In this article, the authors examine the role of labor force attachment (LFA) in shaping the diverging wage trajectories of White, Black, and Hispanic women during their first postschooling decade. The authors take advantage of the longitudinal aspects of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth work history data by constructing detailed annual and cumulative measures of LFA and use them to examine women's wage profiles. The findings show constant racial and ethnic wage gaps among women with college education and a widening race gap among women with no college degree. The latter pattern emphasizes the importance of market-related processes in generating wage inequality among unskilled women. The authors document substantial racial and ethnic gaps within this group in the accumulation of LFA, especially immediately after the transition from school to work. This deficit in labor market experience plays a critical role in creating the diverse wage trajectories of White, Black, and Hispanic women with no college education.
Aigner, D.J., & Cain, G.G. (1977). Statistical theories of discrimination in labor markets. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 30, 175-187.
2.
Alon, S., Donahoe, D., & Tienda, M. (2001). The effects of early work experience on young women's labor force attachment. Social Forces, 79, 1005-1035.
3.
Alon, S., & Tienda, M. (2005). Job mobility and early career wage growth of White, African-American, and Hispanic women. Social Science Quarterly , 86, 1196-1217.
4.
Altonji, J.G., & Blank, R.M. (1999). Race and gender in the labor market. In O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (Eds.), Handbook of labor economics, (Vol. 3c, pp. 3144-3259). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Science.
5.
Anderson, D., & Shapiro, D. (1996). Racial differences in access to high-paying jobs and the wage gap between black and white women. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 49, 273-286.
6.
Antecol, H., & Bedard, K. (2004). The racial wage gap: The importance of labor force attachment differences across black, Mexican, and white men. The Journal of Human Resources, 39, 564-583.
7.
Baum, C.F., Schaffer, M.E., & Stillman, S. (2003). Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing. Stata Journal, 3, 1-31.
8.
Becker, B.E., & Hills, S.M. (1980). Teenage unemployment: Some evidence of the long-run effects on wages. Journal of Human Resources, 15, 354-372.
9.
Becker, B.E., & Hills, S.M. (1983). The long-run effects of job changes and unemployment among male teenagers. Journal of Human Resources, 17, 197-211.
10.
Becker, G.S. (1993). Human capital. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11.
Bernhardt, A., Morris, M., Hancock, M., & Scott, M. (2001). Divergent paths: Economic mobility in the new American labor market. New York: Russell Sage.
12.
Blau, F.D. (1998). Trends in the well-being of American women (1970-1995) . Journal of Economic Literature, 36, 112-165.
13.
Blau, F.D., & Kahn, L.M. (1997). Swimming upstream: Trends in the gender wage differential in the 1980's. Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 1-42.
14.
Bound, J., & Dresser, L. (1999). Losing ground: The erosion of the relative earnings of African American women during the 1980s. In I. Browne (Ed.), Latinas and African American women at work (pp. 61-104). New York: Russell Sage.
15.
Browne, I. (1999). Latinas and African American women in the U.S. labor market. In I. Browne (Ed.), Latinas and African American women at work (pp. 1-31). New York: Russell Sage.
16.
Budig, M.J., & England, P. (2001). The wage penalty for motherhood. American Sociological Review, 66, 204-225.
17.
Carneiro, P., Heckman, J.J., & Masterov, D. (2005). Labor market discrimination and racial differences in premarket factors (IZA Discussion Paper No. 1453). Retrieved March 14, 2006, from ftp://ftp.iza.org/dps/dp1453.pdf
18.
Chiswick, B. (1978). The effect of Americanization on the earnings of foreign-born men. Journal of Political Economy, 86, 897-921.
19.
Corcoran, M. (1999). The economic progress of African American women . In I. Browne (Ed.), Latinas and African American women at work (pp. 35-60). New York: Russell Sage.
20.
DiPrete, A.T., Goux, D., & Maurin, E. (2002). Internal labor markets and earnings trajectories in the post-Fordist economy: An analysis of recent trends. Social Science Research, 31, 175-196.
21.
Doeringer, P.B., & Piore, M. (1971). Internal labor markets and manpower analysis. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
22.
Duncan, B., Hotz, V.J., & Trejo, S.J. (2006). Hispanics in the U.S. labor market. In M. Tienda & F. Mitchell (Eds.), Hispanics and the future of America (pp. 228-290). Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
23.
Ellwood, D. (1982). Teenage unemployment: Permanent scars or temporary blemishes. In W. B. Freeman & D. A. Wise (Eds.), The youth labor market problem: Its nature, causes and consequences (pp. 349-385). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24.
Farber, H.S. (1993). The incidence and costs of job loss: 1982-91. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Microeconomics, (1), 73-132.
25.
Farber, H.S. (1997). The changing face of job loss in the United States, 1981-1995. (Working Paper No. 382). Princeton University, Industrial Relations Section.
26.
Fischer, C.S., Hout, M., Jankowski, M.S., Lucas, S.R., Swidler, A., & Voss, K. (2001). Inequality by design: Cracking the Bell curve myth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
27.
Gordon, D.M., Edwards, R., & Reich, M. (1982). Segmented work, divided workers: The historical transformation of work in the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
28.
Hakim, C. (1991). Grateful slaves and self-made women: Fact and fantasy in women's work orientations. European Sociological Review, 7, 101-121.
29.
Hakim, C. (2000). Work-lifestyle choices in the 21st century: Preference theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
Hamil-Luker, J. (2005). Women's wages: Cohort differences in returns to education and training over time. Social Science Quarterly , 86, 1261-1278.
31.
Heckman, J.J. (1979). Sample selection bias as a specification error . Econometrica, 47, 153-161.
32.
Hirsch, B.T. (2005). Why do part-time workers earn less? The role of worker and job skills. Industrial and Labor Review, 58, 525-551.
33.
Hodge, R.W. (1973). Towards a theory of racial differences in employment . Social Problems, 52, 16-31.
34.
Holzer, H.J. (2000). Career advancement prospects and strategies for low-wage minority workers (Working Paper). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
35.
Hotz, V.J., & Tienda, M. (2002). Education and employment in a diverse society: Generating inequality through school-to-work. In N. Denton & S. Tolnay (Eds.), American diversity: A demographic challenge for the twenty-first century (pp. 185-220). New York: SUNY Press.
36.
Hotz, V.J., Xiu, L., Tienda, M., & Ahituv, A. (2002). Are there returns to the wages of young men from working while in school?Review of Economics and Statistics , 84, 221-236.
37.
Hsueh, S., & Tienda, M. (1996). Gender, ethnicity, and labor force instability . Social Science Research, 25, 73-94.
38.
Kalleberg, A.L., Reskin, B.F., & Hudson, K. (2000). Bad jobs in America: Standard and non-standard employment relations and job quality in the United States. American Sociological Review, 65, 256-278.
39.
Katz, L.F., & Murphy, K.M. (1992). Changes in relative wages (1963-1987): Supply and demand factors. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107, 35-78.
40.
Keane, M., & Wolpin, K. (1997). The career decisions of young men. Journal of Political Economy, 105, 473-522.
41.
Klerman, J.A., & Karoly, L.A. (1995). The transition to stable employment: The experience of U.S. youth in their early labor market career. Berkeley : University of California, National Center for Research in Vocational Education.
42.
Light, A., & Ureta, M. (1995). Early-career work experience and gender wage differentials . Journal of Labor Economics, 13, 121-154.
43.
Maume, J.D. (2004). Wage discrimination over the life course: A comparison of explanations. Social Problems, 51, 505-527.
44.
McBrier, D.B., & Wilson, G. (2004). Going down? Race and downward occupational mobility for white-collar workers in the 1990s. Work and Occupations , 31, 283-322.
45.
McCrate, E., & Leete, L. (1994). Black—white wage differences among young women, 1977-86. Industrial Relations, 33, 168-183.
46.
Meyer, R.H., & Wise, D.A. (1982). High school preparation and early labor force experience. In W. B. Freeman & D. A. Wise (Eds.), The youth labor market problem: Its nature, causes and consequences (pp. 277-347). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
47.
Mincer, J. (1974). Schooling, experience and earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.
48.
Moen, P., & Smith, K.R. (1986). Women at work: Commitment and behavior over the life course. Sociological Forum, 1, 450-475.
49.
Monks, J. (1997). The impact of college timing on earnings. Economics of Education Review, 16, 419-423.
50.
Murphy, K.M., & Welch, F. (1990). Empirical age-earnings profiles. Journal of Labor Economics, 8, 202-229.
51.
Neal, D. (2004). The measured black—white wage gap among women is too small. Journal of Political Economy, 112, S1-S28.
52.
Neal, D., & Johnson, W.R. (1996). The role of premarket factors in black—white wage differences. Journal of Political Economy, 104, 869-895.
53.
Oettinger, G.S. (1996). Statistical discrimination and the early career evolution of the black—white wage gap. Journal of Labor Economics, 14, 52-78.
54.
Pager, D. (2003). The mark of a criminal record. American Journal of Sociology, 108, 937-975.
55.
Pager, D., & Western, B. (2005, April). Discrimination in low wage labor markets . Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia.
56.
Piore, M. (1975). Notes for a theory of labor market stratification . In R. C. Edwards, M. Reich, & D. M. Gordon (Eds.), Labor market segmentation (pp. 125-150). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
57.
Perreira, K.M., Harris, K.M., & Lee, D. (2007). Immigrant youth in the labor market. Work and Occupations, 34, 5-34.
58.
Reid, L.L., & Padavic, I. (2005). Employment exits and the race gap in young women's employment. Social Science Quarterly, 86, 1242-1260.
59.
Spence, M.A. (1973). Job market signaling. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87, 355-374.
60.
Spence, M.A. (2002). Signaling in retrospect and the informational structure of markets. American Economic Review, 92, 434-459.
61.
Spivey, C. (2005). Time off at what price? The effects of career interruptions on earnings. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 59, 119-140.
62.
Stier, H., & Tienda, M. (2001). The color of opportunity: Pathways to family, work, and welfare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
63.
Taniguchi, H., & Rosenfeld, R.A. (2002). Women's employment exit and reentry: Differences among whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Social Science Research, 31, 432-471.
64.
Tienda, M., Donato, K., & Cordero-Guzman, H. (1992). Schooling, color and labor force activity of women. Social Forces, 71, 365-395.
65.
Tienda, M., & Stier, H. (1996). Generating labor market inequality: Employment opportunities and the accumulation of disadvantages. Social Problems, 43, 147-165.
66.
Tomaskovic-Devey, D., Thomas, M., & Johns, K. (2005). Race and the accumulation of human capital across the career: A theoretical model and fixed-effects application. American Journal of Sociology, 111, 58-89.
67.
Topel, R.H., & Ward, M.P. (1992, May). Job mobility and the careers of young men . Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp. 439-479.
68.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2004). Educational attainment in the United States: 2004. Table 9. Retrieved Apri1 09, 2005, from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/education/cps2004/tab09-3.xls
69.
Wenk, D.A., & Rosenfeld, R. (1992). Women's employment exit and reentry: Job-leaving reasons and their consequences. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 11, 127-150.
70.
Willson, E.A. (2003). Race and women's income trajectories: Employment, marriage, and income security over the life course. Social Problems, 50, 87-110.
71.
Wilson, W.J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
72.
Wooldridge, J.M. (2002). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
