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The occupational segregation of Black women in the United States: A look at its evolution from 1940 to 2010

Author

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  • Olga Alonso-Villar

    (Universidade de Vigo)

  • Coral del Rio

    (Universidade de Vigo and EQUALITAS)

Abstract

Based on harmonized and detailed occupation titles and making use of measures that do not require pair-wise comparisons among demographic groups, this paper shows that the occupational segregation of Black women dramatically declined from 1940 to 1980 (especially in the 1960s and 1970s), it slightly decreased from 1980 to 2000, and it remained stagnated in the first decade of the 21st century. To assess the reduction in segregation, this paper extends recent measures that penalize the concentration of Black women in low-paid jobs and finds that the integration process slightly reversed after 2000. Regarding the role that education has played, this study highlights that only from 1990 onward, Black women with either some college or university degrees have lower segregation (as compared with their peers) than those with lower education. Nevertheless, in 2010, Black women with university degrees still tend to concentrate in occupations that have wages below the average wage of occupations that high-skilled workers fill.

Suggested Citation

  • Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral del Rio, 2013. "The occupational segregation of Black women in the United States: A look at its evolution from 1940 to 2010," Working Papers 304, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2013-304
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    File URL: http://www.ecineq.org/milano/WP/ECINEQ2013-304.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Herve Queneau, 2009. "Trends in occupational segregation by race and ethnicity in the USA: evidence from detailed data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(13), pages 1347-1350.
    2. Coral del Río & Olga Alonso-Villar, 2010. "Occupational segregation measures: A role for status," Working Papers 167, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    3. Boisso, Dale & Hayes, Kathy & Hirschberg, Joseph & Silber, Jacques, 1994. "Occupational segregation in the multidimensional case : Decomposition and tests of significance," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 161-171, March.
    4. Carlos Gradín, 2013. "Conditional occupational segregation of minorities in the US," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(4), pages 473-493, December.
    5. Suzanne Bianchi & Nancy Rytina, 1986. "The decline in occupational sex segregation during the 19705: census and cps comparisons," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 23(1), pages 79-86, February.
    6. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi, 1997. "Occupational Gains of Black Women since the 1964 Civil Rights Act: Long-Term or Episodic?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 311-314, May.
    7. Victor R. Fuchs, 1975. "A Note on Sex Segregation in Professional Occupations," NBER Chapters, in: Explorations in Economic Research, Volume 2, number 1, pages 105-111, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral Del Rio & Carlos Gradin, 2012. "The Extent of Occupational Segregation in the United States: Differences by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 179-212, April.
    9. Anne McDaniel & Thomas DiPrete & Claudia Buchmann & Uri Shwed, 2011. "The Black Gender Gap in Educational Attainment: Historical Trends and Racial Comparisons," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(3), pages 889-914, August.
    10. Alonso-Villar, Olga & del Río, Coral, 2010. "Local versus overall segregation measures," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 30-38, July.
    11. Katrinell M. Davis, 2013. "An End to Job Mobility on the Sales Floor: The Impact of Department Store Cost Cutting on African-American Women, 1970--2000," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 54-75, January.
    12. Francine Blau & Peter Brummund & Albert Liu, 2013. "Trends in Occupational Segregation by Gender 1970–2009: Adjusting for the Impact of Changes in the Occupational Coding System," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(2), pages 471-492, April.
    13. Silber, Jacques, 1992. "Occupational Segregation Indices in the Multidimensional Case: A Note," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 68(202), pages 276-277, September.
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    1. The Occupational Segregation of Black Women in the United States: A Look at its Evolution from 1940 to 2010
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2015-06-04 18:53:50

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    Cited by:

    1. Shelby R. Buckman & Laura Choi & Mary C. Daly & Lily Seitelman, 2021. "The Economic Gains from Equity," Working Paper Series 2021-11, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    2. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral Río, 2017. "Mapping the occupational segregation of white women in the US: Differences across metropolitan areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(3), pages 603-625, August.
    3. Coral del Río & Olga Alonso Villar, 2013. "Mujeres ante el empleo (y el desempleo) en el mercado laboral español," Working Papers 1305, Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Economía Aplicada.
    4. Coral del Rio & Olga Alonso-Villar, 2014. "The Evolution of Occupational Segregation in the U.S., 1940-2010: The Gains and Losses of Gender-Race/Ethnicity Groups," Working Papers 323, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Shelby R. Buckman & Laura Choi & Mary C. Daly & Lily Seitelman, 2021. "The Economic Gains from Equity," Working Paper Series 2021-11, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    6. Coral Río & Olga Alonso-Villar, 2015. "The Evolution of Occupational Segregation in the United States, 1940–2010: Gains and Losses of Gender–Race/Ethnicity Groups," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 967-988, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    occupational segregation; local segregation measures; race; gender; Black women; status; wages; United States.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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