The Effect of Family Organization and Race and Ethnicity on Women’s Economic Status in New York State

Abstract

Family organization has a significant impact on women’s economic status; thus this article analyzes earnings and employment status data by two familial characteristics— marital status and the presence of children in the household—while disaggregating for race and ethnicity. When children are present in the household, women’s earnings are slightly lower; men’s earnings are flat or moderately higher. There is an obvious relationship between marriage, the presence of children, and the extent to which women and men engage in the paid labor force. Married women have a slightly higher share of the overall labor force than unmarried women but engage in less full-time employment and more part-time employment. Women with children in the household engage in less full-time employment than do women with no children. Compared to unmarried men, married men have a higher labor force participation rate, engage in more full-time and less part-time employment, and have the lowest unemployment rate. Men with children present in the household engage in more full-time employment than men with no children. The relationship between marital status and earnings, and between the presence of children and earnings, varies among races and ethnicities.