Ratio of Female to Male Hourly Earnings

1
Ratio of Female to Male Hourly Earnings
Chapter 14 Labor Market Discrimination

• 1. Gender and Racial Differences

• The ratio of female to male hourly earnings
  rose substantially from the late 1970s to the
  early 1990s and has leveled off since then.

• The wage gap has decreased because the skills
  of women have risen, the industrial and
  occupational distributions have shifted in
  favor of women, and the decline in unionism
  has decreased male wages more than female
  wages, and discrimination has declined.

2
Ratio of Black to White Weekly Earnings

• The ratio of black to white hourly earnings
  has not changed much over the past 3 decades.

3
Unemployment Rate

• The unemployment rate difference between
  white female and white males has narrowed over
  time.

• Blacks have an unemployment rate that is
  consistently twice as great of those of whites.

4
Occupational Distribution by Gender, 2003

• Women are 47 percent of the employed labor
  force.

• Women are over- represented in lower paying
  occupations such secretaries and elementary
  school teachers.

• Women have made significant gains in recent
  decades into higher paying occupations.

5
Occupational Distribution by Race, 2003

• Blacks are 11 percent of the employed labor
  force.

• Blacks are over- represented in lower paying
  occupations such janitors and cleaners and
  nursing aides.

6
Educational Attainment, 2003

• White males are likely to have a college
  education than females and blacks among
  persons 25 and older.

• The quality of education received by blacks
  has generally been inferior that acquired by
  whites.

7
Earnings by Education, Race, and Sex, 2002

• Full-time women and black workers earn less
  than white males at each educational level.

• Black males tend to earn more than black and
  white females.

8
Wage Discrimination in the Labor Market

• The demand for black workers is formed by
  arraying employers from lowest for highest
  discrimination coefficients.

• The horizontal portion of the demand curve is
  composed of non-discriminating employers.

• The downward sloping portion consists of
  discriminating employers.

• The quantity supply of black workers supplied
  rises as the black-white wage ratio rises.

• The intersection of the supply and demand for
  black workers determines the black-white ratio
  and the number of black workers employed.

9
Occupation Crowding
5. The Crowding Model Occupational Segregation

• By crowding women into a narrow set of
  female occupations, men will receive high
  wage rates of Wm in male occupations, while
  women will receive low wage rates of Wf in
  female occupations.

• Employers may practice job segregation if male
  (white) workers dont like to work with female
  (black) workers.

10
Index of Occupational Segregation by Gender

• The index of segregation shows the percentage
  of women (men) who would have to change
  occupations for women to be distributed among
  occupations in the same proportions as men.

• The index of segregation by gender has fallen
  moderately over time.

11
Index of Occupational Segregation by Race

• The index of segregation by race has fallen
  moderately over time.