Racial and Ethnic Disparities

Race, ethnicity, and nativity and how these affect the circumstances of low-income working families is one of the main research questions of the Low-Income Working Families project.

Low-income status in the United States varies significantly by race and ethnicity. The fact sheet, "Racial and Ethnic Disparities among Low-Income Families," provides statistics on racial and ethnic differences in family structure, work effort, nativity or immigration status, earnings, and education levels of low-income families with children.

Residential Segregation

The paper, "Residential Segregation and Low-Income Working Families," explores differences in neighborhood characteristics among white, black, and Hispanic low-income working families. Residential segregation has historically contributed to disparities in education, employment, and wealth. The findings suggest that policies aimed at reducing the persistent disadvantages facing minority, low-income working families need to address the ways neighborhoods where minorities live may be compounding these disadvantages.

Racial and Ethnic Wage Differences

The paper, "Working for Cents on the Dollar: Race and Ethnic Wage Gaps in the Noncollege Labor Market," uses data from the 2007 Survey of Employers in the Low-Skill Labor Market to analyze whether wage differences among workers of different races and ethnicities in the low-skill labor market remain after controlling for individual, job, and employer characteristics. The findings suggest that black workers earn significantly less than white workers in the less-skilled labor market, and a significant difference (12 percent) remains even after controlling for worker, job, and employer characteristics.