Wage Compression and Wage Inequality Between Black and White Males in the United States, 1940–1960

Abstract

The gap between the mean wages of black men and white men in the United States narrowed substantially between 1940 and 1950. There was, however, almost no change in this wage gap between 1950 and 1960. Some of this discontinuity in the path of black progress can be explained by general changes in the wage structure—wage compression in the 1940s and slight expansion in the 1950s. However, most of the gains of the 1940s were driven by race-specific factors, including increasing relative wages controlling for worker characteristics. These race-specific gains ceased in the 1950s.

The Impact of the Great Migration on Mortality of African Americans: Evidence from the Deep South

“… 13 Among many contributions are Smith and Welch (1989), Maloney (1994), and Margo (1995). Collins and Wanamaker (2012) provide evidence of positive selection into migration.…”

Using the 1940 and 1950 Public Use Microdata Samples

“…Even if researchers study moderately large subgroups in the population, they must give careful attention to the reduction effects of selecting variables, particularly when using sample-line information, because the reductions in sample size may be severe. As an example, in Maloney's (1994) analysis of black males' wages, the n falls from 10,894 in 1940 to 5,193 in 1950. This change in sampling design may reflect the desire of the Wisconsin group to focus on the sample-line records for 1950, when more information, including vital income and educational data, was collected. Researchers can access a 1-in-330 representative sample of persons with complete sample-line information.…”

The Wage Gains of African-American Women in the 1940s

“…Previous studies of labor markets in the 1940s have emphasized changes in the distribution of wages among men by skill group (Goldin and Margo 1992) and race (Maloney 1994, Margo 1995, Collins 2000, or changes in the labor force participation of white women (Goldin 1991). Long-run studies of labor market disparities between black and white women have tended to focus on occupational changes.…”

“…Maloney, 1994;Margo, 1995), although it shares some common themes. As with 4 from the 1940 and 1950 federal censuses, as reported in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS, Ruggles and Sobek 1997), we start by illustrating the pattern of wage growth among black women, and we highlight how it differs from that of other groups.…”