A Common Destiny Blacks and American Society (1989) / Chapter Skim
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Blacks in the Economy
Blacks in the Economy
Pages 269-328
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From page 270... ...
Jacob Lawrence Cabinet Makers (1946) Gouache with pencil underdrawing on paper sheet Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Joseph H
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From page 271... ...
The 1939 incomes of 48 percent of white families and 87 percent of black families are estimated to have been below the federal poverty thresholds (Smith, 1988. And while a total of one-half of all white families were below the poverty line, the per capita income of blacks was only 39 percent of white income (Taynes et al., 1986)
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From page 272... ...
A HALF CENTURY OF UNEVEN CHANGE GAINS AND STAGNATION World War II put America to work, and postwar prosperity and growth lifted living standards. Twenty years after Myrdal's study, 36 percent of black families and 9 percent of white families received incomes below poverty thresholds.
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From page 273... ...
BLACKS IN THE ECONOMY TABLE 6-1 Occupation and Industry of Employment for Black Men and Women (in percent) , 1939-1984 Sex and Occupation or Industry Employed in major industry groupings Black men 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1984 Agriculture, forestry, fisheries 42.5 24.9 12.7 5.3 2.8 3.4 Construction, manufacturing, mining 21.8 32.9 35.0 41.3 37.7 33.6 Transportation, communication, pub lic utilities 6.5 9.0 8.2 9.9 12.6 12.6 Wholesale and retail trades 10.1 12.1 13.8 15.1 15.1 16.7 Service, including finance, insurance, real estate 15.8 15.6 17.4 21.1 24.7 27.5 Public administration 1.6 3.9 5.6 7.3 7.0 6.2 Black women Agriculture, forestry, fisheries 16.1 9.4 3.6 1.4 0.6 0.4 Construction, manufacturing, mining 3.7 9.4 9.3 16.1 18.1 16.5 Transportation, communication, pub lic utilities 0.2 0.9 1.0 3.0 5.2 5.4 Wholesale and retail trades 4.2 10.3 10.1 12.2 12.6 14.3 Service, including finance, insurance, real estate 73.9 65.9 65.0 61.4 55.4 56.5 Public administration 0.6 2.2 3.8 5.9 8.0 6.9 Employed in major occupations Black men Professional 1.8 2.2 3.8 7.8 10.7 8.0 Proprietors, managers, officials 1.3 2.0 3.0 4.7 6.7 6.3 Clerical and sales 2.1 4.2 7.0 9.2 11.1 13.1 Craftsmen 4.4 7.8 9.5 13.8 17.1 15.8 Operatives 12.6 21.4 24.3 28.3 23.4 22.6 Domestic service 2.9 1.0 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 Other service 12.4 13.5 14.9 12.8 15.8 18.3 Farmers and farm workers 41.1 23.9 14.3 5.6 3.0 4.9 Nonfarm laborers 21.4 24.0 22.8 17.5 12.0 11.0 Black women Professional 4.3 5.7 6.0 10.8 14.8 13.9 Proprietors, managers, officials 0.7 1.4 1.8 1.9 3.7 5.2 Clerical and sales 1.4 5.4 10.8 23.4 32.4 33.1 Craftsmen 0.1 0.7 0.5 0.8 1.4 2.6 Operatives 6.2 14.9 14.1 17.6 14.9 12.0 Domestic service 60.0 42.0 35.2 17.5 6.5 5.9 Other service 10.5 19.1 21.4 25.7 24.3 24.8 Farmers and farm workers 16.0 9.3 9.6 1.6 0.6 0.5 Nonfarm laborers 0.8 1.5 0.6 0.7 1.4 1.8 Sources: Data from decennial censuses and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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From page 274... ...
In 1985, 31 percent of black and 11 percent of white families lived below the federal poverty line; the 1974 poverty rates had been 29.3 percent of black families and 7.3 percent of white families. Black's real per capita income in 1984 was one-third higher than it had been in 1968 and about 6 times its 1939 level; but that income was only 57 percent of white income, the same relative position as in 1971.
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From page 275... ...
A major reason for the divergence in the economic status of black families is that the economy has been especially unstable with respect to the jobs and wages of black adult males. Their gains and setbacks, absolutely as well as relative to whites, are a major part of the economic experiences of blacks over the past 50 years.
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From page 276... ...
For example, although the absolute and relative gaps between average incomes of two-parent black and white families are not very large, black families need more members in the work force in order to approach the living standard of white families. Because the earnings gap between black and white women is smaller than the gap between men, black working wives contribute a greater share of total black income than do white working wives.
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From page 277... ...
Blacks' labor market position is examined next through a description of their comparative earnings, employment, and occupational position. The last major section looks at equal employment laws and their enforcement, and then considers the special situation faced by black youth in the contemporary labor market.
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From page 278... ...
.! 1939 1944 1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 8 A Relative Black/White Odds / \ A of Being I/ V \ in Poverty 4,: White ~' YEAR Source: Data from decennial censuses and Current Population Surveys.
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From page 279... ...
Third, changes in family structure have resulted in more black women and children in poverty. In 1985, 75 percent of the black children living in poverty were in femaleheaded households; 42 percent of poor white children were in such households.
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From page 280... ...
White ~~ Black 1 1 1 1 1 1 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 YEAR Source: Data Tom decennial censuses and Current Population Surveys. 8 7 6 > o ILL Z LU m IL o en 4 ~ o > 3 Lu 1 families with an adult male include a second adult; very few female-headed families do.
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From page 281... ...
Had black family structure remained the same as in 1973, the percentage of poor black children would have fallen from 41 to 38 instead of rising to 43, and poverty among blacks aged 18-64 would have fallen from 24 to 23 percent instead of rising to 25 percent. Rather than family structure, it is low earnings that have led to increased poverty since the 1970s.
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From page 282... ...
TABLE 6-2 Median Family Incomes, by Race and Family Type, 1986 Family Type All families Married couples Wife in labor force Wife not in labor force Male head, no spouse present Female head, no spouse present Source: Data from Current Population Survey. $17,604 26,583 31,949 16,766 18,i31 9,300 Black White Black/White [Ratio $30,809 33,426 38,972 26,421 26,247 15,716 0.57 0.80 0.82 0.63 0.71 0.59 282
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From page 283... ...
Figure 64 presents information about the locations of the black and white poor in 1986. Compared with poor whites, poor blacks are more likely to live in central cities and in neighborhoods where a high proportion of residents are poor: approximately 57 percent of the black poor and 34 percent of the white poor resided in central cities.
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From page 284... ...
Table 6-3 presents data for the 14 metropolitan areas with the largest black populations in 1980, a year in which the census reported that 30 percent of blacks and 9 percent of whites were below the poverty line. It shows the average proportion of the total population that is poor in the census tract of 284
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From page 285... ...
In Dallas, for example, poor blacks lived in areas where about one-third of the population was impoverished, poor whites in areas where about one-tenth was below the poverty line. Poor blacks face a density of poverty 3 to 4 times higher than that for poor whites.
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From page 286... ...
Source: Data from Current Population Surveys.
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From page 287... ...
Blacks do have these demographic characteristics more often than whites, but, in every category, the poverty rates for blacks are 2 to 3 times those of whites with similar characteristics (see Table 6-4~. The first two columns of Table 64 show that blacks, more often than whites, were young, lived in central cities, and were unemployed.
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From page 288... ...
capita personal income (before taxes) of the black population was $6,277, which was 57 percent of the $10,939 per capita income of the white population.
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From page 289... ...
In the median state, combined benefits averaged just over $500 per month for a family of 3 in 1986, less than 75 percent of the poverty line. In several southern states, benefits were roughly one-half the poverty level.
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From page 290... ...
Even full-time work would leave a low-wage woman virtually no better off than receiving family assistance. Her benefits are on average 25 percent below the poverty line.
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From page 291... ...
Many of these absent fathers no doubt have limited incomes themselves, but their problems and responsibilities have only recently become the focus of some discussion and research. WEALTH Comparisons of net worth or wealth-defined as total assets minus total debts-shows that black households compare less favorably to white house 291
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From page 292... ...
Because a much larger fraction of black households is in the lowest income group (40 percent compared with 20 percent of white households) , the overall median wealth of white households is more than 11 times that of black households (Bradford, 1987:2~.
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From page 293... ...
hold the lowest fraction of wealth in such assets of all black households, nine-tenths of 1 percent (0.009~. Among high-income white households, these retirement assets account for the highest fraction of wealth held (Bradford, 1987:11 293
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From page 294... ...
For example, black women's annual earnings, relative to white women's, gained 15 and 23 percentage points in those two decades, respectively, while black men gained 9 percentage points relative to white men during both decades; see Table 6-5. For both sexes, these two decades thus accounted for nearly all the relative gain of the 45 years.
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From page 295... ...
d' Go cN 1 At o .= Ad Lf) Do ~ by cN ~i o - ~ x At Go Do ~of us ~ Lo usdot~ -- ~ ~O .
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From page 296... ...
Many are poorly educated, and low-skill and blue-collar jobs have been leaving the inner cities for the suburbs. There remains considerable debate about the extent to which these geographic changes have had an impact on black employment (Ellwood, 1986b; Kain, 1968; Kasarda, 1985; Leonard, 1987~.
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From page 297... ...
For 1970-1980, black males lost relative ground in all regions except the South, where they continued to gain. Black women reached parity in annual earnings with white women by 1970 in all regions but the South (Farley, 1987~.
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From page 298... ...
For example, in 1949, black women's mean yearly income of$2,189 was 72 percent of white women's mean of$3,031; 35 years later, black women's $8,622 mean yearly income was 89 percent of white women's $9,682 (Taynes et al., 1986~. One student of the subject summarizes the current situation as follows (Malveaux, 1986:19-20~: Promising aspects of black women's economic status include improvements made since the 1960's, inroads into typically white male occupations, and increased business ownership.
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From page 299... ...
The black-white gap in per capita annual earnings has all but disappeared among women. In 1970, black women had estimated lifetime earnings that were 91 percent those of white women.
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From page 301... ...
Two groups with identical labor force participation rates would have different employment rates if their unemployment rates differed. For example, if the participation rate is 80 percent, the employment/population ratio will be 72 percent if the unemployment rate is 10 percent, but 76 percent if the unemployment rate is 5 percent.
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From page 302... ...
Among women of that age, there has been a modest increase in the percent of blacks employed, but a much sharper increase among whites. At present, white women are more likely to be employed than black women, primarily because of higher unemployment among black women.
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From page 303... ...
1.8 O > 1.6 1.4 LL 1 .2 1 .0 95: LL o of LL No 55 LL G LL 85 75 65 45 35 (c) Men Aged 55 and Over 2.6 _ 2.4 _ 2.2 o G 2.0 ~ 1.8 O > 1.6 ~ 1.4 tar Relative Odds Ratio 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 YEAR 303 1975 1980 1985
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From page 304... ...
Thus, the difference in unemployment rates is arithmetically why the black employment/ population ratio fell 8 points while the white ratio fell 4.7 points. Age-specific employment trends for black and white men and women from 1950 to 1985 are summarized In Figures 6-7 and 6-8.
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From page 305... ...
., . Relative Odds Ratio of 1 1950 1955 Blacks -- ' ~~ Whites 1960 1965 1970 1975 YEAR (c)
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From page 306... ...
Again, these data are best viewed as summaries of the labor market conditions experienced by a group in a given year. They thus provide an excellent framework from which to compare such experiences in different years.
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From page 307... ...
Women spent increasing time on the job and decreasing time out of the labor market for the 1940-1985 period. Historically, black women have had higher rates of employment than white women, but, as noted above, this changed by the early 1980s, and largely because of higher black unemployment, white women now spend more years at work.
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From page 308... ...
In general, labor force participation rates of black males are greatest in those states with the lowest black unemployment rates (see Table 6-6~. Unemployment and short-term work have affected disadvantaged blacks 308
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From page 309... ...
. We caution that this subsample was intentionally biased to survey the most disadvantaged black youths and, therefore, its findings cannot be extrapolated to the entire black population of males aged 16-24.
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From page 310... ...
However, the evidence supporting this position is also extremely weak (see Chapter 10~. In contrast to this proposed explanation of declining black employment is a more structural explanation.
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From page 311... ...
.~ ~ cq a oN ~ oo c)
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From page 312... ...
The data clearly show that the adverse events had an earlier and more severe impact on the least educated workers and on blacks; thus, it is not surprising that black men with higher unemployment rates, more volatile occupations, lower wages, lower education, and disproportionate location in the urban areas of the most economically affected "snow belt" have lower labor force participation rates than white men. OCCUPATIONS Changes in Occupational Dictum Concurrent with the distressing trends in black employment, the occupational distribution of employed blacks has dramatically improved since 1939.
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From page 313... ...
Women Nonwhite YEAR Source: Data from decennial censuses and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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From page 314... ...
As we noted above, occupational differences between black and white women have narrowed considerably since 1960, when 45 percent of working black women were in personal household service (see Table 6-1, page 273~. In terms of broad occupational categories, blacks and whites are distributed similarly, although black women are twice as likely as white women to work in service occupations and more likely to work as laborers.
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From page 315... ...
EMPLOYMENT AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Although civil rights legislation, a general antidiscrimination ethos, affirmative action, and pressures from blacks and whites alike have greatly expanded opportunities for blacks, labor market discrimination has by no means completely disappeared. Rather, a very complicated picture has emerged.
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From page 316... ...
Time-series studies have been primarily concerned with the broad impact of equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws and their enforcement throughout the private and government sectors of the national labor market.
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From page 317... ...
Leonard also reported that black males experienced occupational upgrading as a result of affirmative action compliance. The first study on the race and sex composition of the work forces of government contractors and employers was that of Ashenfelter (1968)
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From page 318... ...
Given the ubiquity of the changes, studies that compare public-sector employers to private-sector employers have not been adequately specified to assess the impact of antidiscrimination activity or affirmative action that has been aimed at both sectors. In addition, if firms hire and fire within competitive labor markets, evidence of little difference in the relative wages between workers in contractor and noncontractor sectors is consistent with either strong or no effects of antidiscrimination programs: in a competitive market, the wages of identical labor would be equal in both sectors.
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From page 319... ...
In summary, while we cannot determine with the available data the precise numerical effect of antidiscrimination programs, the evidence does show positive effects. General changes in race relations, educational improvement, the state of the economy, and government policies that facilitate these factors and provide incentives for the equal employment opportunity of minorities have each had an important role in determining blacks' labor market status.
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From page 320... ...
First, employment and labor force participation rates are especially low among inner-city black youths from households below the poverty income line (Freeman and Holzer, 1986~. Second, young blacks with 12 or fewer years of education report earnings and occupations below those of equivalently educated whites.
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From page 321... ...
A possible explanation may be that black females gained access to expanding nonpersonal service employment and clerical opportunities during the 1950s and 1960s when fewer white females were in the labor force. The social employment networks of black females may therefore be more helpful to young black women attempting to gain access to clerical positions and other whiteand pink-collar jobs.
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From page 322... ...
They may turn to activities and life-styles that justify the stereotype and raise the adverse odds that similar blacks encounter in the future (see Anderson, 1980, 1986; Freeman and Holzer, 1986:14~. Poor employment experiences of black youths are due to many factors: inadequate demand for black youths by employers offering "good" jobs; discrimination; increased competition from white women who entered the labor force in great numbers during the late 1970s; and the relatively poor educational preparation of many black youths.
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From page 323... ...
However, as complements to these important goals, intensive remedial education and job training programs are the most effective methods for ameliorating the very serious problems currently affecting the labor market condition of large numbers of poorly educated and disaffected black youths. CONCLUSIONS Changes in labor market conditions and social policies of governments have had great effects on the economic status of black Americans.
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From page 324... ...
Pp. 46-84 in Orley Ashenfelter and James Blum, eds., Evaluating the Labor Market Effects of Social J~o~grams.
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From page 325... ...
Braddock, JoMills Henry, II, and James M McPartland 1987 How minorities continue to be excluded from equal employment opportunities: research on labor market and institutional barriers.
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From page 326... ...
1973 Changes in the labor market for black Americans, 1948-1972. Brookin,gs Papers on Economic Activity.
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From page 327... ...
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Malveaux, Julianne 1986 The Economic Status of Black Women: An Overview and Note on Interpretation.
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From page 328... ...
Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. Vroman, Wayne 1975 Changes in the labor market position of black men since 1964.
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