{"title":"Returns in the Labor Market: A Nuanced View of Penalties at the Intersection of Race and Gender in the US","authors":"M. Paul, Khaing Zaw, W. Darity","doi":"10.1080/13545701.2022.2042472","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"There have been decades of research on wage gaps for groups based on their socially salient identities, such as race and gender, but little empirical investigation on the effects of holding multiple identities. Using the Current Population Survey, this study provides new evidence on intersectionality and the wage gap in the US. This article makes two important contributions. First, there is no single “gender” or “race” wage penalty. Second, the evidence suggests that holding multiple identities cannot readily be disaggregated in an additive fashion. Instead, in a comparison of Black and White workers across gender, this study documents that the penalties associated with the combination of two or more socially marginalized identities interact in multiplicative or quantitatively nuanced ways. Further, the findings demonstrate that the presence of an additional intersectional penalty for Black women persists across time. HIGHLIGHTS When it comes to earnings, Black women face distinctive penalties for holding their race and gender identities simultaneously. The intersectional wage gap persists across time and during both tight and slack labor markets. The unexplained portion of the wage gap has contracted from 1980–2017; however, it remains large and significant. Intersectional analysis provides a useful framework to disentangle nuances in the labor market.","PeriodicalId":47715,"journal":{"name":"Feminist Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"18","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Feminist Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2022.2042472","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 18
Abstract
There have been decades of research on wage gaps for groups based on their socially salient identities, such as race and gender, but little empirical investigation on the effects of holding multiple identities. Using the Current Population Survey, this study provides new evidence on intersectionality and the wage gap in the US. This article makes two important contributions. First, there is no single “gender” or “race” wage penalty. Second, the evidence suggests that holding multiple identities cannot readily be disaggregated in an additive fashion. Instead, in a comparison of Black and White workers across gender, this study documents that the penalties associated with the combination of two or more socially marginalized identities interact in multiplicative or quantitatively nuanced ways. Further, the findings demonstrate that the presence of an additional intersectional penalty for Black women persists across time. HIGHLIGHTS When it comes to earnings, Black women face distinctive penalties for holding their race and gender identities simultaneously. The intersectional wage gap persists across time and during both tight and slack labor markets. The unexplained portion of the wage gap has contracted from 1980–2017; however, it remains large and significant. Intersectional analysis provides a useful framework to disentangle nuances in the labor market.
期刊介绍:
Feminist Economics is a peer-reviewed journal that provides an open forum for dialogue and debate about feminist economic perspectives. By opening new areas of economic inquiry, welcoming diverse voices, and encouraging critical exchanges, the journal enlarges and enriches economic discourse. The goal of Feminist Economics is not just to develop more illuminating theories but to improve the conditions of living for all children, women, and men. Feminist Economics: -Advances feminist inquiry into economic issues affecting the lives of children, women, and men -Examines the relationship between gender and power in the economy and the construction and legitimization of economic knowledge -Extends feminist theoretical, historical, and methodological contributions to economics and the economy -Offers feminist insights into the underlying constructs of the economics discipline and into the historical, political, and cultural context of economic knowledge -Provides a feminist rethinking of theory and policy in diverse fields, including those not directly related to gender -Stimulates discussions among diverse scholars worldwide and from a broad spectrum of intellectual traditions, welcoming cross-disciplinary and cross-country perspectives, especially from countries in the South