Black Female Earnings and Income Volatility

Abstract

I provide new evidence on earnings and income volatility among Black women in the United States over the past four decades by using matched data from the March Current Population Survey. I use a measure of total volatility that encompasses both permanent and transitory instability, and that admits labor-force transitions. My results show that, for Black women, earnings volatility fell over the entire period and income volatility rose after the mid 1980s. I also find that changes over time in labor force transitions into and out of work along with an increasing share of Black women continuously employed coincide with shifts in volatility levels and trends. Among Black women, differences in volatility levels emerge across education groups and marital status, though the trends typically remain consistent both across and within racial groups.