Inequality in the Labor Market for Native American Women and the Great Recession

Abstract

This research paper builds on previous literature and documents general changes in the labor market for Native American women that occurred during the Great Recession using extracts of data from the Current Population Survey Annual Earnings file, known as the Merged Outgoing Rotation Groups (MORG). Wages, unemployment, and other labor market variables for Native American women are contrasted with those of Native American men and white women to determine the relative change in labor market inequality that occurred during the Great Recession.

Distributional Differences and the Native American Gender Wage Gap

“…Scholarship examining racial inequalities that includes AIANs has largely taken three different approaches: limit analysis based upon race and ethnicity to those who select only AIAN (Akee et al 2017;Greenman and Xie 2008;Feir and Gillezeau 2018;Leichencko 2003); concentrate on location and examine only those living in reservation areas (Akee and Taylor 2014;Kimmel 1997;Mauer 2017) or focus on the effects of identifying as a member of a marginalized group and expand analysis to include those who identify in combination with another racial group (Burnette 2017;Davis et al 2016). Recently, some studies have begun to apply an inclusive approach yet still distinguish between AIAN populations by reporting results separately for different self-identified AIAN groups (Huyser et al 2010(Huyser et al , 2014Wise et al 2017).…”

“…Until now, we know of only two studies that have included a distributional analysis of earnings for AIANs. Burnette (2017) used data from the Current Population Survey, Merged Outgoing Rotation Group (MORG) to compare changes in wages by percentile for AIAN men and women across the Great Recession within group and relative to white women. Overall, it found no noticeable trend for AIAN women or men by percentile but slightly lower average wages in 2014 than in 2003, but this may be due to the relatively small sample size of AIANs.…”

Who Suffers During Recessions in Brazil?

“…(2015) find that in Europe men and young persons are more responsive to business cycles. Kelly et al (2016) show a rising gap between immigrants and natives in Ireland and Burnette (2017) between Native Americans and non-natives during economic crises. Reis (2017) shows that in Brazil the probability of transition from unemployment to employment varies among demographic groups and over the business cycle.…”

Return to the Homeland? The Impact of the Great Recession on Employment Outcomes and Labor Mobility for Native Americans

“…The most prominent academic work on the importance of the Great Recession for Native Americans comes from Burnette (2017) who considers changes in the unemployment rate, employment-to-population ratio, and real hourly wage rates to better understand the recession's impacts on Native American women. Using data from the Consumer Population Survey, Merged Outgoing Rotation Group, Burnette finds that Native American men's unemployment rates increased more during the Great Recession than Native American women's unemployment rates, but Native women's unemployment rates increased much more than white women's.…”

“…He also shows that real wages increased for the upper percentile of white women (75th percentile and above), but wages at nearly all percentiles have not increased for Native American women and have fallen at some percentiles for Native American men. Burnette (2017) is the most thorough existing analysis and we significantly expand on his work by considering an earlier recession, more detailed demographic comparisons and by considering the importance of mobility and living on or off of a traditional homeland.…”