Self-Employment, Family Background, and Race

The offspring of self-employed fathers are more likely than others to become self-employed. Thus the historically low rates of self-employment among African-Americans and Latinos may contribute to their low contemporary rates. National data show that African-Americans and Latinos whose fathers were self-employed have lower rates of self-employment than other men whose fathers were not self-employed. Other aspects of family background explain only a small portion of the self-employment gap between African-Americans and native-born white ancestry groups. Male immigrants who have self-employed fathers overseas are no more likely to be self-employed than other immigrants are.