@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Arts, Faculty of"@en, "Social Work, School of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "McCargar, Donamae A."@en ; dcterms:issued "2012-06-18T23:27:04Z"@en, "1968"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Social Work - MSW"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """This study is one of four research projects which examined the National Urban Low-Income Family Evaluation Study (NULIFE). Under the auspices of the Canada Welfare Council, NULIFE examined poverty in three urban areas of Canada. The purpose of this particular study was to examine the many factors which contribute to generational links in the poverty cycle in metropolitan areas across Canada. There is a vast range of literature and research reports available from the United States on the poverty cycle and its etiology but examination of the factors which followed a familiar pattern seem to occupy a secondary position. It is to be hoped, therefore, that this study will stimulate further enquiries in this area, as well as contribute to knowledge of poverty in Canada. Examination of the NULIFE data for generational links did not produce any radical conclusions. The research indicated that the selected variables education, occupation and welfare were pertinent to the inexorable process of poverty. They were examined in separate sections of the report from the point of view that low education, lack of job skills, and dependence on welfare are self-generating, and present the poor with barriers to economic betterment. This study theorized that these critical variables were closely interrelated. For example, education was related to lack of occupational skills, et cetera. Although it was found that the selected variables were contributors to generational links in the cycle of poverty, such conclusions could only be made tentatively, as the analysis lacked strength. It was therefore not possible to indicate causality as many other cultural determinants of poverty, such as attitudes, values, expectations et cetera, were not available to be tested."""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/42510?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "GENERATIONAL LINKS IN THE POVERTY C Y C L E An Analysis of the Signif icance of Selected Variables , Education, Occupation and Rece ipt of Publ ic Ass i s tance , Seen as Generational Links in the Low- Incom e L i fe Style. DONAMAE A. McCARGAR GILBERT J. McKAY COLIN S. SHEPPARD JANET M. WELLS Thesis Submitted in Part ial Fulf i lment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK Accepted as conforming to the standard required for the degree of Master of Social Work School of Social Work The University of Brit ish Columbia 1968 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the Un i vers i ty of Brit i sh Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study, I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission, ° Department of ^ The? University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date , /f/f In presenting this thesis in partial fu1fiIment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that tfiG Library shall make it freely available for reference and study.. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives, ; It is understood that copying or publ icat ion of t h i s t h e s i s for financial gain shall not be al1 owed without my written permission. * Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada In presenting this thesis in part i al fu 1 f i lmerrt of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives, . It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. » .' • Department of OuJft-The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date L In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Co 1umbia, I agree that the- Library shall make it freely available for reference and study,. I further agree that permission: for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes, may be granted by the Head of my : Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shal1 not be allowed withou't my wr i tten pe rrn i ss i on . Department of S > o c > U J k . The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Df'te t-v_ V , / ii ABSTRACT This study is one of four r e s e a r c h pro j e c t s which examined the National Urban Low»Income Fami ly Evaluation Study (NULIFE). Under the auspices of the Canada Wel fare Council , NULIFE examined poverty i n three urban areas of Canada. The purpose of this part icular study was to examine the many factors which contribute to generational links in the poverty cyc l e in metropolitan areas a c r o s s Canada^ There is a vast range of l i terature and research reports available f r o m the United States on the poverty cyc le and its etiology but examination of the factors which fo l lowed a famil iar pattern s e e m to occupy a secondary posit ion. It is to be hoped, there fore , that this study will stimulate further enquiries in this area, as well as contribute to knowledge of poverty in Canada. Examination of the NULIFE data for generational links did not produce any radical conclusions. The r e s e a r c h indicated that the se lected variables education, occupation and wel fare were pertinent to the inexotable p r o c e s s of poverty . They were examined in separate sections of the report f r o m the point of view that low education, lack of job skil ls , and dependence on wel fare are self ^generating, and present the poor with b a r r i e r s to e conomic betterment. This study theor ized that these cr i t i ca l variables were c l o se ly interrelated. For example, education was related to lack of occupat ionalddl ls , et ceter Although it was found that the se lec ted variables were contributors to generational links in the cyc le of poverty , such conclusions could only be made tentatively, as the analysis lacked strength. . It was there fore not poss ib le to indicate causality as many other cultural determinants of poverty , such as attitudes, values, expectations et cetera, were not available to be tested. XV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to express our appreciation to Dr. J. A . Crane, Assoc ia te P r o f e s s o r , M r . H. Kroeker , M r s . P . Tanabe, and Mr . L . Bell , Instructors , of the School of Social Work of the University of Brit ish Columbia, for their patience, understanding, and guidance during the preparation of this report . We would also l ike to thank Miss G. Starkey of the University of Brit ish Columbia Computing Center for her ass istance in the preparation of the data p r o c e s s i n g p r o g r a m m e s that were an integral part of this report . Our s incere thanks are extended to The Canadian Wel fare Council which furnished the raw data that was bas i c to this study. XV T A B L E OF CONTENTS Page Title Page i Abstract . • ii Acknowledgements . iv Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . v Tables in the Text. vii P r e f a c e to the NULIFE Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Chapter 1. Introduction Purpose o f Study. General Limitations. Reliabil ity and Validity. 1 Chapter 2. Methodology Statistical P r o c e d u r e s 6 Chapter 3. Background to Study Literature on the P o o r . Explanation of T e r m s . Concepts. . . 8 Chapter 4. Education as a Generational Factor in the Lowwlncome Li fe Style An analysis of the relationship between the independent variable, education of respondent, and the dependent variable , education of respondent 's parent to establish a connection between low educational status of respondents and parents ; and a further compar ison between low education and other factors in low s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status, such as occupation, dependence on soc ial wel fare and tendency to leave school for financial reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 vi Page Chapter 5. Occupational Status as a Generational Factor in the Low»Income Li fe Style A comparative analysis of the independent variable , the occupational leve l of the respondent, and a ser ies of dependent var iables : the respondent 's incidence of unem« ployment, the occupational level of the respondents ' parent, the educational status of the respondent, and the educational leve l of the respondent 's parent, to ascertain if a generational link exists between these fac tors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Chapter 6. Receipt of Publ ic Financial Ass i s tance as a Generational Factor in the L o w \" Income Li fe Style An examination of the relationship between the independent variable, wel fare status of parent, and such dependent variables as education, occupation and wel fare status of the respondent in an e f fort to determine the extent to which parental dependency on public f inancial ass istance af fects the l i fe style of the next generation. 52 Chapter 7. Conclusions ...'. . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Bibliography 71 vii TABLES IN THE TEXT Table 1. Size and location of samples . Table 2. Per centage compar ison between educational level of respondent and the educational leve l of the respondent 's parent, l ow« income sample . Table 3. Per centage compar i son between educational leve l of respondent and occupational c lass of respondent, l ow« income sample. Table 4. P e r centage compar ison between educational leve l of responl ent and frequency of dependency on wel fare of respondent, lowwincome sample. Table 5. Per centage compar ison between educational l eve l of respondent and respondent 's reasons for leaving school , lowwincome sample . Table 6. Per centage compar ison of samples for se lected occupational c l a s s e s . Table 7. Per centage compar ison of samples for all occupational c l a s s e s . Table 8. Incidence of unemployment by occupational c lass in the l ow» income sample. Table 9. Numerica l relationship between the occupational c lasses of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lasses of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. Table 10. P e r centage relationship between the occupational c lasses of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lasses of the respondent, l ow« income sample. Page x 21 25 28 31 36 38 40 43 44 van Page Table 11. Per centage compar ison of the occupational c lasses of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l ow« income sample. Table 12„ Per centage compar ison of the educational level of the respondent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. 46 48 Table 13. Numerical relationship between the educational l eve l of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. 50 Table 14. Per centage compar ison of the educational l eve l of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, low™ income sample .51 Table 15. Per centage compar ison of rece ipt of wel fare between respondent and respondent 's parent, l ow« income sample. 54 Table 16. Per centage compar ison of educational achievement of respondent with rece ipt of wel fare by respondent 's parent, l o w « i n c o m e sample. 57 Table 17. Per centage compar i son of respondents who did and did not complete high school in relation to rece ipt of wel fare by respondents ' parents, l o w « i n c o m e sample. 59 Table 18. Per centage compar ison of occupational status of respondent with rece ipt of wel fare by respondent 's parent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. 61 Table 19. Per centage compar ison of sex of respondent with rece ipt of wel fare by respondent, l o w -income sample and midd le - income compar i son sample. 63 - XX P R E F A C E TO THE NULIFE STUDY; (54); The NULIFE pro jec t i s an attempt to study the nature, content and contributing factors of urban poverty in Canada, a p r o b l e m of great importance to soc ia l planners today. The study was sponsored by the Canadian Welfare Council and funded by the Laidlaw Foundation. It is an attempt to supplement prev ious r e s e a r c h on poverty which was based on small samples of case analysis in spec i f i c geographic areas . A random sample of e conomic households was drawn f r o m l ow« income areas in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Halifax. The sample unit, an economic household, is defined as a group of persons dependent on a common or poo led income for ma jor i tems of expense, and living in the same dwelling. The samples for the 2, 600 cases were drawn as fo l l ows : T A B L E 1 . SIZE AND LOCATION OF SAMPLES Sample Vancouver Winnipeg Halifax L o w - i n c o m e area N = 450 N = 450 N = 270 Low« income area N = 450 N - 450 N =270 Middle c lass \" c o m p a r i s o n \" group 10% of city sample N = 100 N = 100 N = 60 TOTALS N = 1, 000 N = 1, 000 N = 600 X The study cons idered simultaneously several dimensions of poverty such as the economic and employment system, health, •welfare, education, housing and social involvement. F r o m the analysis of the data it is hoped that it will be poss ib le to measure current soc ia l and economic needs, to evaluate current serv i ces in t e r m s of e f f e c t i v e -ness , to formulate and implement new po l i cy which is found to be n e c e s s a r y and to suggest areas for further intensive r e s e a r c h . The focus of this study is exc lusively urban rather than rural ; although both constitute components of the total p r o b l e m of poverty in Canada, however a great deal of comprehens ive r e s e a r c h has taken place , supported through the Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act, in the rural areas . Methods of Collecting Data; To obtain the n e c e s s a r y data for the NULIFE study, data was co l lected using a personal interview conducted by trained inter™ v iewers . The data instrument included a structured schedule and an attitude questionnaire. In order to encompass a large number of dimensions in sufficient depth to facil itate a comprehensive analysis of factors which character ize the l i f e «s ty le of the urban p o o r , it was n e c e s s a r y to use a lengthy questionnaire. This represents the strength as well as the weakness of the study. The length of the interview varied f r o m 45 minutes to 2 « 1 /2 hours, depending upon the s ize of the xi household, with a median length of approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes . (Interviewee fatigue undoubtedly af fected the quality of r e s p o n s e . ) However , the s ize of the sample, its breadth and the fact that it is a national survey, enhance its utility. NULIFE prov ides a knowledgeable base upon which soc ia l po l i cy can be formulated on a national level , taking into account regional d i f f erences . CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF STUDY This report examines the NULIFE data for character is t i cs that could lead to an enhancement of knowledge of the generational links in the cyc l e of poverty . Attention was focused on the l i fe style of e conomic households (the respondents) : situated in the l o w -income areas . This study analysed the pertinent character i s t i c s which were theor ized as being fundamental contributors to the perpetuation of poverty . Children ra ised in such households perpetuate poverty when they grow up and pass along to their own of fspring a s imi lar style of l i fe which was famil iar to them as children. In this way, character is t i cs which identify poverty conditions are passed on f r o m generation to generation. F r o m a pre l iminary examination of the l i terature on the poverty cyc l e and a test run of the NULIFE data, attention was focused on education, occupation and wel fare f r o m which three concepts were formulated providing a f ramework f o r this analysis . 2 F r o m these concepts, null hypotheses were conceived which are examined in separate stages of the study. Education, occupation and wel fare were defined as independent variables and their inter« relatedness was tested in each stage. This study analysed the total sample group of e conomic households drawn f r o m the l o w - i n c o m e areas . It did not purport to have analysed a poverty group as designated by some arb i trary posit ion such as leve l of income, standard of housing, et ce tera . GENERAL LIMITATIONS While it had been or iginal ly intended to define a poverty group f r o m the l o w - i n c o m e sample areas, such a ref inement would have severe ly res tr i c ted the already l imited quantity of available data. Additionally, statistical p rocedures were chosen for their suitability of analysing this study's part icular data which were at the nominal l eve l . Had a poverty group been factored out by, f or example, some l eve l of income, the statistical p rocedures that were applied would poss ib ly have b e c o m e invalid. Subsequently, several findings were tested and this was found to be true. This study did not take into account regional d i f f e rences . Instead, a bas i c assumption was made that the sample group f r o m the 2600 cases would be representative of the living conditions of the individuals and famil ies in Canada living in a poverty area . Such an assumption was not made without an awareness of its l imitations. Within a l o w - i n c o m e area dwell many people who do not re f l e c t the character is t i c norms of the poor in t e rms of income attitude outlook et cetera . Some of these will be p icked up in the sampling p r o c e s s . Numerous responses were found under the category of \"Don't know. \" Their numbers var ied f r o m question to question but were general ly higher in responses by the respondent pertaining to his parents . In all cases , . . . the \"Don't know\" responses were totally d isregarded. The 10 per cent sample group f r o m Vancouver showed 30 per cent had some co l lege education and 18 per cent had f ive years of co l lege . The 1961 Canada Census figures show that in the City of Vancouver, of the population who are 15 years of age and over and not attending school , 4 per cent have university degrees and 5. 5 per cent have some university education. (55) Thus, although the sample group was not representative of the total population, it was nevertheless useful for comparat ive purposes . RELIABILITY The cal ibre of the data was ser ious ly af fected by the ac curacy of reca l l of the respondents to questions pertaining to thei parents. Responses to Question 42 (c i ted below); and others l ed to serious doubts as to their rel iabil ity. VALIDITY Analysis of the computer data revealed numerous coding e r r o r s . For example, responses were indicated where no question was asked. One v e r y rudimentary question regarding the r e s p o n -dents' occupation re ce ived nearly 25 per cent responses of \"Don't know\" which was obviously a coding e r r o r . For the purposes of thi report , however , it was assumed that coding e r r o r s would not invalidate the findings. Uncovering generational links necess i tated examining questions that revealed s imilar information pertaining to conditions of both respondents and parents . It was found, however , that such questions were l imited in number and many were not of a s imi lar nature, thus presenting a d i lemma as to the validity of d irect ly comparing the responses . For example : Question 42: To respondent regarding Ms parent's education:\" \"How many years did he attend s choo l ? Question 9: To respondent regarding his educat ion: -\"Highest school grade at tended?\" These questions have dif ferent impl icat ions . Length of t ime at school is not n e c e s s a r i l y comparable with school grade attended because of the poss ib i l i ty of fai lure and repeating grades . CHAPTER n METHODOLOGY STATISTICAL, PROCEDURES The data gathered by the NUL.IFE survey -were large ly qualitative and categor ical (nominal) . These factors p laced l i m i -tations on the type of statistical analysis that could be validly p e r -f o rmed . hi essence the purpose of the study was to either support or refute assumptions that relationships existed between a ser i es of var iables . There fo re it was felt that the ch i - square procedure , as 2 / calculated by the formula! X = « £ . ' \" ° } , was the most e suitable for the purposes of the study and for the level of data that were available. The leve l of s ignif icance was arbi trar i ly established at alpha = . 05. This leve l was consistently used throughout the study. The ch i -square , however , did not indicate the direct ion of the relationship - if it was direct or inverse . When it was felt essential to i l lustrate this aspect, a per centage distribution was calculated to demonstrate the direction. In addition to not showing the direction of the relationship, the ch i - square did not indicate the strength of the relationship. When it was deemed n e c e s s a r y to i l lustrate the strength of a relationship, the contingency coe f f i c ient n / — ? ~ was calculated by the formula C =1/ ~— . The theoret ica l V N + X max imum of this coef f i c ient approaches unity only when the number of ce l ls in the contingency table approach infinity. Thus the c a l -culated value of C must always be cons idered in relation to the theoret ical maximum. In s o m e cases the theoret ical max imum of C was calculated on the bas is of sound statistical techniques; in other cases it was derived by interpolation. CHAPTER in BACKGROUND TO STUDY LITERATURE ON THE POOR A generational t ransmiss ion of multiple prob lems in soc ia l functioning among the poor is a concept prevalent today in the l iterature on poverty . One consequence of pro longed poverty is the breeding of a distinctive l i f e - s t y l e or culture shared by the impover i shed and transmitted by them f r o m generation to generation through the fami ly ' s acculturation of its children for the purpose of survival . . . or , poverty , it is purported, breeds poverty . For those ensnared in the self«perpetuating poverty cyc le , it is virtually imposs ib le to attain the standards and goals of the m i d d l e - c l a s s community - goals albeit shared by the poverty group. Martin Rein (44) c r i t i c i zes the poverty cyc le or \"culture of pover ty \" thesis which s t resses the apathy of the poor and their inability to respond to opportunities in that, he states, it neglects to recognize that the l eve l of living contributes to the development of character . Proponents o f the \"culture of pover ty \" hypothesis, Rein impl ies , attempt to treat the pathology of the poor rather than to provide the n e c e s s a r y soc ia l util it ies. Further, Rein maintains that pathological soc iety withholds the utilities which would break the poverty cyc le because , in fact, soc iety des i res to retain a poverty group. This provocat ive theory nested within Mr . Rein 's examination, c r i t i c i s m s and r e s e a r c h on poverty prov ided this study with a very n e c e s s a r y balanced view of the p r o b l e m assoc iated with examining poverty conditions. A good percept ion of the ch i ld -rear ing patterns of the poor is presented by Catherine Chilman in her book \"Growing Up P o o r \" (3) She r e f e r s to the compel l ing relationship between the ch i ld - rear ing patterns of the poor and the perpetuation of poverty . F o r a child \" . . . to escape e f fect ively f r o m the many faceted f r u s t r a t i o n s that beset the v e r y poor , he must escape as a whole person , not just as an ef f ic ient and employed cog in the e conomic complex . \" (3, p. 2. The aims of this study were to uncover the many fac tors mos t relevant to the escape p r o c e s s . Lola Irelan 's book \" L o w « l n c o m e Li fe Styles\" prov ided a succinct d iscussion of fami ly patterns of the poor^proved to be an invaluable guide and gave an indication of many features of generational links which were relevant to the analysis of the NULIFE data. (11) The writings of Oscar Lewis and his view of poverty were part icular ly applicable to the analysis (12). The fol lowing statement on the \"culture of p o v e r t y \" v e r y cogently summarizes the di lemma that this report attempted to analyse. \" . . . it is a way of l i fe remarkably stable and persistent , passed down f r o m generation to generation along family l ines . The culture of poverty has i ts own modalit ies and distinctive soc ia l and psycho log i ca l consequences for its m e m b e r s . \" ( 1 2 , p. 24) Literature and r e s e a r c h papers pertaining to the three independent variables of education, occupation and wel fare var ied in quantity. A great deal has been written by soc ia l sc ientists and educators in recent years regarding the fact that children f r o m l o w -income famil ies fail to achieve as high standards as children f r o m midd le»c lass famil ies in our traditional educational system. There is much in recent l i terature to explain this phenomenon, and some authors suggest that because low™income famil ies have complete ly different values and expectations, they fail to prepare their children for schoo l in the way that midd le«c lass famil ies do. (11) (28) \"The parental patterns m o r e character is t i c of the v e r y poor , in r e f e rence to education achievement, s e e m to be or iented toward an anticipation of failure and a distrust of m i d d l e - c l a s s institutions such as the schoo ls . Constriction in experience , re l iance on a physical rather than a verbal style, a r ig id rather than f lexible approach, p r e f e r e n c e for concrete rather than abstract thinking, re l iance on personal attributes rather than on training or skil ls , a tendency toward magical rather than sc ienti f ic thinking: these values and attitudes provide poor preparat ion and support for many of the children of the v e r y poor as they struggle to meet the demands of the middle c lass school . \" (3, p. 45) Prev ious r e s e a r c h has established that there is a d irect generational link in occupational status. R o g o f f ' s c lass i ca l study established that, regard less of the e conomic or soc ia l rewards , \"the most l ikely occupational destiny of all the sons was the occupation of their fathers. \" (19, p. 106). She also established that even where sons do not follow the spec i f i c occupation of their fathers, they se lect occupations that are at roughly the same soc ia l c lass leve l . These findings were substantiated b y studies car r i ed out by the National Opinion Research Center (53) and by the r e s e a r c h of R. Centers . (25) Poverty , or a state of being poor , i s frequently measured economic t e rms and defined as a subsistence l eve l of in come . Sidney E. Z imbal ist in \"Drawing the Pover ty L ine\" defines the poor as \"those who have a suff ic iently regular though bare income . . . whose means may be suff icient but are bare ly suff ic ient for decent independent l i fe . \" (52, p. 20) Since public financial ass istance is s imi lar ly defined as subsistence living, the t e rms poverty and wel« fare are often inter-changed, by in ference at least , in the l i terature. Moreover , s ince it is recognized in soc ia l work praeti as well as in the l i terature that not all individuals on low«>income fall within the category of \"the p o o r \" , recent r e s e a r c h studies designed to separate and examine the character is t i cs of those in rece ipt of public financial ass istance f r o m non-rec ip ients of welfar< prov ide a further step f orward in the endeavours of those concerned with developing e f fect ive measures to alleviate the poverty cyc le . Robert C. Stone and F r e d e r i c T . Schlamp in a pre l iminary paper entitled \"Character is t i cs Assoc ia ted with Rece ipt or Non-rece ip t of Financial Aid f r o m Wel fare A g e n c i e s \" attempt to determine whether famil ies dependent on public financial ass istance are different f r o m or s imilar to other l o w - i n c o m e famil ies in l i fe style. (50) Leonard Schneiderman in \"Value Orientation P r e f e r -ences of Chronic Rel ie f Rec ip ients\" s imi lar ly attempts to test whether persons chronical ly impover ished share a distinctive pattern of l iving. (48) •EXPLANATION OF TERMS It was be l ieved that the many variables assoc iated with poverty viz . low education, e conomic insecurity , demoral izat ion et cetera would be well represented within the l o w - i n c o m e areas . Thus it was felt that this study could pro fess to have examined generational links in a poverty area. Pover ty was thought of as \" l i f e conditions of the p o o r . \" They are many in number. The poor not only suffer f r o m economic hardship but conditions of their housing, health, education, job skills et cetera separate them f r o m achieving the goals of the major i ty of soc iety . Concomitant factors are the attitudes and values of the poor f r o m which has ar isen in contemporary l i terature the concept of the \"culture of the poor . \" Help lessness , isolation, apathy and anomie i l lustrate the feelings of the poor which serve to enhance their alienation f r o m the m o r e affluent m e m b e r s of soc iety . -Generational Links were interpreted as meaning common character is t i cs that are revealed f r o m generation to generation. One can ask (1) do character is t i cs exist within e conomic households of a poverty area which delineate pover ty areas f r o m other a r e a s ? and (2) how are these character is t i cs passed along? The f i rs t question i s the purpose of this r e search . The second can be part ial ly answered if it is assumed that the common character is t i cs which identify the poor give r i se to a unique l i f e - s ty l e . This l i f e - s ty le is transmitted through the teaching and training of the child by the parents . Attitudes, values, expectations, and outlook pecul iar to the poor are transmitted f r o m parent to child thus ensuring that the \"culture of the p o o r \" remains part of soc iety . Additionally, generational links applicable to the perpetuation of poverty embodies a demographic variable assuming that the child 's development is af fected by the soc ia l groups, neighbourhood and local i ty where the child is ra ised . Culture of the P o o r is defined by Oscar Lewis as \" . . . a design for l iving which is passed down f r o m generation to generation. In applying this concept of culture to the understanding of poverty I want to draw attention to the fact that poverty in modern nations is not only a state of e conomic deprivation, of disorganization, or of the absence of something. It is also something posit ive in the sense that it has a structure, a rationale, and defense mechanisms without which the poor could hardly c a r r y on. \" (12, p. 23) This statement on the 'tulture of the p o o r \" points to the survival value of their l i fe style with the generational link between parent and child aiding the preservat ion of the culture f r o m extinction. It can thus be seen as a defense against a severe environment which cal ls for a complete ly different mode of adjustment. CONCEPTS F r o m the independent variables of education, occupation and wel fare identified ear l ier , three concepts were developed. They led to the formulation of null hypotheses tested independently in the following stages of this report . The three concepts were thought of a s : « 1)i A low leve l of education is the n o r m for a l o w - i n c o m e area which tends to be transmitted longitudinally f r o m parent to child. Chi ld -rear ing patterns contribute to school fai lure as the children of the poor are not equipped to cope with m i d d l e - c l a s s oriented schoo ls . Inevitably, school fai lure leads to employment p r o b -l e m s and often an inability to find work in a soc ie ty demanding ever - increas ing higher educational standards. 2) In Canadian society, a p r i m a r y determinant of income is occupation and thus, in studying the character is t i cs of the low income sample, occupational status of this group was examined. Their occupational leve l is centered in areas of s emi - sk i l l ed and unskilled c a t e -gor ies of jobs making them susceptible through redundancy, lay off , and lack of jobs to frequent unemployment. Concomitant income insecurity is perpetuated along fami ly l ines. Recipients of welfare,; purportedly deficient in education and occupational skil ls , are least l ikely to achieve or maintain economic independence, and there fore are most l ikely to require public f inancial assistance f r o m time to t ime or indef initely . Consequently, they must adjust to a subsistence leve l yet t ry to cope or compete with institutions geared to a m i d d l e - c l a s s modality. Since it is an unreal ist ic , if not virtually imposs ib le , task for them to break the bonds of the poverty cyc le either latitudinally or longitudinally, the tendency is for a generational t ransmiss ion of l i fe style to prevai l within the poverty cyc le . CHAPTER in EDUCATION AS A GENERATIONAL F A C T O R IN THE LOW-INCOME LIFE S T Y L E Elizabeth Herzog states that education is one of the most cruc ia l factors in the p r o b l e m of poverty . \"Somet imes it almost seems as if all the other d i f ferences f lowed f r o m that one, so overwhelming are its apparent results in the l ives and thoughts and feelings of the poor . \" (32, p. 382}j. And she further states that education is still the most useful single indicator of s o c i o -economic status. Although parents in l o w - i n c o m e areas appear to have high expectations regarding their chi ldren 's education, and express the des ire that their children continue in school , they are unable to put these wishes into action because of their l imited knowledge of the qualities needed to compete in the school system. L o w - i n c o m e famil ies are unable to give their children the n e c e s s a r y stimulation and \"achievement motivat ion\" that is almost automatically a part of the midd le - c lass ch i ld -rear ing pattern. (47) (35) (41). The children are unable to compete in our schools , which are pr imar i l y m i d d l e - c l a s s institutions (18)i Patr i c ia Sexton found that in l o w - i n c o m e areas, schools and teaching staff are of the poores t standards and the drop-out rate is markedly higher. (22) Fai lure at school leads to inability to compete for e m p l o y -ment in our highly competitive and spec ia l ized economic system, and this f ixes the individual i r revocab ly in low income status. It was expected, there fore , that in analysing the data there would be found to be a direct relation between education of respondents and their parents . That is , if the parents attained only a low education, their children would tend to attain a low l eve l a lso . It was further anticipated that there would be a relationship between low leve l of education and other indicators of low s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status, such as occupation in unskilled and semi - sk i l l ed jobs , frequent dependence on public assistance and the necess i ty for respondents to leave school for financial reasons . In other words , those with little education themselves would tend to have children 19 following the famil ial pattern of low achievement. This, then, would be linked to other character is t i cs of the l o w - i n c o m e group, such as, relat ively lower paid jobs , m o r e frequent need for soc ia l assistance, and the necess i ty for education to be discontinued because of lack of funds. Ornati quotes the University of Michigan Survey Research Center as having found that the lack of \"education of the father was the most powerful pred ic tor of low income for the son. \" (14, p. 67) As the categor ies for education of respondent and respondent 's parent were not equivalent on the questionnaire, in drawing up the tables, it was n e c e s s a r y to amalgamate these into four general headings: \"None, \" \"Elementary, \" \"High School, \" and \"College^ \" This made for greater ease of comparison, but undoubtedly some of the f iner shades of d i f ference were lost . It had original ly been planned to analyse the relationship between education of respondent and other i tems on the questionnaire, such as race , language spoken in the home and attitudes toward the school . However, it was decided that, although this would give a fuller picture of the general character is t i cs and l i fe styles of persons in a l o w - i n c o m e area, it would not greatly add to our knowledge of character is t i cs which are passed on f r o m one generation to another. In future studies, it would prove interesting to have material on attitudes and values for both respondent and parent so that these factors could be related to p e r f o r m a n c e in the schoo ls . This would give greater depth to the study. Although it would have been helpful to compare l eve ls of education between sample group and compar ison group, as has been noted in the Introduction, the d iscrepancy was so great between leve l of education of the compar ison group and the statistics given in the 1961 Canada Census f igures that it was decided not to include this. (55) The f i rs t table to be examined is a compar ison between the educational level of respondent and parent and, in view of the foregoing analysis of the l i terature on this subject, it was expected that there would be a posit ive relationship between these two variables However, a null hypothesis was formulated, that is , that there would be no relationship between educational leve l of respondent and parent. T A B L E 2 P e r centage compar ison between educational leve l of respondent and the educational leve l of the respondent' parent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. * N = 1187 EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) EDUCATION (PARENT) None Elementary High School Col lege None 11. 80% (•26); 1.84% ( 12) 1.57% ( 4) 0. 00% ( 0) Elementary 67. 75% 56. 30% 30. 59% 30.65% (149): (366) ( 78) (19) High School 19.09% 38.78% 61.96% 43. 38% ( 4 2 ) (252) (158) ( 3 0 ) College 1 .36% 3 .08% 5 .88% 20 .97% ( 3) ( 20) ( 15),: ( 13) Total 100.00% 100.00% 100. 00% 100.00% (220): (650) (255), ( .62 ) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. The ch i - square for this table is 212. 124, which is considerably beyond the cr i t i ca l chi«square value of 16. 919, at the established level of s igni f icance. The contingency c o - e f f i c i en t for this table is 0. 39, compared to the maximum poss ib le C value f o r a 4 x 4 table, which is 0. 866. This shows that the relationship is of moderate strength. The null hypothesis can there fore be re jec ted and the alternate hypothesis - that there is a relationship between the level of education of parents and children - can be accepted. This table c lear ly i l lustrates that the lower the education of parents, the lower the education of children and c o n -verse ly , the higher the education of parents, the higher the education of children. It shows that 79. 55 per cent of the children of parents with no education attended elementary school or were not educated and that 58. 14 per cent of the children who attended elementary school fell into the same category, while only 31. 16 per cent of those children whose parents attended high school achieved less education than their parents. On the other hand, 61.96 per cent of the children of parents with high school education ( cons idered m i n i m u m r e q u i r e -ment for many jobs) achieved this l eve l themselves . In contrast, 38. 78 per cent of the children whose parents had attended elementary school only achieved this level , while of those whose parents were uneducated, 19- 09 per cent achieved a high school education. It appears to have been established that those respondents whose parents had little education will have little education themselves and, thus, lack of achievement in education will be transmitted f r o m one generation to another. To have made this connection is not in any way to have o f f e red any explanation of why this might be so. The l i terature in the soc ia l sc iences indicates that many complex factors may be in operation here , but it is not within the scope of this study to explore these in any depth. Traditional educationalists have often assumed that the poor p e r f o r m a n c e of children in l o w - i n c o m e areas was the result of poor intellectual endowment, but there has been much recent questioning of this idea. Irelan quotes a study of children in Harlem, which indicated that the I. Q. ratings for these children dropped after a per i od o f e lementary education, which may mean that the educational sys tem itsel f is m o r e at fault than had prev ious ly been supposed. (11, p. 35) The c lose connection between education and o c c u -pational status in our competit ive soc iety is a general ly accepted idea. In a highly developed e conomic sys tem such as ours , most jobs require a certain bas i c education and some spec ia l ized ski l ls . There fore , it was anticipated that a relationship would be found between educational leve l of the respondent and his occupational status. Using the null hypothesis, it was theor ized that there would be no relationship between these two var iables . T A B L E 3 P e r centage compar ison between educational leve l of respondent and occupational c lass of respondent, low-income s a m p l e . * N = 1389 EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) i Labourer Blue Collar White Collar Totals None 72. 40% (21); 17. 20% ( 5) 10. 40% ( 3) 100. 00% ( 29) Elementary 55. 10% (402); 38. 40% (280) 6. 50% ( 47) 100. 00% (729) High School 32. 08% (187) 45 .28% (264) 22. 64% (132) 100. 00% (58 3) Col lege 12. 50% ( 6) 25. 00 ( 12) 62.50% 100.00% ( 30) ( 48) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. The calculated chi«=square value of 193. 66 is very much beyond the cr i t i ca l value of 12. 59- Thus it was established that there was a significant relationship between these var iables . The contingency co - e f f i c i en t is 0. 35, compared to an interpolated theoret ical max imum of 0 .837, which shows the relationship is of moderate strength. The null hypothesis can be re jec ted and the alternate hypothesis can be accepted « that there is a relationship between leve l of occupation and education. It can be c lear ly seen f r o m the table that there i s a high corre lat ion between the respondent 's low education and the tendency to have labouring jobs . Of those respondents with no education, 7 2 . 4 per cent had labouring jobs ; of those with e lementary school , 55. 1 per cent had labouring jobs ; and of those with high school , only 32. 08 per cent had labouring jobs . Obviously, those who have fai led to acquire a bas i c education were m o r e l ikely to be employed in l ess skilled, l o w e r -paid j obs . \"It is a s imple statistical fact that low educational attainment is c l o se ly assoc iated with low income. Available f igures , for instance, reveal that every school year completed br ings measurable dividends. \" (<14, p. 62), In the f i rs t table, it was found that low education of parents tends to be related to low education of children. It has now been shown that there is a connection between low educational achievement in respondents and low occupational status, which is usually assoc iated with low income. Thus, one could infer that low occupation, which is assoc iated with low education, might also fol low a generational pattern. In the next table, education of respondent is compared to dependency on soc ial wel fare , another indicator of low s o c i o -economic status. It was expected that there would be a relationship between these var iables . It is usually those with little education and special training who are most readi ly laid off in t imes of r e c e s s i o n and economic hardship and who suffer f r o m chronic insecurity regarding jobs . It is these unskilled workers who make up the major i ty of the public assistance case loads . The null hypothesis was used: that there would be no relationship between l eve l of education and the frequency of respondents ' dependency on soc ial wel fare . T A B L E 4 P e r centage compar ison between educational l eve l of respondent and frequency of dependency on wel fare of respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample . * N = 1305 W E L F A R E (RESPONDENT) EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) None Never 69. 23% ( 54) Once 24. 35% ( 19) Two + Total 6 .42% 100.00% ( 5) ( 78) Elementary 60. 75% 21 .42% 17.83% 100.00% ( 26);: (256) ( 43) (325) High School 68. 12% (562) 19. 75% (163) 12. 13% (100) 100. 00% (825), Col lege 72. 73% ( 56) 20. 78% ( 16) 6 .49% ( 5) 100. 00% ( 77) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. The ch i - square for this table was 25. 05, which is well in excess of 12. 592, which is the cr i t i ca l ch i -square value at the predetermined leve l of s ignif icance. The contingency co~eff ic ient , showing the strength of the relationship, was calculated to be 0. 106. The interpolated theoret ical max imum for a table of this s ize was found to be 0 .837 . Thus, the relationship can be said to be re lat ively weak. The null hypothesis is there fore re jec ted and the alternate accepted. Examination of the tables reveals that of the respondents who had elementary school only, 21 .42 per cent had been on soc ial ass istance once, and 17. 83 per cent had been on social ass istance m o r e than once, a total of 39. 25 per cent. This was in contrast to the high school group, 19. 75 per cent of whom had been on soc ia l assistance once, and 12. 13 per cent of whom had been on soc ia l assistance m o r e than once, a total of 31. 88 per cent. We can conclude that the lower the education, the m o r e frequently on soc ia l assistance; and converse ly , the higher the level of education, the less frequently on soc ia l ass istance . F o r further discussion regarding the validity of the questions on respondent 's and parent 's dependency on soc ial ass istance, r e f e rence is made to Chapter 6. In Table 5, education of respondent is compared to the question on the questionnaire regarding respondent 's reasons f o r leaving school . Several studies have pointed out that there is a much higher drop-out rate in schools in l o w - i n c o m e areas (22). One estimate drawn f r o m census data in the United States indicates that 70 per cent of the drop-outs c o m e f r o m famil ies with incomes under $5, 000 per year . (13j p. 12) F o r this reason, it was assumed that there would be a high corre lat ion between education (which has now been shown to be c l o se ly assoc iated with s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status); and the frequency of leaving school f or financial reasons . The null hypothesis was f o rmed ; that there would be no relationship between education and financial reasons for leaving school . The categories \"None\" and \"E lementary\" were amalgamated for this table, in order to obtain a valid chi«square value. T A B L E 5 Per centage compar ison between educational l eve l of respondent and respondent 's reasons for leaving school , low income sample . * N = 1915 REASONS FOR LEAVING SCHOOL (RESPONDENT) EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) Financial P e r f o r m a n c e Other Total Elementary 55.12% 12.55% 32. 34% 100.00% (641), (146) (37 6), (1163) High School 43 .75% 14.73% 41 .52% 100.00% (312) (105) (296) (713): Col lege 25 .64% 10.24% 64.12% 100.00% ( 10) ( 4) C 25). ( 39) ^Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. The ch i - square f o r this table is 36. 631, which is wel l above the cr i t i ca l value of 9. 488, at this study's leve l of s igni f icance. Although the relationship is significant, the contingency c o - e f f i c i en t value of 0. 204 (the theoretical maximum C value is 0. 8 16) indicates that the relationship is re lat ively weak. Thus, the null hypothesis can be re jected, and the alternate, that there is a relationship between leve l of education and reasons for leaving school , can be accepted. The tables show that of those who left school at the e lementary level , 55. 12 per cent did so for financial reasons . Of those who left at the high school level , 43. 75 per cent did so for financial reasons . It does appear f r o m these tables that there is a slight relationship between education and financial reasons for leaving school . At the lower leve ls of the educational scale , a greater per centage of those leaving school did so for financial reasons . The number of ' respondents who left school b e f o r e completing e lementary school is 641, which represents 26.79 per cent of the total sample group. This appears to be quite high. Perhaps the most important element in the p r o b l e m of school drop-outs is the incidence, rather than the particular t ime when a given child leaves the school system. In this section, in examining the data on education, it has been found that there is quite a strong indication that the lower the education of the parents, the lower the education of the children. This was in l ine with what had been anticipated f r o m our review of the l i terature. That is , the parents who themselves are disadvantaged are l ess l ikely to be able to provide the n e c e s s a r y stimulation and encouragement for their children to succeed in the school sys tem and tend to leave school early. As education is the key to so many other aspects of l i fe in North A m e r i c a n society, this would appear to be a most strong determining factor in the l ives of these individuals. Education was then compared to occupation, to frequency of dependency on soc ia l wel fare , and to financial reasons for leaving school . Although there was only a moderate relationship between the level of education and these other variables , there was an indication that all these character is t i cs c o - ex i s ted in the l o w -income group. CHAPTER in OCCUPATIONAL STATUS AS A GENERATIONAL FACTOR IN THE LOW-INCOME LIFE STYLE Occupation was se lected for examination for two reasons . F i rs t : f r o m an anthropological point of view, occupation f o r m s an important aspect of the concept of sub-cultures . Dif ferent value systems are assoc iated with different leve ls of soc ia l stratif ication and convers ly different stratas are assoc iated with dif ferent value sys tems . Occupational leve ls are one of the key indicators of individuals' posit ion in the soc ia l sys tem and there fore they are assoc iated with their own value orientations. Second: different occupations, because of their per ce ived varying worth to society, are ascr ibed different monetary rewards . Those occupations that are p e r c e i v e d to be of l e s s e r value rece ive little pecuniary reward, thus creating the financial facet of the phenomenon of poverty . Not only does the monetary reward vary in amount but also it d i f fers in its nature. Low income tends to be sporadic while high income is re ce ived on a m o r e regular, predictable bas i s . The NULIFE survey analysed occupational status by establishing three main occupation groups: \"White Col lar , \" \"Blue Collar, \" and \"Labourer . \" The distinction between these groups was made on the bas is of the nature of the gainful e m p l o y -ment. The survey anticipated that not all the respondents would be gainfully employed and there fore four anci l lary categor ies \"Housewife, \" \"Student, \" \"Student and working, \" and \"Under five years of age\" - were established to c lass i fy the balance of the sample. Those respondents who had ret i red were c lass i f i ed b y the nature of their major employment pr i o r to ret irement . The p r i m a r y interest of this study was those respondents who were , at the t ime of the survey, or who had been, pr i o r to the survey, involved in the labour market on a full t ime bas i s . Thus, for the most part, those respondents in the four auxil l iary categor ies were not considered by this study. In the one instance that they were considered, they were amalgamated and dealt with under the category \"Other. \" An early assumption of this study was that the three main occupational categories were h ierarchica l ly arranged by income; that \"White Co l lar \" respondents would r e ce ive m o r e 36 income than those in the \"Blue Co l la r \" c lass and that the \"Blue Co l la r \" c lass would rece ive m o r e than the \"Labourers . \" If this contention were true, it was expected that there would be a marked d i f ference between the distribution of occupations in the l o w - i n c o m e sample and in the compar ison sample. It was expected that in the compar ison sample well over one-third of the population would c o m e f r o m the \"White Co l la r \" group, approximately one-third would c o m e f r o m the \"Blue Co l lar \" group and l ess than one-third would be in the \" L a b o u r e r \" group. The converse was anticipated in the l ow» income sample. The following table sets forth the per centage distribution. T A B L E 6 Per centage compar ison of samples for se lected occupational c l a s s e s . * N = 1663 OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) SAMPLES White Collar Blue Labourer Total Collar Comparison Sample 72 .82% 24 .27% 2 .91% 100.00% (150) ( 50); ( 6); (206); Lo w- I n come Sample 15. 17% (221) 40 .08% 44 .75% 100.00% (584) (652) (1457) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. In a v e r y c u r s o r y and rudimentary way, this distribution substantiates the assumption that there is a monetary h ierarchy ; that \"White Co l la r \" workers do re ce ive m o r e income than \"Blue Co l lar \" workers and that \"Blue Co l lar \" workers re ce ive m o r e than; \"Labourers . \" Fol lowing an initial perusal of the data it was noted that, in the l o w - i n c o m e sample, there appeared to be a d i s p r o -portionate number of respondents in the four anci l lary categor ies . It was decided to ca l cu late a per centage distribution including these respondents. For this analysis the four categor ies were amalga -mated under the title \"Other. \" A s imilar per centage distribution was calculated for the compar ison group and the following table presents the two distributions. 38 T A B L E 7 P e r centage compar ison of samples for all occupational c l a s s e s . * N = 2642 OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT); SAMPLES White Blue Labourer Other Total Collar Collar Comparison Sample Lo w- I n come Sample 60. 24% (1 5 o) 9 .24% (221) 20. 0 8 % C so) 24 .40% (584): 2 .41% ( 27. 25% (652) 17.27% 100.00% (4-3) (2.^) 39.11% 100. 00% (936) (2393), ^Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. It is noted in this table that in the \"Other\" category, the per centage of respondents in the l o w - i n c o m e group is m o r e than double the perccentage in the comparison group (39. 11 per cent and 17.27 per cent respect ive ly ) . This group of people , mainly housewives and students, was beyond the scope of this study but its relative size indicates that it could be worthy of further examination in a future study. Having established that a monetary h ierarchy existed, it was decided to analyse the l o w - i n c o m e sample to determine the nature of the income. As stated previously , it is commonly assumed that individuals in the lowest s o c i o - e c o n o m i c c lass have a m o r e i r regular income than do their counterparts in the higher c l a s s e s . The NULIFE survey asked respondents whether they had been unemployed \"Occasional ly , \" \"Frequently, \" or \"Never , \" in the past ten years . These t e rms , however , were not spec i f i ca l ly defined by the survey their interpretation was left to the respondent. This lack of definition left the validity and rel iabi l i ty of the findings open to question but it was assumed that individual d iscrepanc ies in interpretation counter-balanced so that the end product of the survey was a uni form definition of the t e r m s . It was thought that the incidence of unemployment would indicate the nature of the income; that \"Never unemployed\" would indicate a regular income, that \"Occas ional ly unemployed\" would indicate a somewhat sporadic income, and that \"Frequently unemployed\" would indicate a very sporadic income. If the above assumptions were true, it was expected that the \" L a b o u r e r \" c lass would have a greater incidence of unemployment than the other two c lasses and that the \"White Co l lar \" c lass would have a higher inc idence of being never unemployed than the other two c lasses . T A B L E 8 Incidence of unemployment by occupational c lass , l o w - i n c o m e sample . * N = 1370 INCIDENCE OF UNEMPLOYMENT (RESPONDENT) OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) Never Occas ional ly Frequently Total White Collar 60.89% (123) 36. 63% ( 74) 2 . 4 8 % ( 5) 100. 00% (202) Blue Collar 46. 07% (252) 46. 43% (254) 7. 50% ( 41) 100. 00% (547) Labourer 36. 07% (224) 54. 11% (336) 9 . 8 2 % ( 6 1 ) ; 100. 00% ( 6 2 1 ) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. The preceed ing table bo re out the expectations that were prev ious ly stated. It was there fore assumed that the \" L a b o u r e r \" c lass , with 9 . 8 2 per cent of its membersh ip stating frequent unemployment, would have had a far m o r e i rregular income than either the \"Blue Co l lar \" or \"White Co l la r \" c l a s ses . It was also assumed that the \"Blue Co l lar \" c lass , with 7. 50 per cent of its membersh ip stating frequent unemployment, had a m o r e i r regular income than the \"White Co l lar \" c lass , which had only 2. 48 per cent of its membership in this category. Having in part established that a h ierarchica l a r range -ment of occupational c lasses existed, this study proceeded to analyse some of the generational features of occupational c lasses . As indicated in the introduction, previous r esearch in the United States had established that occupations and occupational c lasses were d irect ly transmitted f r o m parents to children. It was there fore one of the purposes of this study to d iscover if the same relationship existed in data gathered f r o m Canadian sources . In attempting to compare the occupational leve l of respondents and their parents it was d i s covered that the data gathered by the NULIFE survey were not obtained in identical categor ies . As was prev ious ly stated, the data pertaining to the respondents were in \"White Collar, \" \"Blue Co l lar \" and \" L a b o u r e r \" categor ies . In this portion of the study the auxil l iary categories were eliminated. The parental occupational data gathered by the survey had been categor ized in the same f o r m as was used in the 1961 Canada Census figu res . These categories were 1) \"Managerial , Pro fess ional , and Technica l ; \" 2) \"C le r i ca l and Sa les ; \" 3) \"Serv i ces and Recreat ion ; \" 4) \"Transport and Communicat ion;\" 5} \"Craftsmen, Production p r o c e s s and related w o r k e r s ; \" 6) \" L a b o u r e r s ; \" 7) . \" F a r m e r s ; \" and 8) \"Student. \" It was assumed that categories 1 and 2 could be amalgamated to f o r m the rough equivalent of the \"White Co l lar \" c lass ; that categor ies 3, 4 and 5 would approximately equate with the \"Blue Co l lar \" c lass ; and that categor ies 6 and 7 were of the same level as the \"Labour ing\" c lass . The \"Student\" category was disregarded. It was rea l ized that some overlapping would occur but it was thought that this would tend to c r o s s - c a n c e l so that the total product would be equatible. This e r r o r , however , ser ious ly jeopardized the validity of any findings. Although the initial assumption was that there would be a strong generational l ink between the respondents ' and the respondents parents ' occupational leve ls , the hypothesis was formulated that there was no generational relationship between these two var iab les . The formulating of this hypothesis automatically established the alternative hypothesis; that a generational link existed in occupations. If the original hypothesis was true, then the distribution of the population in the various categor ies would be due to the general occupational distribution of the population, or it could be due to a chance skewedness of the sample . The factor of chance skewedness was control led by the establishment of the l eve l of s igni f icance. 43 An examination of the data produced the following table. T A B L E 9 Numerical relationship between the occupational c lasses of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lasses of the respondent, l ow« income sample. N = 1057 OCCUPATION (PARENT); OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) White Collar Blue Collar Labourer Total White Collar 46 81 42 169 Blue Col lar 60 214 145 419 Labourer 45 237 187 469 Total 149 532 374 1057 The calculated ch i -square value for these variables was 35. 298. This was significantly in excess of the cr i t i ca l value of 9. 488 and thus the original hypothesis was re jec ted with a 95 per cent surety that the distribution was not due to chance. In reject ing the original hypothesis the alternative hypothesis, that there was a relationship between the two variables , was automatically accepted. 44 I The ch i -square did not reveal whether the relationship ij was direct or inverse . To determine this, a total per centage Is • •' | distribution of the variables was calculated. j • | , T A B L E 10 P e r centage relationship between the occupational | c lasses of the respondent 's parent and the jf occupational c lasses of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e j sample. | OCCUPATION (PARENT) OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) White Blue Labourer White Collar 4 .35% 7 .66% 3 .97% Blue Collar 5 .68% 20. 25% 13.72% Labourer 4. 26% 22. 42% 17. 69% TOTAL = 100. 00% This table indicated that there was a direct relation -: ship only for parents who were designated as labourers . In the other two parental categor ies there appeared to be inverse relationship. Since the relationship was not universal ly d irect and since the ch i - square does not indicate the strength of any re lat ion-ship, it was felt that it would be useful to determine the degree of the relationship. The contingency coe f f i c ient was there fore 45 determined to indicate the strength of the relationship. The C value was found to be 0. 180. The theoret ical maximum obtainable value for C in a contingency table of this s ize is 0 .816; thus, it can be readi ly seen that the relationship is re lat ively weak. Table 5 also showed that there was considerable vert i ca l mobi l i ty in the l o w - i n c o m e sample. A total of 57. 71 per cent of the respondents had moved to occupations that were in a different s o c i o - e c o n o m i c c lass f r o m those occupations of their parents only 42. 29 per cent had remained in the same s o c i o -economic c lass as their parents . Of the total sample 32.36 per cent showed downward vert i ca l mobil ity whereas only 25. 35 per cent showed upward mobil i ty . It was decided that this concept of vert i ca l mobil i ty was worthy of further investigation and it was decided to probe mobi l i ty f r o m the viewpoint of the occupational leve l of the respondents. Thus a per centage distribution of each respondent occupational c lass was calculated. T A B L E 11 Pei* centage compar ison of the occupational c lasses of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. OCCUPATION (PARENT) i OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) White Blue Labourer Collar Collar Total White Collar 27 .22% 47 .93% 24 .85% 100.00% Blue Collar 14.32% 51.07% 34.61% 100.00% Labourer 9 .60% 50. 53% 39. 87% 100. 00% This table showed that 60. 13 per cent of the respondents who were in the \" L a b o u r e r \" c lass had parents who were either f r o m the \"White Co l lar \" or the \"Blue Co l lar \" c lasses . Since \" L a b o u r e r \" was the lowest c lass in the occupational hierarchy, all of this 60. 13 per cent of the class were downwardly mobi le . The table further showed that, of the \"Blue Co l lar \" respondents, 14. 32 per cent came f r o m \"White Co l la r \" backgrounds and were there fore downwardly mobi le while 34. 61 per cent had \" L a b o u r e r \" b a c k -grounds and were thus upwardly mobi le . Of the \"White Co l la r \" respondents 72.78 per cent had come f r o m l o w e r - c l a s s backgrounds and were there fore upwardly mobi le . It was most striking that the greatest mobil i ty o c c u r r e d at the two opposite ends of the occupational continuum. 47 It was an assumption of this study that different occupations require different amounts of education. Thus, s ince occupation is a significant determinant of s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status, education is a prominent factor in the p r o c e s s of vert ica l soc ia l mobil i ty . If the previous assumption was true, then it was expected that there would be a statistical relationship between these var iables . This would be expected even when there was a high leve l of generalization, when occupations were amalgamated into broad c lasses and when educational achievement was also amalgamated into broad categor ies . In another section of this study it was established that the expected relationship existed. A further analysis of these variables was car r i ed out to d iscover the direction of the relationship. A per centage distribution of each occupational c lass was calculated. The following table i l lustrates this distribution. 48 T A B L E 12 P e r centage comparison of the educational level of the respondent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) None Elementary Secondary College Total White Collar 1 .42% 22 .17% 62.26% 14.15% 100.00% Blue Collar 0 .89% 49 .91% 47 .06% 2 .14% 100.00% Labourer 3 .41% 65. 26% 30.36% 0 .97% 100. 00% The most striking aspect of this table was the readi ly apparent direct relationship between these two variables . Whereas a staggering 65. 26 per cent of the \" L a b o u r e r \" c lass had only elementary schooling, only 22. 17 per cent of the \"White Co l lar \" c lass had the same leve l of education. The relationship is even m o r e striking at the opposite end of the educational continuum. Of the \"White Co l la r \" c lass 14. 15 per cent had a co l lege level education whereas in the \" L a b o u r e r \" c lass only 0.97 per cent had a co l lege education. These se lected f igures real ist ica l ly portray the nature of this distribution. -49 It is a commonly held assumption of Canadian soc iety that education is f r ee and available to all, however , it is wel l documented that di f ferent soc ia l c lasses , because of dif ferent child rearing prac t i ces , different value orientations, and different f inancial capacit ies , have unequal a c cess to education (9) (34). These studies indicate that a c cess to education is d irect ly related to the posit ion in the soc ia l h ierarchy. It was established by this study that the education of an individual is direct ly related to the educational l eve l of his parent. It has also been established that there was a direct relationship between occupation levels and leve ls of education. Since these were established, it was assumed that there would be a generational link between the occupational level of the respondents and their parent 's leve l of education. To test this assumption the hypothesis was formulated that there would be no relationship between the two var iables . The following table i l lustrates the co incidence of the var iables . T A B L E 13 Nume r ica l relationship between the educational leve l of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. N = 740 EDUCATION (PARENT) OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) None Elementary Secondary Col lege \"White Collar 14 58 43 11 Blue Collar 46 167 65 16 Labourer 63 193 56 8 The ch i - s quare value for this table was determined to be 22. 370. The cr i t i ca l chiesquare value in this instance was 12. 592 and thus the hypothesis was re jected . In re ject ing this hypothesis the coro l lary that there is a relationship was accepted. To i l lustrate the direction of relationship the per centage distribution in each occupational c lass was calculated. The fol lowing table presents these findings. T A B L E 14 P e r centage compar ison of the educational l eve l of the respondent 's parent and the occupational c lass of the respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. EDUCATION (PARENT) OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT) None Elementary Secondary College Total White Collar 11.11% 46 .03% 34.13% 8 . 7 3 % 100.00% Blue Collar 15. 65% 56.80% 22 .11% 5 .44% 100. 00% Labourer 19.69% 60.31% 17.50% 2 .50% 100.00% It is readi ly apparent f r o m this table that the relationship is direct ; that people of high s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status had better educated parents than did people of lower s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status. contingency coe f f i c ient was calculated for this table. The C value was determined to be 0. 174. The theoretical maximum contingency coe f f i c ient for a table of this s ize was interpolated to be 0 .837 . Thus it can be seen that the relationship is very weak. It has thus been established that there is a direct but re lat ively weak h ierarchica l relationship between occupational l eve l s and the parental educational l eve l . To determine the strength of relationship the CHAPTER in RECEIPT OF PUBLIC FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AS A GENERATIONAL FACTOR IN THE LOW-INCOME LIFE STYLE The dependent variable, wel fare status of parents, was tested against education, occupation and welfare status of respondents in an attempt to demonstrate a generational link in the poverty cyc le . Although wel fare status in its narrow sense, and as used in this study, r e f e r s to rece ipt of public financial assistance, the concepts involved in a broader definition are impl ic i t and should be cons idered throughout the analysis. In Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary wel fare is var ious ly defined as \"1 . the condition of faring well ; . . . (or) prosper i ty ; 2. . . . organized ef forts by a community or organization to improve the soc ia l and economic condition of a group or c lass . \" In the North Amer i can culture the granting of public financial ass istance is intended to enable people to improve their soc ia l and economic standard, to subsist if not to p r o s p e r . The essential issue explored here is \"Do the o f fspr ing of wel fare recipients achieve l ess adequately in terms of education, occupation and financial independence than the of fspring of parents never in rece ipt of we l fare? \" Stone and Schlamp (50) support the theory of in fer ior achievement among welfare recipients, espec ia l ly as related to education, occupation and motivation for change. If, in fact, the l i fe style of those in rece ipt of wel fare di f fers f r o m that of non-rec ip ients , it is important to determine whether or not the pattern of wel fare dependence is transmitted f r o m generation to generation in order to develop ef fect ive rehabilitative and/or coping methods. For the purpose of this analysis and report of the NULIFE data the independent variable, wel fare status of parents, was tested against the wel fare status of the respondents by formulating the null hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between respondents having been in rece ipt of welfare and their parents having been in rece ipt of wel fare . In. the NULIFE study the categories for parents on wel fare include \"Never, \" \"Once, \" \"Two to three t i m e s \" and \"Often ; \" in the fol lowing table the latter two categories have been amalgamated as \"Twice plus. \" The NULIFE categories for respondents ' wel fare status include \"Never, \" \"Once, \" \"Two to three t imes , \" \"Four to f ive t i m e s \" and \"Six or m o r e t i m e s ; \" in this study the latter three c a t e -gor ies have again been amalgamated as \"Twice plus. \" The table below depicts the wel fare pattern of 1850 respondents in the l o w - i n c o m e 54 sample area in relation to parental -welfare pattern. It is important to keep in mind, however , that the NULIFE data does not provide information as to the current wel fare status of respondents and/or parents . T A B L E 15 W E L F A R E /(•PARENT) P e r centage comparison of receipt of wel fare between respondent and respondent 's parent, l o w - i n c o m e sample . * N = 18 50 W E L F A R E (RESPONDENT) Never One Twice Plus Total Never 67. 95% 20. 21% 11.84% 100. 00% (1113> ( 331) ( 194) (1638) Once 50. 98% 32. 35% 16.67% 100. 00% ( 52} C 33) ( 17} ( 102) Twice 32. 73% 25 .45% 41 .82% 100. 00% ( 36} € 28) ( 46) ( 110) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. For this table the calculated chi -square value was 64. 100. The cr i t i ca l value of ch i - square at the pre«determined leve l of s ignif icance was 9 .488 . Thus, as the calculated chi«square value 55 exceeded the crit ical chi«square value, the null hypothesis was re jected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted, that is, that there is a significant relationship between respondents having been in receipt of welfare and their parents having been in receipt of wel fare . The contingency co«ef f ic ient was found to be 0. 183. The theoretical maximum for this s ize table was 0.816. This indicates that although a relationship was established, the degree was weak. The f igures in this table tend to support the hypothesis of a generational link in that approximately 68 per cent of the respondents whose parents were never on welfare were themselves never on welfare and approximately 42 per cent of respondents whose parents were on welfare two or m o r e times were themselves on welfare two or m o r e t imes . As might be anticipated in support of the generational link, almost 95 per cent of those tabulated in the comparison area (,233 out of 260) whose parents were never on welfare were themselves never on welfare . Although the application of the chi«square proves the mathematical relationship of f igures in this table, certain other questions concerning validity of findings must be raised. What does the term \"we l fare \" include in the NULIFE data? What does \"on welfare once\" mean « one cheque issued or one per iod of ten years? Did structured wel fare exist in the era of parental need? How aware were respondents of parental wel fare benef i ts? \"Were respondents ' answers co loured by shame or guilt? In the next table the independent variable, wel fare status of parents, is tested against the educational achievement of 1841 respondents in the l o w - i n c o m e sample area with a view to exploring a generational pattern. The null hypothesis was formulated that there is no significant relationship between the leve l of education of respondents and parents having been in rece ipt of public financial ass istance . Some adjustments have been made f r o m the NULIFE data concerning the various categor ies of education of respondents as fo l l ows : e lementary grades one to four and five to eight have been combined; high school years one, two to three and four to five have been combined; co l lege years one to two, three to four and five or m o r e have been combined. Similarly , the categories pertaining to frequency of parents receiv ing wel fare ( \"Once , \" \"Two to three \" and \"Often\") have been amalgamated as \"Once plus. \" For this table the calculated ch i -square value was 16. 539. The cr i t i ca l value of chi«square at the pre -de termined level of s ignif icance was 7 .815 . Thus, on the bas is that the calculated c h i -square value exceeded the cr i t ical chi«square value, the null hypothesis was re jec ted and the alternative hypothesis was accepted, that is , that 57 TABLE 16 WELFARE (PARENT) Per centage comparison of educational achievement of respondent with receipt of welfare by respondent's parent, low»income sample. * N = 1841 EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) None Elementary High School College Total Never Once Plus .3.69% 55. 65% 36.91% 3.75% 100.00% ( 60) ( 906) ( 601); ( 61); (1628) 0 .47% 53. 52% 45. 54% 0.47% 100. 00% ( 1) ( 114) \" ( 97) ( 1) ( 213) * Figur es in brackets indicate numerical values. there is a significant relationship between respondents' level of education and parents having been in receipt of wel fare . The contingency co»ef f i c ient was found to be 0, 09;4. The interpolated theoretical maximum C value for this size table was 0. 811. Hence, although this indicates a relationship was established, the degree was weak. In a study entitled \"School Per formance of Children in Famil ies Receiving.Public Assistance in Canada, \" (39) Dr. Mukhtar A. Malik proposes the theory, supported by data, that school per formance and receipt of financial assistance are related and that children whose famil ies are in receipt of assistance have a poorer school per formance r e c o r d than other children. Further, his paper shows evidence, that the educational achievement of parents is fo l lowed by their children despite the fact that parents ' aspirations f o r their children may be higher. Thus Dr. Malik supports the contention that goals and values of parents are transmitted to their children. hi keeping with the hypothesis of a generational link between wel fare status of parents and educational achievement of respondents based on the NUL.IFE data, it could be expected that respondents whose parents were never in rece ipt of wel fare would have achieved a higher educational l eve l . This i s , in fact, supported by the per centage of those respondents who attained years four to f ive in high school in relation to parental wel fare status. However, in view of the fact that there is a minimum schoo l - leav ing age and that \" s o c i a l p a s s e s \" c a r r y a number of students into high school , the most s i g -nificant area for Observation concerned those who continued their education beyond the legal schoo l - leaving age. In the following table, there fore , the drop-out rate is considered by examining the number who left high school pr ior to graduation. For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that respondents who achieved the level of four to f ive years in high school were graduates. In this table, the category of one year in high school has been amalgamated with two to three years in high school . 59 Per centage comparison of respondents who did and did not complete high school in relation to rece ipt of welfare by respondents' parents, l ow- income sample. EDUCATION (RESPONDENT) High School 1 - 3 years 4 » 5 years 28.02% 10,34% 38. 18% 7. 07% There is a significant drop in per centage (31, 61) in regard to respondents whose parents have been in receipt of welfare between those entering high school and those completing high school in contrast to the 17. 68 per cent drop-out rate among respondents whose parents have never been on welfare. How can the economic factor affecting school drop-outs be alleviated? Robert Lampman states that \"Few children, even those below average ability, who were not born and raised in poverty actually end up in poverty as adults\" and suggests that \"If poor children had the same opportunities, including p r e - s c h o o l training. . . as the non-poor . . . the rate of escape f r o m poverty would be higher. \" (37, p. 237) : TABLE 16 WELFARE (PARENT) Never Once Plus 60 One inference f r o m the foregoing discussion on education •would s e e m obvious, that is , if the educational achievement of the poor is in fer ior then the level of occupational achievement will also be in fer ior . Occupationaily, those with l imited education are m o s t often res t r i c ted to s impler , manual kinds of work. R. A. Jenness in \"Pover ty in a Growing E c o n o m y \" (33) makes the further important point that the real income of the unskilled worker will not change much f r o m the t ime he enters the labour f o r c e until the time he leaves for ty years later, yet his needs will vary considerably espec ia l ly in relation to the cr i t i ca l l i fe per iods - .the f i rs t twenty years after marr iage (greatest fami ly responsibi l i ty) and the twilight years ( lowest income) . If educational achievement and occupational status are related and educational achievement re f lec ts a generational link, then it is reasonable to consider the factor of a generational link in the occupational area . In this study, however , the null hypothesis was formulated that there is no significant relationship between occupational leve l of respondents and parents having been on wel fare . The categor ies l isted under occupation in the NULIFE data which have been eliminated in the following table are : \"Under five years , \" \"Student, \" \"Housewife, \" and \"Student and working, \" leaving 1144 respondents in the l o w - i n c o m e sample area. Again, the frequency of parents on wel fare has been amalgamated to \" T w i c e plus. \" 61 T A B L E 18 P e r centage compar ison of occupational status of respondent with rece ipt of wel fare by respondent 's parent, l o w - i n c o m e sample. * N = 1144 OCCUPATION (RESPONDENT): W E L F A R E (RESPONDENT) White Blue Collar Collar Labourer Total Never 14.92% 40 .91% 44. 17% 100. 00% ( 151) ( 414) ( 447) (1012) Once 10. 96% 39.73% 49.31% 100. 00% ( 8)., ( 29) ( 36), ( 73) Twice 16.95% 22 .03% 61.02% 100. 00% Plus ( 10) ( 13) ( 36) ( 59) * Figures in brackets indicate numerica l value For this table, the calculated ch i -square value was 9. 636. The cr i t i ca l value of ch i - square at the p r e d e t e r m i n e d level of s igni f icance was 9 -488 . Thus, s ince the calculated ch i - square value exceeded the cr i t i ca l ch i - square value, the null hypothesis was re jec ted and the alternative hypothesis was accepted, that is , that there is a significant relationship between the occupational status of respondents and parents having been in rece ipt of wel fare . The contingency co - e f f i c i en t was found to be 0. 091. The theoret ical max imum for this s ize of table was 0 .816 . This indicates that although a re lat ion-ship was established, the degree was weak. 62 In t e r m s of per centage distribution, the table demonstrates the expected result that there is a generational link or influence between respondents ' occupational status and parents ' wel fare status in that the highest concentration (61. 02 per cent) of respondents in the low status (labouring) employment category are of fspring of parents who have been in rece ipt of wel fare two or m o r e t imes . To strengthen the s ignif icance of the hypothesis, it could be expected that the highest concentration of those in high status (white col lar) employment would have had parents who had never been in receipt of public wel fare . H o w -ever , such is not the case since a higher per centage of respondents (16. 95); whose parents were in rece ipt of wel fare two or m o r e t imes had white co l lar employment than had respondents (14. 92 per cent) whose parents had never been on wel fare . Conclusions are further diluted by the fact that approximately 75 per cent of parents in the sample area and approximately 7 5 per cent of parents in the compar ison area were never on wel fare so that in both the sample and compar ison areas, the high per centage of labourers whose parents were in rece ipt of wel fare two or m o r e t imes represents a very small number of p e r s o n s . Walter Mil ler (42) has developed a thesis of occupational enculturation whereby he p r o f f e r s that as long as soc iety continues to r e q u i r e labouring and l ow-sk i l l ed jobs , a chi ld -rear ing pattern will develop that is suited to training individuals to hold these j obs . The f e m a l e - b a s e d child rearing unit, Mil ler maintains, is a p r i m e source of l ow-sk i l l ed labourers . Although not itself depicting a generational link, an examination of a table considering sex of the respondent (head of household) in relation to rece ipt of financial assistance by the respondent contains an interesting re f e rence to the present household make-up in both the sample and compar ison areas as well as important portends of the future. In the fol lowing table, the NULIFE categories f o r respondents ' wel fare status ( \"Once, \" \"Two or three t imes , \" \"Four or f ive t imes , \" and \"Six or m o r e t imes \" ) have been amalgamated as \"Once plus. \" T A B L E 19 P e r centage comparison of sex of respondent with rece ipt of wel fare by respondent, l o w - i n c o m e sample and m i d d l e -income compar ison sample. \" N•= 2256, low- income sample N = 244, midd le - income sample SEX (RESPONDENT) W E L F A R E (RESPONDENT) , L o w - i n c o m e Sample Middle - Income Sample Male Female Male Female Never 69.42% 46. 64% 94.71%. 88 .89% (1219) ( 239) ( 197) ( 32) Once 30. 58% 53. 14% 5. 29 % 11. 11% Plus ( 537) ( 261) ( 11) ( 4) Total 100. 00% 100. 00% 100. 00% 100. 00% (1756) ( 500) ( 208) ( 36) ^Figures in brackets indicate numerica l values. 64 The foregoing table i l lustrates that a lmost one-quarter (22. 94 per cent) of the economic units in the l o w - i n c o m e sample area are f e ma le - c en te red as compared to approximately one-seventh (14. 75 per cent);in the middle income comparison area. This finding is in line with Elizabeth Herzog ' s observation that \" . . . the family structure and sex patterns of the poor differ f r o m those of the non-poor . There i s evidence that not only separation and d ivorce vary in frequency in inverse proport ion to income but that fami ly s ize also varies inverse ly with income . There is evidence, too, that famil ies headed by women are far m o r e frequent among the poor . . . . \" ( 3 2 , p. 396); The table above also shows that only 11. IT per cent of the female respondents (household heads);in the compar ison area have been in rece ipt of f inancial assistance whereas 53. 14 per cent of female respondents in the sample area have been in rece ipt of wel fare . It might be presumed that the females in the compar ison area have better education and training and are thus better equipped to be f inancially independent. Another supposition could be that the female heads of households in the compar ison are m o r e l ikely to be in rece ipt of f inancial support f r o m an absent spouse them those in the l o w - i n c o m e s ample area . In many instances, the NULIFE data, and hence the conclusions may be questioned in t e rms of the ambiguity and broadness of s ome of 65 the questions, the lack of uniformity between questions applied to the respondents and those applied to the parents, and the number of \"Don't know\" responses (espec ia l ly in regard to respondents ' knowledge of parental wel fare status). Too, the lack of completeness of the data prov ided has made it difficult to give unreserved support to a hypothesis of the generational link in the poverty cyc le in the area of rece ipt of wel fare . Findings in this report indicated a generational trend which would support a further hypothesis that a multiplicity or combination of certain variables (education, occupation and financial ass istance as examined in this segment of the study) tends to b r e e d a culture of poverty which is transmitted f r o m generation to generation. As Stone and Schlamp point out \" . . . soc ia l , e conomic , pathological and health factors coa lese in the l i fe style of the l o n g - t e r m assistance fami l ies . . . these handicapping character is t i cs are assoc iated with wel fare dependence not as separate individual factors but in some interrelated fashion. \" (50. p. 7) Although it i s acknowledged that poverty af fects many m o r e people than those who rece ive help f r o m wel fare agencies , the focus in this study was directed to some of the character is t i cs concerning respondents whose parents may or may not have been in rece ipt of Welfare in an e f fort to examine the validity of the c la ims in the l i terature and in current r esearch that one concommitant of e conomic 66 poverty (in this case, designated by rece ipt of wel fare by parents) is an inherited poverty of opportunity by respondents, thus perpetuating the poverty cyc le . 67 CHAPTER VII CONCLUSIONS The overal l purpose of this study was to substantiate or refute the contention that some generational links existed in the \"culture of p o v e r t y \" as exempl i f ied by the study of a l o w - i n c o m e sample. It was felt that, while the sample did not provide a true representation of the \" c u l t u r e , \" it, in part, i l lustrated some of the character is t i cs of that \"culture. \" The main variables that were se lected for study were education, occupation, and rece ipt of public ass istance (wel fare) . These were examined f r o m the viewpoint of the respondent 's c i r c u m -stances and f r o m the standpoint of the respondent 's parent 's c i r c u m -stances . It was found that a relat ively strong generational link existed between the leve l of educational achievement of both respondents and their parents high education by the parents seemed to coincide with high academic achievement by the respondents. Conversely , low parental 68 educational achievement appeared to be c lose ly connected with low educational achievement by the respondent. There was not the same degree of co incidence between the occupational leve ls of the respondents and their parents . High occupational status, to some degree, coincided with high occupational status; l ikewise , low occupational status co incided with low occupational status. There appeared to be m o r e vert i ca l occupational mobil i ty than vert ica l educational mobil ity. Although the co inc idence of parents rece iv ing public ass istance and respondents rece iv ing ass istance was statistically significant, the relationship between these two variables , l ike the generational relationship of occupational leve ls , was weak. Several other indirect generational relationships were examined by this study. Each respondent 's educational leve l was Compared with his parent 's occupational status. This relationship was found to be moderate ly strong. Likewise, a moderate ly strong re la t ion -ship was found to exist when each respondent 's leve l of education was compared with his occupational status. As it is commonly bel ieved, the extent of the respondent 's education was found to be direct ly related to the incidence of the respondent 's having rece ived public ass istance . However , this relationship was found to be weak. The incidence of the respondent 's parent having rece ived public assistance was related to the extent of the respondent 's education as well as to the respondent 's 69 occupational status. In both cases, , the relationship was statistically-significant, however , in the latter case the cr i t ical and calculated chi -square values were so c lose that the statistical s ignif icance of the association was questionable. In both cases , the degree of relationship was weak. In addition to the above variables , this study also examined three incidental variables ; the incidence of unemployment among the respondents, the reasons that the respondents left school and the sex of the respondents. These were related respect ive ly to the respondent 's occupational status, the respondent 's l eve l of education and the incidence of rece ipt of public assistance among the respondents. In the f i r s t comparison, a direct relationship was found to exist between occupational status and incidence of unemployment. In the second comparison, it was found that over 50 per cent of those who left school in the e lementary grades did so for financial reasons . In the third instance, a compar ison was made between the l ow- income sample and the compar ison sample . It was found that there was a higher percentage of f emale - centered h o u s e -holds in the latter sample but it was also d i scovered that in these h o u s e -holds, there was a far higher incidence of public assistance in the l o w -income sample than in the compar ison sample. In summary, the variables that were se lected showed a statistically significant relationship. However, this relationship was 70 not strong. Future studies should bear in mind that parental attitudes, values, ch i ld -rear ing prac t i ces , and general \" l i f e - s t y l e \" are ins tru -mental in the transmiss ion of character is t i cs f r o m one generation to another. Thus, future ef forts should concentrate on obtaining m o r e var ied data f r o m both parents and respondents. A careful analysis of the causal generational factors in the cycle of poverty could provide m o r e adequate information for the development and implementation of plans to interrupt the cyc le of poverty . 71 BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS 1. Barber , Bernard. Social Stratification. New York : Harcourt Brace , 1957. 2. Bere lson , Bernard and Steiner, Gary A . Human Behaviour « An Inventory of Scientif ic Findings, New York, Harcourt , Brace and World Inc. 1964. 3. Chilman, Catherine S. Growing Up P o o r . Washington, D. C. U. S. Department of Health, Education and Wel fare , 1964. 4. 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National Urban Low- Income Family Evaluation, Research Manual, Canadian Welfare Council, Ottawa, 1967. 55. Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1961 Census of Canada. "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0107155"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Social Work"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "Generational links in the poverty cycle : an analysis of the significance of selected variables, education, occupation and receipt of public assistance, seen as generational links in the low-income life style"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42510"@en .