ABSTRACT
Within poverty research there are two problem-setting traditions. One, concerned with the creation of a "secondary income distribution", and other defines the occupational structure as the strategic point for intervention. Unemployment is an example of a problem that is treated both in the direct distribution tradition and in the work tradition. Within each of these problem-setting traditions there are further choices to be made. A jobs-related program that is consistent with the requirements in the economic realm proceeds from the assumption that employment should be based on ability: those who can do the job best should get work. In the distinction between poverty and inequality it is sometimes believed that issues of structure are addressed through study of distribution. Social movements, such as the civil rights and the women's movements, send out ripples signaling a change in the context, stimulating thought and action, and creating a diffuse sense that there is a need for a new programmatic agenda for research.
