skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: The Uneven Later Work Course: Intersectional Gender, Age, Race, and Class Disparities
Abstract Objectives Later adult work attachments and exits are in flux, suggesting the need for understanding both the range of contemporary population-level pathways of work and non-work and variations by overlapping social locations. We document patterned continuity and change in monthly work attachments and analyze the intersecting effects of age, gender, education, and race/ethnicity. Methods We capitalize on massive micro-level 16-month panel data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) from 2008 through 2016 to empirically identify patterned pathways of monthly states: working full time, long hours, part time; being self-employed or unemployed; not working because of a disability, due to family care or other reasons, or because one defines oneself as retired. Results Analyses of 346,488 American women and men ages 50 to 75 reveal patterned elasticity in the timing and nature of work attachments in the form of six distinctive pathways. Our intersectional analyses illustrate divergences and disparities: advantages for educated white men, disadvantages for low-educated Black men and women through their early 60s, and intersecting effects of gender, education, and race/ethnicity during the later work course across age groups. We find convergence across social markers by the 70s. Discussion This research highlights the importance of intersectional analysis, recasting the gendered work course in later adulthood into a framework of even greater complexities within mutually shaping categories of race/ethnicity, class, and age. Older Americans experience patterned, uneven pathways around work and non-work. We recommend additional scholarship on the dynamics of constrained and disparate choices unfolding across multiple intersecting social locations.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1850914
PAR ID:
10218703
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
ISSN:
1079-5014
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, Work, Aging and Retirement)
    null (Ed.)
    Abstract These are unprecedented times, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts public health, social interaction, and employment attachments. Evidence to date has been about broad shifts in unemployment rates as a percent of the labor force. We draw on monthly Current Population Survey data to examine subpopulation changes in employment states across the life course, from January through April 2020. COVID-19 downturns produced disparate life-course impacts. There are increases in unemployment and being out of the workforce at all ages, but especially among young adults, with young women most at risk. Intersectional analyses document conjoint life-course vulnerabilities by gender, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. For example, Black men aged 20–29 with a college degree experienced a 12.4 percentage point increase in being not in the labor force for other reasons (NILF-other). Individuals with less than a college degree in their 50s and 60s were more likely to become unemployed, regardless of race. And more non-college-educated Asian men in their 60s and 70s reported being retired (6.6 and 8.9 percentage point increases, respectively). Repercussions from the pandemic may well challenge assumptions and possibilities for older adults’ working longer. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, American Behavioral Scientist)
    This paper addresses the uneven employment effects on older Americans (aged 50–75) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on monthly Current Population Survey data from January through December 2020, we take an intersectional and life course approach to study the labor market effects of COVID-19 on older Americans. First, we chart monthly labor force states throughout 2020 for older adult subgroups defined by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. We then examine transitions out of and into work from one month to the next. We find gendered age-graded declines in employment, increases in unemployment, and increases in the proportions of people in their 50s reporting they are not in the labor force for other reasons (NILF-other), most dramatically for Asian and Hispanic women. There is little change in age-graded retirement from before to during the pandemic, regardless of gender or race/ethnicity, though there are education-level effects, with those without a college degree more likely to retire in the face of COVID-19. White men with a college degree are the most apt to retain their work engagement. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; (, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity)
    Despite the rapid expansion of higher education, many young adults still enter the labor market without a college education. However, little research has focused on racial/ethnic earnings disadvantages faced by non-college-educated youth. We analyze the restricted-use data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 to examine racial/ethnic earnings disparities among non-college-educated young men and women in their early 20s as of 2016, accounting for differences in premarket factors and occupation with an extensive set of controls. Results suggest striking earnings disadvantages for Black men relative to white, Latinx, and Asian men. Compared to white men, Latinx and Asian men do not earn significantly less, yet their earnings likely differ substantially by ethnic origin. While racial/ethnic earnings gaps are less prominent among women than men, women of all racial/ethnic groups have earnings disadvantages compared to white men. The results call for future studies into the heterogeneity within racial/ethnic groups and the intersectionality of race/ethnicity and gender among non-college-educated young adults. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; (, Journal of management in engineering)
    Abstract: Underrepresented minorities in engineering regularly experience subtle behaviors or statements that denigrate them on account of their race, ethnicity, gender, or other identity. Engineering students cite these behaviors, known as microaggressions, as reasons for having considered changing majors or leaving college altogether. Despite the recent research trend to foster a more racially, ethnically, and genderinclusive engineering education and profession, previous research does not examine microaggressions in engineering using an intersectional lens. Without an intersectional perspective, intragroup diversity is overlooked, increasing the potential to reinforce broad racial and gender stereotypes. To measure the effects of microaggressions among engineering undergraduate students, the current study used an intersectional approach and collected data from a predominantly white institution (PWI) and from a historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The authors conducted individual semistructured interviews to examine the effects of microaggressions among 42 engineering undergraduate students, who can be categorized into seven intersectional identities—White women, African American men, African American women, Asian men, Asian women, Latino men, and Latina women. Results showed five macroeffects and two microeffects—(1) reduced self-belief (reduced self-efficacy and reduced self-esteem), (2) otherness, (3) racial/gender isolation, (4) stereotype threat, and (5) and empowered sense of self. Also, in this work, we make comparisons across intersectional identities. The data provide support for further study of microaggressions and their effects on intersectional identities. This research extends the intersectional approach to focus on engineering departments and colleges and provides information to engineering departments and university administrators concerning the experiences of minority undergraduates and offers academic leaders further information regarding issues surrounding minority student retention and persistence. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000889. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers. 
    more » « less
  5. ; (, Population Research and Policy Review)
    Abstract Using the Household Pulse Survey and American Community Survey, this study examines employment insecurity experienced across different racial/ethnic groups of the U.S. labor force under the pandemic disruptions. It highlights significant employment security disparities based on race, ethnicity, and income during the pandemic. However, there are no significant gender and racial disparities within the lowest income group when controlling for other conditions. In contrast, gender and racial disparities in EI are much more pronounced among mid-to-high income groups. Non-White individuals were disproportionately affected by job loss due to health and COVID-related employment issues, unlike Whites who faced unemployment more due to other factors. This pattern was more evident among lower-income groups. The trends shifted in later stages, with high-income Black and Hispanic workers becoming more likely to be unemployed due to non-health and non-employment reasons. Middle-income workers across all races were least likely to stop working for reasons other than COVID-related health or employment issues. In addition, regardless race or ethnicity, women more likely to be unemployed due to health reasons and less so due to employment issues compared to men, and the gender disparities increased with higher household incomes. We propose that the apparent immediate effects of the pandemic are actually indicative of deeper, systemic issues within the U.S. labor market, specifically the occupational segregation tied to race/ethnicity, gender, and class. Recovery efforts must take a holistic approach and integrate economic development policies, workforce development strategies, and social policies targeting poverty alleviation, health disparities, and people of color. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email