Wars and the Labor Market Outcomes of Minorities in the U.S

This chapter reviews key literature studying the effects of wars on minority and underrepresented groups in U.S. labor markets in the 20th century. These labor markets, characterized by historically pervasive barriers to entry into certain occupations and industries, promotions, and fair pay for underrepresented workers, experienced severe challenges during times of war. These challenges served to break down some of the barriers faced by underrepresented workers. Recent years have shown that sudden labor shortages, similar to those induced by large-scale wars, are not a feature of the past. Hence, a better understanding of such shortages and their effects on different groups continues to be important, especially since opportunities and equality in the labor market are closely intertwined with political, legal, and socioeconomic equality. The focus here is on the labor market outcomes of Black and white women, as well as Black men, during and after the two World Wars. Their labor inputs compensated for the lack of white male workers during the war years; however, only WWII generated significant and more prolonged socioeconomic progress for both groups. This chapter summarizes theoretical considerations that can explain why some war-induced labor market shocks are persistent while others are not, as well as the empirical literature related to the labor market experiences of women and Black workers during and after the World Wars.