Irene Browne

Explaining the Black-White Gap in Labor Force Participation among Women Heading Households

For the first time in this century, Black women are participating in the labor force at lower rates than are White women. The Black-White gap in female labor force participation is driven by those in the severest need of income-women heading households. The author compares three explanations of the Black-White gap in labor force participation among female household heads-lack of human capital, lack of opportunities resulting from industrial restructuring, and disarticulation from mainstream institutions as described by theories of the underclass. Using a representative national sample from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, he finds that lower rates of labor force participation among Black women heading households are determined by Black-White differences in human capital as well as by characteristics associated with a breakdown in the processes linking Black women to the labor market. Overall, the largest impediments to labor force participation among women heading households are dropping out of high school, having a child under the age of six in the household, and being a long-term welfare recipient

Trends in women's economic status.

We consider trends over the last several decades in the economic status of women relative to men. Trends in the proportion of women employed outside the home, occupational sex segregation, the sex gap in earnings, and poverty are reviewed. A review of research that provides explanations for these gender inequalities is presented.

Sexual Needs, Control, and Refusal: How “Doing” Class and Gender Influences Sexual Risk Taking

The poor are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We know relatively little, however, about the sexual processes behind these disparities. Despite studies of gender enactments influence on sexual behaviors, few analyses examine the sexual “doing” of social class. We conducted sexual history interviews with 36 women and men, half middle class and half poor and working class. Most respondents reported that men have greater sexual appetites than women, but the middle class were more likely to cite social influences while the poor and working-class respondents primarily ascribed biological origins. The social construction of sexual controllability among the middle class contributed to perceptions that sex was a containable force. Poor and working-class women described mens sexual needs as physiologically irrepressible, which shaped sexual refusal. Our findings move beyond socioeconomic status (SES) as a “risk factor” and explore two examples of how gender and social class mediate peoples sexual selves and health.

Race, Ethnicity, and Wage Inequality Among Women What Happened in the 1990s and Early 21st Century?

This article examines trends in Black-White and Latina-White wage inequality among women from 1989 to 2003. Building on Bound and Dresser’s conclusion that the Black-White earnings gap widened in the 1980s, the authors find that in the 1990s and early 21st century, the Black-White earnings differential remained fairly constant and that education plays a pivotal role in the Latina-White earnings gap. In every year, Latinas show larger wage differences with Whites than Black women; however, when controlling education and experience, Black women see the greatest earnings disadvantage in comparison to White women. Although the Latina-White earnings differential stood at parity in 1989, a wage gap opened and steadily increased through the 1990s and into the 21st century. This trend was not the result of an influx of Latinas with few years of schooling entering the labor force; the largest opening in relative wages occurred among Latinas with a college degree.

“JUAN CROW” IN THE NUEVO SOUTH?

In this paper, we apply Omi and Winants theory of racial formation to understand how a new racial category of “Latino” is being created within Atlanta, a city firmly entrenched in a Black/White binary of race. Comparing Dominicans and Guatemalans in the Atlanta metro area, we show how two processes are “racializing” Latinos: 1) the homogenization of Latinos into a single “race” through state laws and policies and 2) the diversified understandings of and responses to race and racial categorization among Latinos based on their national origin and ethnicity and the specific Atlanta context. We argue that in moving beyond the Black/White binary, state laws that racialize Latinos create a two-dimensional category, with a homogenized “Latino” category as one axis and an illegal/legal distinction as the second axis. The meanings attached to “race” and the consequences that Latinos experience from racialization depend upon their perceived or actual legal status.

Different Game, Different Frame?: Black Counterdiscourses and Depictions of Immigration in Atlanta's African‐American and Mainstream Press

This article compares the discourse on immigration found in Atlantas African-American press (Atlanta Daily World) to that found in Atlantas mainstream press (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). The Daily Worlds black counterdiscourse situates immigration within a racial frame, discussing Latinos and immigrants interchangeably and casting African Americans as deserving yet excluded citizens. Immigrants appear in the Daily World as either allies in the struggle for civil rights or as competitors for jobs. Although the Daily World crime frames focus on concerns about racial profiling, the Journal-Constitution often depicts immigrants as criminals or discusses immigration in terms of legal status and policy.

Constructing citizenship: framing unauthorized immigrants in market terms

We show how conceptions of ‘market citizenship’ hold a central place in three distinct arenas: political theory; mainstream cultural narratives, and the views expressed by middle class Latino immigrants. Our analyses of both print media coverage and interviews with middle class Latino immigrants demonstrate that the narrative of market citizenship has heavily influenced the collective US understanding of state membership. This project not only finds a clear market framing in news coverage of the immigration issue, but finds that members of the Latino community have directly engaged with this frame and use it to refute the largely negative contentions of the popular press.

Adoption Context, Parental Investment, and Children’s Educational Outcomes

Adoptive parents invest more resources into their children than comparable nonadoptive and biological parents, a pattern strongly linked to parental socioeconomic status. But important differences among families related to adoption context (international, private, foster) could affect parental investment and its impact on educational outcomes. Using the National Survey of Children’s Health, our findings indicate that parental investment strategies are contingent on adoption context and partially mitigate the negative direct association between adoption and educational outcomes. Internationally adoptive parents invest significantly more than do other adoptive and nonadoptive families. Without these parental investments, however, internationally adoptive children tend to experience the poorest educational outcomes. Even though parental investments can help mitigate internationally adoptive children’s negative educational outcomes, private domestic adoptive families seem to be more successful at mitigation. Results highlight how social stratification dynamics shape selection into adoption venues while also influencing parents’ efforts to invest and translate investments into educational gains.

Racializing Latinos in the Nuevo South

As the number of Latinos in the United States (15.8 percent of the population) surpasses that of African Americans, scholars have accelerated the debate over how the new largest racial/ethnic minority will influence the traditional black/white color line.1 The nuevo south has become a major destination for immigrants since the 1980s.2Three developments have shaped this transformation: global economic restructuring, which created high demand for low-wage workers in the South; mass immigration of Latinos; and immigration laws and policies at federal and local levels. This essay examines the shift more closely, looking at how Latino immigration is transforming categories of race in the Atlanta metro area.