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Occupational Earnings Behavior And The Inequality Of Earnings By Sex And Race In The United States

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  • EDWARD N. WOLFF

Abstract

This paper examines differences in earnings by occupations, and within occupations by sex and by race, on the basis of the 1/100 Public Use Samples of the 1960 and 1970 U.S. Population Censuses. It employs interval analysis to establish 32 categories of occupations with similar characteristics. Little relation was found between mean earnings of occupational groups and the degree of earnings inequality within them. When the figures are examined by sex, it was found that men, on average, earned over twice as much as women in both years, but women's earnings were more unequally distributed (as measured by the Gini coefficient). Women are concentrated in the traditional “female” occupations, which tend to be those at the bottom of the earnings scale, and men have a monopoly of the higher paid occupations. But mean earnings for men exceeded those for women in all occupational groups except one, even in the primarily female occupations. Standardizing first for occupational distribution and then for earnings by occupation, it was found that earnings differences between males and females within occupation had a greater impact on the overall male‐female earnings ratio than did differences in occupational distribution by sex. In contrast, when the figures are examined by race, the change in occupational distribution (primarily the movement of blacks out of farming and of blacks and Spanish speakers out of personal services) was the major factor. There was also a considerable degree of earnings inequality within demographic groups. The degree of inequality was in the main reduced when the demographic groups were subdivided into occupations, but it was still substantial. Additional factors like time worked, schooling, and experience must be taken into consideration in understanding this phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward N. Wolff, 1976. "Occupational Earnings Behavior And The Inequality Of Earnings By Sex And Race In The United States," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 22(2), pages 151-166, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:22:y:1976:i:2:p:151-166
    DOI: j.1475-4991.1976.tb01148.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen Nord, 1984. "An Economic Analysis of Changes in the Relative Shape of the Interstate Size Distribution of Family Income during the 1960's," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 28(2), pages 18-25, October.
    2. Peter J. Lambert & S. Subramanian, 2012. "Disparities in Socio-Economic Outcomes: Some Positive Propositions and their Normative Implications," Working Papers 281, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    3. Marc Fleurbaey & Peter Lambert & Domenico Moramarco & Vito Peragine, 2024. "Within-group inequality: a comparison of different definitions and a new proposal of decomposition," SERIES 04-2024, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Sep 2024.
    4. Stephen Nord, 1984. "Urban Income Distribution, City Size, and Urban Growth: Some Further Evidence," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 325-329, August.
    5. Elizabeth Monk-Turner & Charlie Turner, 2001. "Sex Differentials in Earnings in the South Korean Labor Market," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 63-78.
    6. Peter Lambert & S. Subramanian, 2014. "Disparities in socio-economic outcomes: some positive propositions and their normative implications," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 43(3), pages 565-576, October.

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