IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v87y2020ics0966692320300582.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Disability, wages, and commuting in New York

Author

Listed:
  • Wong, Sandy
  • McLafferty, Sara L.
  • Planey, Arrianna M.
  • Preston, Valerie A.

Abstract

In the U.S., substantial employment and wage gaps persist between workers with and without disabilities. A lack of accessible transportation is often cited as a barrier to employment in higher wage jobs for people with disabilities, but little is known about the intraurban commuting patterns of employed people with disabilities in relation to their wage earnings. Our study compares wages and commute times between workers with and without disabilities in the New York metropolitan region and identifies the intraurban zones where residents experience higher inequities in wage earnings and commute times. We obtained our data from the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the American Community Survey (ACS) for the 2008–2012 time period. We used linear mixed-effects models and generated separate models with log hourly wage or one-way commute time as the dependent variable. We find significant differences in wages and commute times between workers with and without disabilities at the scale of the metropolitan region as well as by intraurban zone. At the metropolitan scale, disabled workers earn 16.6% less and commute one minute longer on average than non-disabled workers. High commute and wage inequalities converge in the center, where workers with disabilities are more likely to use public transit, earn 17.1% less, and travel nearly four minutes longer on average than workers without disabilities. These results suggest that transport options are less accessible and slower for disabled workers than they are for non-disabled workers. Our findings indicate a need for more accessible and quicker forms of transportation in the center along with an increased availability of centrally located and affordable housing to reduce the disability gap in wages and commute times. We also find that workers with disabilities generally seek higher wages in exchange for longer commute times, but the results differ by race/ethnicity and gender. Compared to white men, minority workers earn much less, and white and Hispanic women have significantly shorter commute times. Our findings offer new geographic insights on how having a disability can influence wage earnings and commute times for workers in different intraurban zones in the New York metropolitan region.

Suggested Citation

  • Wong, Sandy & McLafferty, Sara L. & Planey, Arrianna M. & Preston, Valerie A., 2020. "Disability, wages, and commuting in New York," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:87:y:2020:i:c:s0966692320300582
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102818
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692320300582
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102818?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Craig, Lyn & van Tienoven, Theun Pieter, 2019. "Gender, mobility and parental shares of daily travel with and for children: a cross-national time use comparison," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 93-102.
    2. Valerie Preston & Sara McLafferty, 2016. "Revisiting Gender, Race, and Commuting in New York," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(2), pages 300-310, March.
    3. Lingqian Hu, 2015. "Job Accessibility of the Poor in Los Angeles," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 81(1), pages 30-45, January.
    4. Lisa Schur, 2002. "The Difference a Job Makes: The Effects of Employment among People with Disabilities," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 339-347, June.
    5. Steven Farber & Antonio Páez, 2010. "Employment status and commute distance of Canadians with disabilities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(6), pages 931-952, November.
    6. Nicholas A. Jolly, 2013. "The impact of work-limiting disabilities on earnings and income mobility," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(36), pages 5104-5118, December.
    7. Myers, Andrew & Ward, Bryce & Wong, Jennifer & Ravesloot, Craig, 2020. "Health status changes with transitory disability over time," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    8. Milakis, Dimitris & Cervero, Robert & van Wee, Bert & Maat, Kees, 2015. "Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 76-86.
    9. Douglas Kruse & Lisa Schur & Sean Rogers & Mason Ameri, 2018. "Why Do Workers with Disabilities Earn Less? Occupational Job Requirements and Disability Discrimination," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 798-834, December.
    10. Crane, Randall, 2007. "Is There a Quiet Revolution in Women's Travel? Revisiting the Gender Gap in Commuting," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8nj9n8nb, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Wong, Sandy, 2018. "The limitations of using activity space measurements for representing the mobilities of individuals with visual impairment: A mixed methods case study in the San Francisco Bay Area," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 300-308.
    12. Purvi Sevak & Andrew J. Houtenville & Debra L. Brucker & John O'Neill, 2015. "Individual Characteristics and the Disability Employment Gap," Mathematica Policy Research Reports fd851c445b824550a3973689a, Mathematica Policy Research.
    13. Mitra, Sophie & Posarac, Aleksandra & Vick, Brandon, 2011. "Disability and poverty in developing countries : a snapshot from the world health survey," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 62564, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. J. Tom Mueller & Matthew M. Brooks & José D. Pacas, 2022. "Cost of Living Variation, Nonmetropolitan America, and Implications for the Supplemental Poverty Measure," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1501-1523, August.
    2. Nicola Fortune & Bernadette Curryer & Hannah Badland & Jennifer Smith-Merry & Alexandra Devine & Roger J. Stancliffe & Eric Emerson & Gwynnyth Llewellyn, 2022. "Do Area-Level Environmental Factors Influence Employment for People with Disability? A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-16, July.
    3. repec:iab:iabjlr:v:55:i::p:art.11 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Wozniak, Marcin, 2021. "Spatial matching on the urban labor market: estimates with unique micro data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 55(55), pages 1-.11.
    5. Ralph, Kelcie & Morris, Eric A. & Kwon, Jaekyeong, 2022. "Disability, access to out-of-home activities, and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 209-227.
    6. Wozniak, Marcin, 2021. "Spatial matching on the urban labor market: estimates with unique micro data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 55, pages 1-11.
    7. Marcin Wozniak, 2021. "Spatial matching on the urban labor market: estimates with unique micro data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Isabelle Wachter & Christian Holz-Rau, 2022. "Gender differences in work-related high mobility differentiated by partnership and parenthood status," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1737-1764, December.
    2. Ralph, Kelcie & Morris, Eric A. & Kwon, Jaekyeong, 2022. "Disability, access to out-of-home activities, and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 209-227.
    3. Anzhelika Antipova, 2020. "Analysis of Commuting Distances of Low-Income Workers in Memphis Metropolitan Area, TN," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Evelyn Blumenberg & Fariba Siddiq, 2023. "Commute distance and jobs-housing fit," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 869-891, June.
    5. Hu, Lingqian & Schneider, Robert J., 2017. "Different ways to get to the same workplace: How does workplace location relate to commuting by different income groups?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 106-115.
    6. Chidambaram, Bhuvanachithra & Scheiner, Joachim, 2020. "Understanding relative commuting within dual-earner couples in Germany," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 113-129.
    7. Hui Wang & Qianwen Wang & Yayun Qu & Xiao Wu, 2025. "Household responsibility and commuting: the spatial constraints of employees and self-employed rural-to-urban migrant women in China—the case of Nanjing," Transportation, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 307-324, February.
    8. Laura McCarthy & Alexa Delbosc & Graham Currie & Andrew Molloy, 2021. "Trajectories and transitions: mobility after parenthood," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 239-256, February.
    9. Li, Chunjiang & Widener, Michael J., 2025. "How is grocery shopping completed in households with children? Gender gaps and typologies of grocery shopping in four Canadian metropolises," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    10. Calvo, Elena, 2021. "Commuting y autoempleo en Países Bajos [Commuting and self-employment in Netherlands]," MPRA Paper 107322, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Jerònia Cubells & Oriol Marquet & Carme Miralles-Guasch, 2020. "Gender and Age Differences in Metropolitan Car Use. Recent Gender Gap Trends in Private Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-14, September.
    12. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Commuting and self-employment in Western Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Lingqian Hu, 2021. "Gender differences in commuting travel in the U.S.: interactive effects of race/ethnicity and household structure," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 909-929, April.
    14. Claver, Raúl, 2021. "Determinantes del tiempo de desplazamiento al trabajo en la población femenina auto-empleada de Dinamarca [Pattern of Commuting time of female self-worked population in Denmark]," MPRA Paper 106373, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Le, Huyen T.K. & Buehler, Ralph & Fan, Yingling & Hankey, Steve, 2020. "Expanding the positive utility of travel through weeklong tracking: Within-person and multi-environment variability of ideal travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. Nihan Akyelken, 2017. "Mobility-Related Economic Exclusion: Accessibility and Commuting Patterns in Industrial Zones in Turkey," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 175-182.
    17. Luis Camarero & Renato Miguel Carmo & Sofía Santos, 2020. "Condiciones ambientales y diferenciación social en los patrones de movilidad: el caso de las desigualdades de género en el Área Metropolitana de Lisboa," Revista de Estudios Regionales, Universidades Públicas de Andalucía, vol. 0(y), pages 145-172.
    18. Liping Wang & Cifang Wu & Songnian Zhao, 2022. "A Review of Spatial Mismatch Research: Empirical Debate, Theoretical Evolution and Connotation Expansion," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    19. Dian Nostikasari & Nicole Foster & Lauren Krake, 2024. "Inhabiting digital spaces: An informational right to the city for mobility justice," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(13), pages 2585-2602, October.
    20. Button, Patrick & Walker, Brigham, 2020. "Employment discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Evidence from a field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:87:y:2020:i:c:s0966692320300582. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.