2026/01/27 by David K. Crockett, Marie Yeh, Meredith Rhoads +6 · 1 voice
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · #Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations #Global trade, sustainability, and social impact #Innovation and Socioeconomic Development
paper · doi:10.1177/07439156261422736
openalex publication_date 2026/01/27 · openalex created_date 2026/01/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
This article explores the U.S. antipoverty service ecosystem, an assemblage of institutions, organizations, policies, norms, and various actors that serve people living below the federal poverty line and those designated as ALICE (asset limited, income constrained, employed), colloquially known as the working poor, a category that accounts for 42% of the U.S. population. The authors conceptually map an antipoverty service ecosystem, which they conceptualize as an antipoverty landscape, that is, the geographic and relational space consumers must navigate to secure resources adequate for development and flourishing. Employing a service ecosystem framework, the authors direct attention to features of the antipoverty landscape that enable or impede consumers’ resource pursuits. They map three key dimensions of the antipoverty landscape: (1) the types of resources people pursue, (2) the types of access to resources they can obtain, and (3) the types of resource providers operating in the setting. Variation on these dimensions forms a basis for different relationships to resource providers. The authors conclude by discussing an antipoverty policy matrix that illustrates how current governmental, regulatory, and corporate policies provide resources embedded in relationships that under some conditions perpetuate structural inequities.