Gorbachev and Economic Reform in the Soviet Union

Abstract

Two factors have rendered aggregate economic growth a weakened weapon against poverty in the modern U.S. economy. First, the increase in the national rate of divorce has increased the proportion of the population that lives in households that are headed by women, a group that has historically benefited less from aggregate economic activity as evidenced by the group's comparatively high poverty rates. Second, the relative shift in the sectoral composition of economic growth from manufacturing to private services yields jobs that are more often lower-paying, part-time, and intermittent positions, and consequently less helpful at remedying poverty.