Mary C. King

Black Women’s Breakthrough into Clerical Work: An Occupational Tipping Model

In the past 35 years, black women workers have experienced a dramatic improvement in their labor market status, both absolutely and relative to other workers. Since 1955, black womens earnings have increased from one-third to two-thirds those of white men.1 This progress was achieved by a drastic redistribution among occupations. In 1940, two-thirds of black working women were employed in domestic and agricultural work, the lowest-paid rungs of the American labor market, as shown in Table 1. Had black women remained concentrated in these occupations, their relative earnings would be little better now.2 In 1988, only 3 percent of black working women were engaged in domestic and agricultural work. Now more black women are in clerical work than in any other occupation, as is true for women of all other ethnic backgrounds [U.S. Bureau of the Census 1988]. Access to occupations with better pay and promotion possibilities has been the key to economic advancement for white women and minority workers. Trieman and Hartmann [1981] estimate that occupational differentiation accounts for some 35-40 percent of the wage gap between men and women. Cunningham and Zalokar [1992] show that differential allocation among oc-

Are African-Americans Losing Their Footholds in Better Jobs?

The years from the early 1970s through the early 1990s were tough ones for most American workers. Unemployment rates rose above 6 percent of the civilian labor force during only two of the years between 1954 and 1974 but fell below 6 percent for only 4 of the 20 years between 1974 and 1994. From 1974 to 1993, real earnings stagnated, union density rates tumbled from 22 percent to 15 percent, and the real value of the minimum wage fell 25 percent from its peak [Mishel and Bernstein 1994]. Wage inequality grew, and earnings at the bottom fell far below those in Europe and Japan [Freeman 1994]. Contingent work arrangements spread, and fewer workers obtained benefits at every level of the job market [Gittleman and Howell 1995]. Opportunities appeared to be extremely limited for those with less than a college education, especially for the young. Slack labor markets in the past have yielded evidence of bumping, of one group sliding down an employment queue to displace a less-favored group below it. Examples from the Great Depression include those of white men moving into what had been black mens jobs [Sundstrom 1992], white women moving into jobs that had been held by black women, and men filling womens professions [Kessler-Harris 1982]. After World War II, men claimed womens manufacturing jobs [Milkman 1987], and as Dorothy Sue Cobble [1991] reported, white women replaced black men in waiting positions. This paper attempts to establish whether or not black women and men were bumped during the 1970s and 1980s from labor market niches they attained during

Black women’s labor market status: Occupational segregation in the United States and Great Britain

An initial exploration of the comparative labor market situation of black women in the United States and Great Britain reveals that race and gender play similar roles in allocating people among broad occupations in both nations despite differences in historical circumstances. However, a closer examination based upon measures of occupational segregation shows that labor market dynamics are quite different. Public employment and education do not reduce racial segregation in Britain as they do in the United States, and the immigrant status of many black Britons does not explain these differences. Only youth is associated with reduced segregation in both countries.

Occupational Segregation by Race and Sex in Brazil, 1989-2001

Race and sex differentials in labor market outcomes in Brazil appear substantial, phenomena often tied to occupational segregation. This paper presents an array of Duncan indices of dissimilarity to investigate the magnitude and contours of occupational differentiation in Brazil, as well as changes in the recent past, constructed from Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios (PNAD) microdata for 1989 and 2001. Findings include the facts that measurable occupational differentation by sex is over twice as high as that by race and that differentiation on both counts is highest among people 35 and older and outside the Northeastern region. Occupational differentiation by race appears comparable among women and men, but may be higher among women if accurately measured. Racial differentiation grows with education, while sexual segregation declines. Differentiation has declined modestly since 1989 in almost all categories except by race among younger people, men and the most educated.

Beyond market‐fundamentalist economics: an agenda for heterodox economics to change the dominant narrative

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to introduce heterodox economics as a viable alternative to market‐fundamentalist economics and to outline the articles of the special issue.Design/methodology/approach – This introductory article provides an overview and summary of the contributions in the special issue.Findings – Market‐fundamentalist economics has failed to adequately explain the economy or to provide guidance to policymakers that lead to widely‐shared prosperity and human well‐being. By contrast, heterodox economics offers social and historical narratives of both market and non‐market activities.Originality/value – The article helps general readers to get acquainted with visions and approaches that are alternative to market‐fundamentalist economics. This will allow them to imagine more concretely that a better world is possible.

Latinas and African American Women at Work: Race, Gender, and Economic Inequality, edited by Irene Browne

uses and abuses of the conventional system [of national income accounts] without becoming cynical about the entire subject?” (p. 135). In sum, Bartlett and her contributors have provided economics faculty with a motive to expand their notions of what belongs in their introductory courses – to appeal to women, people of color, and others put off by the limits of introductory economics courses – and very helpful material to aid them in that process. What is still needed is an introductory textbook that includes this material, so that we don’t have to perpetually supplement the text to include women and people of color in any substantive way, AND that presents the full spectrum of economic theory, including the heterodox traditions, AND – some day! – that also supports the use of a pedagogy oriented to “active learning.”