This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff. Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu. The Economic Status of Black Women: An Exploratory Investigation Staff Report United States Commission on Civil Rights October 1990 Part I Introduction Chapter 1 Overview Background American black women have long experienced discrimination both because of their race and because of their sex. As American blacks, they have shared all the injustices suffered by their race. Like their fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers, they inherited the legacy of slavery and were denied equal access to education, jobs, and public places. As women, they found their opportunities restricted further, their job choices even more limited, and their pay even lower than those of their male relatives. Upon their release from slavery, many black women sought to stay home and raise their children, but found that this was a luxury they could not afford.(1) To help support themselves and their families, they found jobs, most as farm laborers and domestic servants, some as laundresses and seamstresses, and a few as teachers. Most of these jobs entailed low wages, long hours, and poor working conditions. Their jobs in domestic service conflicted with their desire to lead independent lives with their families: as servants, they were typically required to live in and often not allowed to see their children more than once a week. The fact that they flocked to the few jobs in manufacturing open to them--the jobs with the worst working conditions and the lowest pay--indicates their desire to leave their domestic service jobs. More recently, as more jobs opened up to black women, they have left domestic service altogether. Most often, they have taken other service sector jobs and manufacturing jobs. They also have found jobs in clerical, sales, managerial, and professional occupations. Accompanying the changes in black women's work opportunities were changes in the social, political, and legal climate of the country. The civil rights movement brought about a new public awareness of racial issues and helped to change prejudiced attitudes. The 1963 Equal Pay Act made it illegal for employers to pay persons performing identical jobs differently based on their gender. and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act made discriminatory employment practices illegal. All these factors have contributed to the opening up of new opportunities for black women after 1940.(2) This study of black women's economic status has three major components. First, the report traces the history of black women's labor force status, especially their wages and occupations, from 1940 to the present. Second, the report looks in detail at the current status of black women's wages and occupations in comparison to white women's. Finally, the report considers other factors that affect black women's current economic status, including their labor force participation and unemployment rates, their family structure, and the incomes of other family members. The statistical analysis in this report is based on data on individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 taken from a variety of data sources, primarily the * 1940-80 Public Use Samples of the Censuses of Population, * the 1970-87 March Current Population Surveys, and * the 1984 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. The population censuses provide a consistent series of data from 1940 to 1980 for the historical analysis, and the CPS and SIPP data provide more detailed information about the situation of black women in the 1980s. All three data sets permit comparisons of women with similar background characteristics. The report compares the labor market outcomes--e.g., wages, occupations, labor force participation rates, and unemployment rates--of black women with those of non- Hispanic white women(3) with similar background characteristics (e.g., education, age, work experience, region of residence, marital status, and number of children). The results of these comparisons offer information about whether and to what extent black women have worse labor market outcomes than white women with similar background characteristics and provide insight into the possible effects of racial discrimination in the labor market on black women's economic status. Discrimination is reprehensible in all its manifestations and has far-reaching and insidious consequences. A unmarried report, however, cannot examine comprehensively all aspects of discrimination with respect to black women. The focus of this report is on assessing the effect of racial discrimination in the labor market on black women's economic status. Thus, the report does not address discrimination outside of the labor market, such as discrimination in the provision of education, nor does it consider discrimination based on gender. Finally, although the report looks at labor market discrimination from 1940 on, it does not attempt to evaluate the overall present-day legacy of past discrimination, but focuses instead on discrimination that occurs in the present. Black Women in Broader Perspective: A Comparison of Black Women with Women from Other Racial and Ethnic Groups Throughout this report black women are compared with white women. It is helpful, first, to place black women's economic status in a broader context. This section provides a general comparison of the wages, labor force status, and social characteristics of black women with those of white women and women from other minority groups--Native Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders (here- after, Asians), and women of Spanish origin (hereafter, Hispanics). This section also compares the wages of women of all racial and ethnic groups with those of white men. The information in this section is derived from published data from the 1980 census.(4) Women's hourly earnings vary across minority groups. Table 1.1 shows the mean hourly earnings of women from each of the above minority groups in comparison to those of white women.(5) Relative hourly earnings are shown by educational level for all working women and for women working full time. Overall, black women earn about 2 percent less than white women, Native American and Hispanic women earn about 10 percent less, and Asian women earn about 12 percent more. Earnings differences between minority women and white women are generally narrower when hourly earnings are compared within education levels. Black, Native American, and Hispanic women's relative earnings are typically higher and Asian women's lower within schooling levels than overall. Thus, differences in schooling levels across groups appear to account for some of the differences in earnings between minority and white women. Except for Native Americans, minority women earn more relative to white women at higher schooling levels. Black and Asian women's hourly earnings actually exceed those of white women at higher schooling levels. On the other hand, Native American and Hispanic women earn less than white women at all schooling levels. When the sample is restricted to full-time workers only, a slightly different pattern emerges. Black women's relative hourly earnings are lower than when all workers are included in the sample: among full-time workers, black women earn about 6 percent less than white women. The relative hourly earnings of women from other minority groups, on the other hand, are virtually unchanged. Not only are black women's overall relative earnings lower when the sample is restricted to full-time workers, but their relative earnings are also lower at all educational levels, especially at the high educational levels. For instance, whereas highly educated black women earn roughly 12 percent more than similarly educated white women and roughly 2 percent more than similarly educated Asian women when all workers are considered, when only full-time workers are considered, highly educated black women earn only 3 percent more than white women and earn roughly 9 percent less than Asian women. Overall, Native American and Hispanic women appear to earn substantially less, black women about the same or slightly less, and Asian women somewhat more than white women. There is no a priori reason for women from all minority groups to have the same average hourly earnings, however. That black women earn about the same as white women and Asian women more than white women does not necessarily mean that women from these groups are not affected by labor market discrimination on the basis of their race. Indeed, a U.S Commission on Civil Rights report(6) finds that Asian women earn about the same as white women with the same skills. Asian women's higher overall earnings come about because they have generally better labor market skills. Similarly, black women's long tradition of labor force attachment may have caused them to develop better labor market skills than white women. Thus, it is possible that labor market discrimination on the basis of race lowers their earnings even though they earn roughly the same as white women. Earnings differences among minority groups are not, therefore, by themselves informative about the relative extent of current labor market discrimination experienced by members of the different minority groups. Women from different minority groups may have different labor market skills, and they may also have different family situations and different degrees of labor force attachment. All of these factors could contribute to the differences in hourly earnings across minority groups. Thus, women's earnings differentials should be studied in the context of their labor market skills. labor force attachment, and family situations. The labor force status and social characteristics of women do vary considerably across minority groups, as is shown in table 1.2. Black and Asian women are more likely to participate in the labor force than white women and women from other minority groups. Yet black women, like Native American and Hispanic women, experience high unemployment rates in comparison to white and Asian women. As a result, roughly the same percentages of black and white women are employed. In comparison, Asian women are considerably more likely and Native American and Hispanic women slightly less likely to be employed. Roughly equal percentages (ranging from 53 to 56 percent) of women in all groups except for Asians had worked at some point during 1979, but fully 71 percent of Asian women had worked during 1979. Whereas Asian women have the highest labor force participation rate overall, black women have the highest labor force participation rate among married women: 61 percent. Asians follow with a participation rate of 59 percent, and the three other groups all have participation rates of roughly 48 percent. Similarly, black women have the highest labor force participation rate among married women with children under 6. In fact, unlike women from other groups, married black women with young children are more likely to participate in the labor force than married black women as a group. Among unmarried women, on the other hand, black women have labor force participation rates that are comparable to those of most other groups, with the exception of unmarried Asian women, whose labor force participation rate is relatively high. Compared to unmarried white and Asian women with children under 6 unmarried black women with young children are less likely to participate in the labor force, but they are more likely to participate in the labor force than unmarried Native American and Hispanic women with children under 6. Black women's family situations are markedly different from those of the other groups. The percentage of black women who are married is substantially lower than the percentage for any of the other groups. Only 35 percent of black women are married, compared with 49 percent of Native Americans, the group with the next lowest percentage married, and 60 percent of Asians, the group with the highest percentage married. Moreover, unmarried black women are much more likely to have children under 6 than women from any other group: 25 percent of unmarried black women have children under 6. The rates are 11 percent for Native Americans and Hispanics and roughly 3 to 4 percent for Asian and white women. In sum, black women earn more than Hispanics and Native Americans and less than Asians. Like Asians, they have high labor force participation rates (except among unmarried women), but like Hispanics and Native Americans, they have high unemployment rates as well. Finally, black women are much less likely to be married, and unmarried black women are much more likely to have young children than women from the other minority groups. Yet, despite the diversity in labor force status and social characteristics and the differences in earnings patterns of women from different ethnic and racial groups noted above, the earnings of women are much more similar across groups than the earnings of women are to those of white men. This point is illustrated in figure 1.1 [figure 1.1 is not available in electronic format], which shows the hourly earnings of full-time workers at different educational levels for white and minority women and for white men. White men earn substantially more than women from any group, including white women, at all educational levels. This finding suggests that in addition to studies that compare minority women with white women such as the one undertaken in this and other U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reports,(7) future research should investigate issues relating to labor market discrimination against women in general in comparison to men. Black Women's Economic Status: Issues and Outline Black and white women's economic situations are quite different. Later chapters of this report show that black women's current economic status is well below white women's. Black women's average family income is less than two-thirds and black women's median family net worth less than one-fifth as high as white women's. Black women are also five times more likely to be in poverty, five times more likely to be on welfare, and three times more likely to be unemployed than white women.(8) Many factors, some related to labor market discrimination and others not, may combine to lower black women's economic status. One factor that may be partly responsible for black women's lower economic status is the large differences in the family situations of black and white women noted in the preceding section. Black women are much less likely to be married than white women, and unmarried black women are considerably more likely to have children than their white counterparts. These differences in family structure mean that black women are more likely than white women to be the only earners in their families, and if they are. to be responsible for children. A second factor that might lower black women's economic status is the relatively lower incomes of other family members, especially the lower labor market earnings of their husbands: on average black husbands earn roughly two-thirds as much as white husbands.(9) It should be remembered in this regard that labor market discrimination against black men may be partially responsible for black men's lower labor market earnings.(10) Because other family members contribute relatively less to family income, black women's labor market earnings constitute a higher proportion of their families' incomes than white women's. Overall, black women contribute one-third of their family's income, whereas white women contribute one-fourth.(11) Consequently, factors that lower black women's labor market earnings can have substantial adverse effects on their economic status and on that of their families. Factors that lower black women's labor market earnings can be divided into those that affect their hourly wages and those that affect the number of hours they work. Part II of this report analyzes the former, and part III deals with the latter. Part II compares the wages and occupations of black and white women with comparable skills and characteristics to determine how much black women's earnings and occupational attainment are lowered by racial discrimination in the labor market. Part II also considers whether black women's relative labor market status differs by region, age, or educational level. Census data are used to look at the time period from 1940 to 1980. The current status of black women is studied using data taken from Current Population Surveys (CPS) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). In seeking to ascertain the extent to which labor market discrimination on the basis of race is responsible for trends in black women's wages, part II distinguishes between two types of labor market discrimination. The first is "wage discrimination," or employment practices that result in black women earning less than equally skilled white women working in identical jobs. The second is "occupational discrimination," or employment practices that restrict the types of jobs available to black women. Both of these types of discrimination could lower black women's hourly wages: wage discrimination directly, and occupational discrimination by preventing black women from working in better paying jobs or occupations. Chapter 3 begins part II of this report by developing a conceptual framework for studying black women's wages. Chapters 4 and 5 use census data to consider possible reasons for the black and white female wage gap and sources of black women's wage increases over the 1940-80 period. Chapter 4 explores differences in the educational levels and geographic location of black and white women. Chapter 5 traces the history of black and white women's occupations over the period and considers reasons for occupational differences between black and white women, including occupational discrimination. Chapter 6 measures the combined effects of the increased education and the changing occupational, industrial, and regional distribution of black women on their wages relative to those of white women. It then considers other possible reasons for trends in black women's relative wages over the 1940-80 period, one of which is wage discrimination on the basis of race. Chapter 7 takes a closer look at the reasons for black women's continued low relative wages today. Using the more sophisticated data sources available for the contemporary period, the SIPP and the CPS, it improves upon the measures of skill derived from census data. Most notably, it considers the role of previous work experience in determining wages. Where part II focuses on the determinants of black women's hourly wages, part III explores the factors that influence the number of hours they work and discusses differences in the overall economic status of black and white women. It uses CPS and SIPP data to compare the economic status of black and white women, to look at the importance of black women's earnings in determining their overall economic status, and to analyze racial differences in women's unemployment rates and labor force participation rates. Part III begins, in chapter 8, with an overview comparing the economic status of black and white women and highlighting the crucial relationship between work and economic status for black women. Chapter 9 investigates reasons for differences in the labor force participation and unemployment rates of black and white women. Part IV concludes the report with a summary of results, including an assessment of the effect of labor market discrimination on black women's economic status, and makes recommendations. (1) This brief history of black women's work beginning with slavery and extending to the mid-20th century is drawn from Jacqueline Jones, Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow (New York: Basic Books, 1989). (2) See chap. 7 of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, The Economic Progress of Black Men (1986) for a discussion of the effects of civil rights policy on black Americans. (3) For convenience, non-Hispanic white women are referred to as "white" throughout the remainder of the report. (4) Information on women's earnings was taken from U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1980 Census of the Population, Subject Reports vol. 2, Earnings by Occupation and Education, tables 3-7. Information on other characteristics was taken from U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1980 Census of the Population vol. 1, Characteristics of the Population, chap. C., General Social and Economic Characteristics: part I, United States Summary, tables 166 and 168. (5) The mean hourly earnings reported in published census volumes are calculated for each minority group as the sum of the earnings of all women in the minority group divided by the sum of the hours worked by women in the minority group. As such, they represent the amount earned on average per hour worked by members of the minority group rather than the average hourly earning for members of the minority group. Thus, women who work many hours a year are overrepresented in the averages reported by the Census. In the sections of the report that rely on data on individuals, hourly earnings are calculated for each individual and then averaged across individuals. Many of the discrepancies between the figures reported in this section and figures reported in the remainder of the report can be attributed to these differences in methods of calculating avergaes. Another reason for the discrepancies is the differences in the samples considered. for instance, the published census volumes report averages for all women over 16, whereas this report has generally limited the sample to women between the ages of 18 and 64. (6) U.S. commission on Civil Rights, The Economic Status of Americans of Asian Descent: An Exploratory Investigation (1988). (7) Labor market discrimination against Asian women is discussed in a 1988 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Report, The Economic Status of American of Asian Descent: An Exploratory Investigation. (8) See chap. 8 for a more detailed overview of black women's current economic status. (9) See table 9.2 for a comparison of the earnings of black and white husbands. (10) See U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, The Economic Progress of Black Men (1986) for a study of labor market discrimination against black men. (11) See table 10.2. Chapter 2 Determinants of Black Women's Economic Status: 1940 to the Present Black women have long been among the most poorly paid groups in the United States. In 1940 black women earned less than one-third as much per hour as white men and less than two-thirds as much as black men. Since then, black women's wages have grown at a faster rate than those of most other groups: black women's hourly wages have grown at an average rate of 45 percent per decade, more than twice the white male growth rate of 21 percent and a third higher than the black male growth rate of 33 percent. Despite this rapid growth, black women's wages continue to be lower than those of other groups. In the mid-1980s, black women earned only about 57 percent as much as white men, 83 percent as much as black men, and 88 percent as much as white women. Wages are one important determinant of a group's economic status. Another is the group's hours of work. Black women have historically exhibited comparatively high levels of labor force participation. In 1940 44 percent of black women were in the labor force, compared with only 29 percent of white women. Since 1940, however, white women's labor force participation rates have grown much more quickly than black women's. By 1987 approximately the same percentage (65 percent) of black and white women were in the labor force, and because black women experience higher unemployment rates than white women, a smaller percentage of black women were actually working. A third important determinant of economic status for women is their family situation. Historically, smaller percentages of black than of white women have been married with husband present and larger percentages have been unmarried (either never married or previously married) with children. These historical differences have increased considerably in recent decades. In 1980 fewer than one-half of black women between the ages of 25 and 54 were married with husband present, compared with over three-quarters of white women. Fully 40 percent of black women were unmarried with children, compared with fewer than 15 percent of white women. This chapter uses data from the decennial Censuses of Population from 1940 to 1980 and from the March Current Population Surveys (CPS) for more recent years to trace the evolution of black women's wages, labor force participation, and marital status from 1940 to the present. To highlight the unique character of black women's recent economic history and to place black women's economic progress in context, black women are frequently compared with other groups. Black women's wages are compared with those of white men, the most economically successful group and the group least likely to experience labor market discrimination. Black women's wages are also compared with those of white women. Black Women's Wages: 1939-86 The story of black women's wages from 1939 to the present day is a story of remarkable rates of growth. Black women's wages began at an extremely low level, increased rapidly, and by 1986 had almost reached parity with white women's wages. Yet, in spite of this high rate of growth, black women's wages are still lower than those of most other socioeconomic groups. In 1939 black women earned 30 percent as much per hour as white men. This was much less than half the white women's relative wage of 67 percent and less than two-thirds the relative wage of black men, which was 48 percent. After 1939 black women's wages grew very quickly. Table 2.1 reports the decennial growth rates from 1939 to 1986 of real (i.e., adjusted for inflation) hourly wages of black women, white women, black men, and white men. During this period, black women's wages grew at an average rate of 44.7 percent per decade. This figure is much higher than the 33.4 percent growth rate experienced by black men, whose wages grew at the next fastest pace. White women and white men each experienced average decennial growth rates of around 20 percent. The pace of growth of black women's wage rates was by no means uniform during the almost 50-year period. Black women's wages more than doubled during the 1940s, far out-stripping the wage growth of the other groups. The rate of growth of black women's wages slowed down considerably during the 1950s, when it was lower than for any other group except white women. In the 1960s black women's wage growth rates increased again, and again. they were much higher than for the other groups. Although the growth of black women's wages slowed somewhat during the 1970s, it still remained at a level substantially above that of other groups: in fact, the real wages of both white men and white women actually declined slightly during the decade. Black women's wage growth appears to have almost stopped during the 1980s, and for the first time since 1940, white women's wages have increased faster than black women's. The 1980s have also seen very slow wage growth for white men and sizable wage losses for black men. How have the high wage growth rates for black women affected their wages relative to other groups over the 1939-86 period? Table 2.2 reports the hourly wages of black women, white women, and black men relative to the hourly wages of white men for selected years between 1939 and 1986. As noted above, in 1939 black women earned much less per hour than the other three groups. Over the subsequent decades, black women's wages increased substantially relative to those of white men: from 29.6 percent of white men's wages in 1939 to 56.9 percent of white men's wages in 1986. By far the largest relative increase in black women's wages occurred during the 1940s, when their relative wage jumped from 29.6 percent to 46.1 percent. The 1950s witnessed a relative decline in black women's wages. Black women's relative wages jumped again during the 1960s, but have shown much slower increases since then. Table 2.3 reports black women's wages relative to those of white women. Relative hourly, weekly, and annual wage rates are all shown. Since many women do not work full time year round, differences in weekly and annual wages reflect, in part, differences in the hours women work. Differences in hourly wages are a purer measure of differences in pay. However, since annual wages are reported directly whereas weekly and hourly wages are calculated, the measure of annual wages may be more accurate.(1) The figures in table 2.3 reveal an overall pattern of increasing wages for black women relative to white women during the 1939-86 period. However, there appears to have been a slight relative decline in black women's wages during the 1980s. This decline relative to white women is consistent with evidence presented in table 2.1 which shows that white women's hourly wages grew faster during the 1980s than did black women's. Both table 2.2 and table 2.3 reveal substantial discrepancies between relative wages calculated using census data and relative wages calculated using CPS data. The census data show higher wages for both black women and black men relative to white men and higher wages for black women relative to white women than do the CPS data. The discrepancies between the census data and the CPS data are discussed in detail in appendix A, but it should be noted here that these discrepancies cause particularly serious problems for researchers who wish to determine the relative wages of black women. While the Census data imply that black women had reached some sort of wage parity with white women by 1980, the CPS data imply that black women earned somewhat less: between 90 and 95 percent as much as white women, depending on whether hourly, weekly, or annual wages are compared. The two data sets, thus, give slightly conflicting impressions of the relative economic positions of black and white women. One way to resolve the conflict between the census and the CPS data is to limit the comparisons to workers who are firmly ensconced in the labor market: workers between the ages of 25 and 64 who work full time year round. As noted in appendix A, the discrepancies between the census and the CPS data appear limited to workers who work either part time, or part year, or both. Eliminating these workers from the samples provides a consistent picture of the trends in the relative wages of black women, albeit at the expense of limiting the comparisons to a considerably smaller percentage of the work force.(2) Table 2.4 reports the wages of black women, white women, and black men relative to those of white men for full-time, year-round workers between the ages of 25 and 64. It is the counterpart of table 2.2, which includes all workers between the ages of 18 and 64. Table 2.4 shows no major discrepancy between the relative wages calculated from the census data and those calculated from the CPS data for black women or for black men. Both data sets show black women earning about 55 percent and black men earning about 72 percent as much as white men in 1980. Moreover, the basic trends found for all workers in table 2.2 appear to hold up in table 2.4. Among full-time, year-round workers, black women earned less than one-quarter as much per hour as white men in 1939, but by 1986 their hourly wages had risen to 57 percent of white men's wages. Table 2.5 reports the wages of black women relative to those of white women for full-time, year-round workers between the ages of 25 and 64 and is the counterpart of table 2.3. Both the census and the CPS data show that, at least among these workers, black women earned only 90 percent as much as white women in 1979. In all other ways, the trends apparent in table 2.5 are very similar to those found in table 2.3. Among full-time, year- round workers between the ages of 25 and 64, black women's wages rose from about 40 percent of white women's in 1939 to about 90 percent in 1979, and then fell slightly between 1979 and 1986. The increase in the black-white female wage ratio over the 1939-79 period does not appear to have been limited to any particular age segment of the population, but the relative decline experienced by black women between 1979 and 1986 appears to have been confined primarily to women under 45. Table 2.6 reports the black-white female wage ratios for all workers, and table 2.7 reports the black-white female wage ratios for full-time, year-round workers by age for the years 1939 to 1986. These tables show that the black-white female wage ratio increased for virtually every age group in every decade between 1939 and 1979. Between 1979 and 1986, the black-white female wage ratio fell for women under 45 and remained constant or increased for women in older age groups. A comparison of the black-white female wage ratio for different age groups within any given year shows that. in cross sections, older black women have tended to earn less relative to older white women than younger black women relative to younger white women. However, a comparison of the black-white wage ratio for the same group of women as they age from decade to decade (moving along diagonals in tables 2.6 and 2.7) reveals that black women's wages relative to white women born at the same time have generally increased as they got older. Thus, it appears that the economic progress made by black women between 1939 and 1979 occurred along two fronts. Each generation of black women improved its position over time relative to white women of the same generation, and each successive generation of black women did better relative to white women than the preceding generation. The rapid real wage growth experienced by black women between 1939 and 1979 combined with the relatively slow wage growth experienced by white women during the same period resulted in large increases in black women's relative wages. However, in 1979 black women still earned less than white women, and after 1979 the slow real wage growth experienced by black women combined with the relatively high wage growth experienced by white women resulted in a small decline in black women's relative wages. The Labor Force Participation of Black Women: 1940-87 Since women's earnings depend on the number of hours they work as well as on their hourly wage, tracing the evolution of black women's labor force participation is as important as following trends in their relative wages in developing an understanding of the economic status of black women. At the beginning of the 1940-87 period, black women had much higher labor force participation rates than white women. The 1940-87 period witnessed a significant increase in white women's labor force participation rates, an increase that was not matched by a corresponding increase for black women. By 1987 the average labor force participation rates for the two groups were very close. However, the patterns of labor force participation rates by age and marital status for black and white women continued to be very different. Table 2.8. shows labor force participation rates for white and black women between the ages of 18 and 64 for 1940-87. The data in table 2.8 show that, although at the beginning of the period a much larger percentage of black women than of white women were in the labor force, by 1987 the labor force participation rates of white and black women were virtually identical. In 1940, 44 percent of black women were in the labor force, compared with less than 30 percent of white women. In the decades that followed, the percentage of white women participating in the labor force increased steadily and substantially. By 1987, 68 percent of white women were in the labor force. Black women's labor force participation rates also grew, but less steadily and at a much slower overall pace. Between 1940 and 1970, a period during which white women's labor force participation rates grew by 20 percentage points, black women's labor force participation rates increased by only 10 percentage points. After 1970, however, black women's labor force participation rates increased almost as fast as white women's. A group's labor force participation rate is an imperfect measure of the number of hours worked by members of the group, because it shows the percentage of the group who are in the labor force at all at a given point in time, but nothing about the extent or the continuity of their labor force participation. To provide a more complete picture of number of hours worked by black and white women, table 2.9 reports the hours per week and weeks per year worked by employed women separately for blacks and whites. Table 2.9 also shows the percentages of women who were working full time (35 or more hours per week). The data in table 2.9 reveal that at the beginning of the 1940-87 period, black women who were employed worked fewer hours per week and fewer weeks per year than white women who were employed. Among women who were employed, black women were also less likely than white women to work full time. After 1960, however, the weeks worked per year by employed black women and the percent of black women working full time began to rise. The proportion of employed black women working full time increased steadily through 1987. In contrast, the average number of hours worked per week by employed white women fell as more and more white women entered the labor force over the 1940-87 period, and the percentage of employed white women working full time also fell. By 1987, employed black women worked more hours per week than employed white women and almost as many weeks per year. Also, a larger percentage of employed black women than of employed white women were working full time. Thus, although the labor force participation rates of white women rose over the 1940-87 period, the hours worked per year by working white women fell slightly. The labor force participation rates of black women increased much less than those of white women, but unlike for white women, the hours worked by working black women also increased. Black women have historically had higher labor force participation rates than white women, but they have also tended to experience higher unemployment rates. As a result, the employment-to-population ratios of black and white women have always been much closer than their labor force participation rates. Table 2.10 shows unemployment rates (percentage of women in the labor force who were unemployed) and employment-to-population ratios (percentage of all women who were employed) for black and white women for the years 1940 87. Black women have historically been more likely to be employed than white women, but by 1980 the employment-to-population ratio became higher for white women than for black women. In 1987 the employment-to-population ratio was 7 percent higher for white women than for black women: 64 percent of white women between the ages of 18 and 64 were working in 1987 compared with only 57 percent of black women in the same age group. Despite their almost identical overall labor force participation rates, black and white women have different patterns of labor force participation by age and by marital status. Table 2.11 reports labor force participation rates by age for black and white women over the 1940-87 period, and figure 2.1 [unavailable in electronic format] traces the pattern of labor force participation rates by age for black and white women for the years 1940, 1960, and 1987. Table 2.11 and figure 2.1 show remarkable changes over the 1940- 87 period in the age pattern of labor force participation for both white and black women. In 1940 the 45-percent labor force participation rate of young white women between the ages of 18 and 24 was about the same as the labor force participation rate of black women in the same age group. The labor force participation rate for white women fell steadily with age, however, whereas the labor force participation rate for black women remained approximately at the 45-percent level up until the age of 45-54 and then fell only for women in the oldest age group. The labor force participation rates of black women were greater than those of white women at every age. By 1960 new patterns had emerged for both races. As in 1940, the labor force participation rate for the youngest group of white women was about 45 percent, and the labor force participation rates of white women fell for women in the prime childbearing years of 25-34. Then, rather than falling further as they had in 1940, they increased again for older white women. White women's participation rate at the ages of 45-54 was 46 percent, identical to their participation rate at the ages of 18-24. The labor force participation rate of white women declined again for women in the oldest age group. As in 1940, in 1960 the labor force participation rates of white women were lower than those of black women at every age with the exception of the 18-24-year-old age group, where white women had slightly higher participation rates than black women. The relatively flat labor force participation pattern of black women in 1940 gave way to an inverted-U-shaped labor force participation pattern in 1960. Labor force participation rates of black women increased with age up until the 45-54 age group, then fell for the oldest age group. By 1987 the labor force participation patterns of both white and black women had the inverted-U shape. There was no longer an observable decline in labor force participation rates for white women in their childbearing years. The gap between the labor force participation rates of the youngest group of white and black women that was observed in 1960 had widened substantially by 1987: the labor force participation rate for black women between the ages of 18 and 24 was 14 percentage points lower than the rate for white women in the same age group. At older ages, on the other hand, the higher participation rates of black women had disappeared, and the labor force participation patterns of white and black women were virtually indistinguishable. Table 2.12 reports labor force participation rates for white and black women by marital status. As with the pattern of labor force participation by age, the pattern of participation by marital status has changed considerably for both races over the 1940-87 period. At the beginning of the period, married women of both races were much less likely than unmarried women to be in the labor force. Since then, however, the labor force participation rates of married women have increased sharply for both races. For white women, the labor force participation rates of separated, divorced, and widowed women also increased, but less markedly. and the labor force participation rates of never-married women also increased slightly. For black women, the labor force participation rates of separated, divorced, and widowed women were approximately the same in 1987 as in 1940, but the labor force participation rates of never-married women fell by almost 10 percentage points over the 1940-87 period. As a result of these changes, the differences in labor force participation rates across marital statuses in 1987 were much smaller than they had been in 1940. In 1987 striking racial differences existed in the pattern of labor force participation by marital status. Married white women continued to be less likely to be in the labor force than unmarried white women; married black women, however, were more likely to be in the labor force than unmarried black women. Unmarried white women had higher labor force participation rates than unmarried black women, and married white women had lower labor force participation rates than married black women. The story of the evolution of black women's labor force participation over the 1940-87 period is, thus, very different from the story of white women's labor force participation. Black women had much higher labor force participation rates than white women at the beginning of the period, and their labor force participation rates grew more slowly. On the other hand, the degree of participation for working women, as measured by hours worked or the percentage working full time, increased over the period for black women and fell slightly for white women. The labor force participation rates grew at all ages for both races except for black women in the youngest age group. By the end of the period, the age patterns of labor force participation for white and black women were identical, except for the youngest age group, where black women had much lower labor force participation rates. Although white married women still have lower labor force participation rates than white unmarried women, the opposite is true for blacks. The Family Status of Black Women: 1940-87 Marriage and children each have important effects on women's economic status. Not only does marriage increase the number of potential earners in the family, but husbands generally earn more than their wives. Children, on the other hand, do not increase the number of potential earners, but do increase the number of mouths to be fed. Moreover, women's family situations have important effects on their labor force participation as well as on their wages. Married women and women with children are generally less likely to work than their unmarried counterparts. As a result, they acquire fewer productive skills and accumulate less work experience, and hence earn lower wages. The years 1940-87 witnessed striking changes in black women's family status. At the beginning of the period, black women, like white women, tended to get married, have children, and stay married. By the end of the period, black women were unlikely to get married, and if they married, were very likely to get divorced. In 1950 married black women were almost three times as likely to have children as unmarried black women. In 1980 the proportions of married and unmarried black women with children were almost identical. This section outlines briefly the changes in black women's marital status over the 1940-87 period. Table 2.13 reports the proportions of black and white women who were never married, married, divorced, and widowed for the years 1940-87. The figures in table 2.13 show that even at the beginning of the period, the marital status distributions were different for black and white women. In 1940 black women were less likely than white women to be currently married and more likely to be divorced or widowed. They were also less likely than white women never to have married. The marital status distribution changed for both black and white women over the 1940-87 period, but there were important differences in the patterns of change. While the proportion of white women who never married remained roughly constant over the 1940-87 period, the proportion of black women who never married more than doubled, from 16 to 36 percent. The proportion of white women who were currently married increased substantially during the baby boom years of the 1950s and 1960s and then fell slightly during the 1970s and 1980s. On the other hand, the proportion of black women who were married increased only slightly during the baby boom years and then fell substantially in the 1970s and 1980s. The proportions of women who were divorced doubled for white women and almost doubled for black women, and the proportions of women who were widows fell by two-thirds for both races between 1940 and 1987. By 1987 the differences in the marital status distribution of black and white women were much larger than they had been in 1940. Just over one-third of black women were currently married, compared with almost two-thirds of white women. Well over one-third of black women had never married, compared with less than one-fifth of white women. Almost 30 percent of black women were either divorced or widowed, compared with 16 percent of white women. Not only did the proportion of black women who were unmarried increase dramatically over the 1940-87 period, but the proportion of unmarried women who had children also increased substantially. Table 2.14 shows that in 1980, 80 percent of unmarried black women between the ages of 25 and 54 had children, up from 55 percent in 1950.(3) (In 1980, 55 percent of unmarried white women between the ages of 25 and 54 had children, up from about 40 percent in 1950.) In sum, not only has the family status of black women changed considerably in the past half-decade, but the family statuses of black and white women bear little resemblance to each other. These differences between black and white women have important implications for their relative economic status. (1) see app. E for notes on the construction of the wage variables used in this report. (2) If patterns of part-time/full-time employment or part- year/full-year employment differ by race, eliminating part-time and part-year workers from the sample might yield biased estimates of the black-white female wage ratio. However, for the Current Population Survey data, the black-white female wage ratio is the same whether or not part time and part year workers are included in the sample. (3) The percentage of unmarried black women with children (80 percent) is calculated as 40.3 (the percentage unmarried black women with children are of all black women) divided by 51.2 (the percentage all unmarried black women are of all black women).