The Changing Structure of Work in the United States: Part 1 — The Impact on Income and Benefits

Figures from Urquhart Michael , “The Employment Shift to Services: Where Did It Come From?” Monthly Labor Review, April 1984: P. 16.

In an attempt to clarify the term “services,” Gershuny (1987), for example, distinguishes three meanings in common use:

A. Service occupations: “people who are not themselves directly involved in the physical manipulation or transformation of materials.” That is, service is a type of activity (for example, the absence of manufacturing).

B. Service industries are those which produce intangible products, making anyone employed in these industries a service worker, regardless of the type of activity they perform.

C. A “particular sort of final consumption,” in which products are consumed at about the same time that they are produced.

Figure 5 shows the Gini Index of inequality. The Gini index ranges from 0 indicating perfect equality to 1 indicating perfect inequality. Between 1970 and 1990 the Gini index for household income grew from .394 to .428, signifying a significant increase in income inequality.

Loveman and Tilly (1988), surveying the literature on job quality and on income inequality, find the following points of agreement among those who want to explain increased inequality:

A. “The changing gender composition of employment is not important in explaining the growth of low-earning jobs or increased earnings inequality.”

B. “The shifting age distribution has played a small role in explaining the growth of low-earnings jobs.”

C. “Shifts in industrial and occupational mix explain little of the increase in earnings inequality, nor do shifts in occupational mix explain the rise in full-time, year-round jobs with low earnings.”

D. “The distribution of earnings within industries and occupations has become more unequal. Wage differentials between industries and between occupations have also widened.”

E. “Shifts in industrial structure have contributed to the increase in low-earnings employment but evidence is mixed regarding the extent of its contribution.” (Loveman and Tilly, 1988, p. 63)

Tilly (1988) reports that 2.4 percent of the 2.9 percent increase in part-time jobs between 1969 and 1987 was involuntary part-time work.

Tilly (1989) says that part-time workers are from 11 percent to 33 percent less likely to have job-related fringe benefits, while Belous (1989) asserts that fewer than half as many part-time workers have health insurance as do full-time workers. Axel (1988) cites a Census Bureau study that found that only one of every 15 part-timers was covered by group health insurance.

Appelbaum Eileen ; and Albin Peter . “Shifts in Employment, Occupational Structure, and Educational Attainment: 1973, 1979, and 1987.” In Skills, Wages and Productivity in Services: The US National Report to the Center for Educational Research and Innovation. Edited by Noyelle Thierry J. . Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, October 1989.

Belous Richard S. “How Human Resource Systems Adjust to the Shift Toward Contingent Workers.” Monthly Labor Review, March 1988: Pp. 7–12.

Bluestone Barry ; and Harrison Bennett . The Deindustrialization of America: Plant Closing, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry. New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., 1982.

Braden Bradley R. “Increases for Employer Costs for Employee Benefits Dampen Dramatically.” Monthly Labor Review, July 1988: Pp. 3–7.

Callaghan Polly ; and Hartmann Heidi . Contingent Work: A Chart Book on Part-Time and Temporary Employment, Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 1992.

Christopherson Susan ; and Noyelle Thierry . “The Contingent Worker: New Employment and Benefit Options for the Year 2000.” Quarterly report, Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia University, October 1988.

Christopherson Susan . “Production Organization and Worktime: The Emergence of a Contingent Labor Market.” In Flexible Workstyles: A Look at Contingent Labor. Women's Bureau, US Department of Labor, 1988.

Duchin Faye . “Role of Services in the US Economy.” In Technology in Services: Policies for Growth, Trade, and Employment. Edited by Guile Bruce R. and Quinn James Brian . Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988.

Gershuny Jonathan I. “The Future of Service Employment.” In The Emerging Service Economy. Edited by Giarini Orio . Oxford, England: Pergamon Press, 1987.

Grubb Norton W. ; and Wilson Robert H. . “Sources of Increasing Inequality in Wages and Salaries, 1960–80.” Monthly Labor Review, April 1989: Pp. 3–13.

Hayghe Howard V. “Employers and Child Care: What Role Do They Play?” Monthly Labor Review, September 1988: Pp. 38–44.

Kuhn Sarah ; and Bluestone Barry . “Economic Restructuring and the Female Labor Market: The Impact of Industrial Change on Women.” In Women. Households. and the Economy. Edited by Beneria Lourdes and Stimpson Catharine R. . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1987.

Loveman Gary W. ; and Tilly Chris . “Good Jobs or Bad Jobs: What Does the Evidence Say?” New England Economic Review. January/February 1988: Pp. 46–65.

Nathan Felicia . “Analyzing Employers' Costs for Wages, Salaries, and Benefits.” Monthly Labor Review, October 1987: Pp. 3–11.

Nine to Five (9 to 5), National Association of Working Women . The 9 to 5 National Survey on Women and Stress. Cleveland, OH: National Association of Working Women, 1984.

Noyelle Thierry J. Beyond Industrial Dualism: Market and Job Segmentation in the New Economy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987.

Plewes Thomas J. “Understanding the Data on Part-Time and Temporary Employment.” In Flexible Workstyles: A Look at Contingent Labor. Women's Bureau, US Department of Labor, 1988.

Quinn James Brian . “Technology in Services: Past Myths and Future Challenges.” In Technology in Services: Policies for Growth, Trade, and Employment. Edited by Guile Bruce R. and Quinn James Brian . Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988[b].

Sweeney John J. ; and Nussbaum Karen . Solutions For the New Work Force: Policies for a New Social Contract. Cabin John, MD: Seven Locks Press, 1989.

Tilly Chris Bluestone Barry , and Harrison Bennett . “The Reasons for Increasing Wage and Salary Inequality, 1978–1984.” University of Massachusetts at Boston: The John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs, February 1987.

Tilly Chris . “Two Faces of Part Time Work: Good and Bad Part-Time Jobs in US Service Industries.” In Part Time Work: Opportunity or Dead End? Edited by Lund Kitty and Warme Barbara . Praeger, 1989.

Tilly Chris . “Short Hours, Short Shrift: Understanding Part-Time Employment.” For the Economic Policy Institute, July 1988.

US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment . International Competition in Services. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, July 1987.