JOB ACCESSIBILITY AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mass transit promoters in Atlanta suggested that inner city underemployment could be reduced by improving the accessibility of workers to jobs. In Atlanta, the distribution of underemployment, measured by income below the poverty line or less than full-time employment, is better explained by skill levels, discrimination, and socioeconomic circumstance than by accessibility to jobs. At every level of accessibility underemployment is worst among female heads of families, mostly black, poorly educated, with several children. Underemployment could better be tackled through job training, placement, and child care programs than through new transit development programs.