they could be easily compared and discussed further in the article. The percentage of the sample with particular variables in 2001, 2005, and 2010 was revealed next to each table. Thus, the authors’ perspective on diversity was developed on the basis of information identified with the help of multivariate models.
Expansion of Personal Understanding
The article prepared by Damaske et al. (2016) improved my understanding of diversity because it provided me with an opportunity to focus on a particular sample with defined features. I have already realized that diversity mainly deals with the presence of individuals with various characteristics within one group of people before reading this paper. Nevertheless, I failed to pay enough attention to the fact that diversity can influence individuals’ living conditions.
Moreover, I was impressed by the fact that this impact can alter with the course of time because this feature was not discussed previously. Thus, it was interesting for me to get to know that the effects of diversity on one group of people can differ.
I cannot say that I did not expect poverty rates to change. The thing is that I did not understand the significance of this alteration. However, the article prepared by Damaske et al. (2016) made me wonder what caused changes in diversity. In particular, I would like to understand why the third hypothesis turned out to be wrong – what affected the connection between poverty and employment.
Applications of Perspective
The authors believe that their perspective on diversity can be used to continue discussing the notion of race and its influence on vulnerable populations, in addition to women who are not married but have children. Moreover, it is possible to think of the ways issues associated with racial diversity and employment can be overcome. The perspective developed by Damaske et al. (2016) may also be used to identify at-risk populations and develop strategies to benefit them, minimalizing inequalities.
This particular article can be beneficial for the discussion of child poverty as well. In particular, the authors’ perspective on diversity encourages professionals who deal with social work practice to focus on alterations observed over the course of time to identify possible future changes and prevent adverse outcomes.
Reference
Damaske, S., Bratter, J., & French, A. (2016). Single mother families and employment, race, and poverty in changing economic times. Social Science Research, 62, 120-133.