This study, first published in 1996, investigates the effects that local labor market conditions may have on the economic status of women and blacks, relative to their white male counterparts. More precisely, it examines the impact that local labor market conditions have on estimates of labor market discrimination investigated in this study are wage discrimination and occupational discrimination. This title will be of interest to students of sociology, gender studies and urban studies.
Race and gender differentials in the labour market remain stubbornly persistent. Although the black/white wage gap appeared to be converging rapidly during the 1960s and early 1970s, black/white male wages have now stagnated for almost two decades. The black/ white female wage gap has actually risen over the past 15 years. The Hispanic/white wage gap has risen among both males and females in recent years. Not until the late 1970s did it begin to converge steadily (although a significant gender gap still exists). Of course, these wage gaps are only the most visible form of differences in labour market outcomes by race and gender. Substantial differences in labour force participation, unemployment rates, occupational location, non-wage compensation, job characteristics and job mobility all exist by both race and sex. Among women, white women's wages have risen steadily since 1980. Black women's wages almost reached parity with white women in the 1970s, but have diverged again in the last 15 years, as black women have experienced little wage growth. Wages and unemployment rates are often affected by overall labour force participation rates, which have changed dramatically over time. Moreover, racial minorities suffer disproportionately from lower wages because they are more likely than whites to have minority co-workers. Focusing attention on broad, aggregate industries or occupations will miss racial inequality resulting from processes that occur at the job level. This compendium is designed to provide an introduction into the literature that analyses these differences. This book investigates differentials by race and gender in the urban labour markets. It attempts to summarise some of the most important research studies relating to race and gender in the labour markets. Black-white earnings differentials are analysed that includes a treatment of differences in the ratios of employment to population. Earnings by ethnicity are also discussed. This book will be of interest to students and researchers related to fields of sociology, gender studies and urban studies.
The Declining Importance of Race and Gender in the Labor Market provides historical background on employment discrimination and wage discrepancies in the United States and on government efforts to address employment discrimination
This study, first published in 1996, investigates the effects that local labor market conditions may have on the economic status of women and blacks, relative to their white male counterparts. More precisely, it examines the impact that local labor market conditions have on estimates of labor market discrimination investigated in this study are wage discrimination and occupational discrimination. This title will be of interest to students of sociology, gender studies and urban studies.
Women and minorities have entered higher paying occupations, but their overall earnings still lag behind those of white men. Why? Looking nationwide at workers across all employment levels and occupations, the author examines the unexpected ways that prejudice and workplace discrimination continue to plague the labor market. He probes the mechanisms by which race and sex groups are sorted into "appropriate" jobs, showing how the resulting segregation undercuts earnings. He also uses an innovative integration of race-sex queuing and segmented-market theories to show how economic and social contexts shape these processes. His analysis reveals how race, sex, stereotyping, and devaluation interact to create earnings disparities, shedding new light on a vicious cycle that continues to the leave women and minorities behind.
Despite today's booming economy, secure work and upward mobility remain out of reach for many central-city residents. Urban Inequality presents an authoritative new look at the racial and economic divisions that continue to beset our nation's cities. Drawing upon a landmark survey of employers and households in four U.S. metropolises, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles, the study links both sides of the labor market, inquiring into the job requirements and hiring procedures of employers, as well as the skills, housing situation, and job search strategies of workers. Using this wealth of evidence, the authors discuss the merits of rival explanations of urban inequality. Do racial minorities lack the skills and education demanded by employers in today's global economy? Have the jobs best matched to the skills of inner-city workers moved to outlying suburbs? Or is inequality the result of racial discrimination in hiring, pay, and housing? Each of these explanations may provide part of the story, and the authors shed new light on the links between labor market disadvantage, residential segregation, and exclusionary racial attitudes. In each of the four cities, old industries have declined and new commercial centers have sprung up outside the traditional city limits, while new immigrant groups have entered all levels of the labor market. Despite these transformations, longstanding hostilities and lines of segregation between racial and ethnic communities are still apparent in each city. This book reveals how the disadvantaged position of many minority workers is compounded by racial antipathies and stereotypes that count against them in their search for housing and jobs. Until now, there has been little agreement on the sources of urban disadvantage and no convincing way of adjudicating between rival theories. Urban Inequality aims to advance our understanding of the causes of urban inequality as a first step toward ensuring that the nation's cities can prosper in the future without leaving their minority residents further behind. A Volume in the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality
This volume contains revised versions of the papers presented in 1971 at the Princeton University Conference on Discrimination in Labor Markets, and the formal discussions of them. This paper is by Kenneth Arrow, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, who lays the theoretical foundations of the economic analysis of discrimination in labor markets. Finis Welch discusses the relationship between schooling and labor market discrimination. Orley Ashenfelter's paper presents a method for estimating the effect of an important institution—trade unionism—on the wages of black workers relative to whites. Ronald Oaxaca provides a framework for measuring the extent of discrimination against women. Finally, Phyllis Wallace examines public policy on discrimination and suggests strategies for public policy in this area. Originally published in 1974. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
One of Choice magazine's Outstanding Academic Books of 1999 Accepted wisdom about the opportunities available to African American and Latina women in the U.S. labor market has changed dramatically. Although the 1970s saw these women earning almost as much as their white counterparts, in the 1980s their relative wages began falling behind, and the job prospects plummeted for those with little education and low skills. At the same time, African American women more often found themselves the sole support of their families. While much social science research has centered on the problems facing black male workers, Latinas and African American Women at Work offers a comprehensive investigation into the eroding progress of these women in the U.S. labor market. The prominent sociologists and economists featured in this volume describe how race and gender intersect to especially disadvantage black and Latina women. Their inquiries encompass three decades of change for women at all levels of the workforce, from those who spend time on the welfare rolls to middle class professionals. Among the many possible sources of increased disadvantage, they particularly examine the changing demands for skills, increasing numbers of immigrants in the job market, the precariousness of balancing work and childcare responsibilities, and employer discrimination. While racial inequity in hiring often results from educational differences between white and minority women, this cannot explain the discrimination faced by women with higher skills. Minority women therefore face a two-tiered hurdle based on race and gender. Although the picture for young African American women has grown bleaker overall, for Latina women, the story is more complex, with a range of economic outcomes among Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Central and South Americans. Latinas and African American Women at Work reveals differences in how professional African American and white women view their position in the workforce, with black women perceiving more discrimination, for both race and gender, than whites. The volume concludes with essays that synthesize the evidence about racial and gender-based obstacles in the labor market. Given the current heated controversy over female and minority employment, as well as the recent sweeping changes to the national welfare system, the need for empirical data to inform the public debate about disadvantaged women is greater than ever before. The important findings in Latinas and African American Women at Work substantially advance our understanding of social inequality and the pervasive role of race, ethnicity and gender in the economic well-being of American women.
Is the United States justified in seeing itself as a meritocracy, where stark inequalities in pay and employment reflect differences in skills, education,and effort? Or does racial discrimination still permeate the labor market, resulting in the systematic under hiring and underpaying of racial minorities, regardless of merit? Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s African Americans have lost ground to whites in the labor market, but this widening racial inequality is most often attributed to economic restructuring, not the racial attitudes of employers. It is argued that the educational gap between blacks and whites, though narrowing, carries greater penalties now that we are living in an era of global trade and technological change that favors highly educated workers and displaces the low-skilled. Stories Employers Tell demonstrates that this conventional wisdom is incomplete. Racial discrimination is still a fundamental part of the explanation of labor market disadvantage. Drawing upon a wide-ranging survey of employers in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles, Moss and Tilly investigate the types of jobs employers offer, the skills required, and the recruitment, screening and hiring procedures used to fill them. The authors then follow up in greater depth on selected employers to explore the attitudes, motivations, and rationale underlying their hiring decisions, as well as decisions about where to locate a business. Moss and Tilly show how an employer's perception of the merit or suitability of a candidate is often colored by racial stereotypes and culture-bound expectations. The rising demand for soft skills, such as communication skills and people skills, opens the door to discrimination that is rarely overt, or even conscious, but is nonetheless damaging to the prospects of minority candidates and particularly difficult to police. Some employers expressed a concern to race-match employees with the customers they are likely to be dealing with. As more jobs require direct interaction with the public, race has become increasingly important in determining labor market fortunes. Frequently, employers also take into account the racial make-up of neighborhoods when deciding where to locate their businesses. Ultimately, it is the hiring decisions of employers that determine whether today's labor market reflects merit or prejudice. This book, the result of years of careful research, offers us a rare opportunity to view the issue of discrimination through the employers' eyes. A Volume in the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality
