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Title: Still an Equal Opportunity Employer? Public Sector Employment Inequality after the Great Recession

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2015

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Abstract: Historically, the public sector has served as an equalizing institution through the expansion of job opportunities for minority workers. This study examines whether the public sector continues to serve as an equalizing institution in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Using Current Population Survey cross-sectional and longitudinal data, I investigate changes in public sector employment and unemployment between 2003 and 2013. My results point to a post-recession double disadvantage for black public sector women: they are concentrated in a shrinking sector of the economy, and they are substantially more likely than other public sector workers to be without work. These two trends are a historical break for the public sector labor market. Among public sector workers, black women are the most likely to enter unemployment, the least likely to find private sector employment, and the most likely to exit the labor force. I find that deteriorating employment outcomes for black public sector women cannot be explained by differences in education, occupation, or any of the other measurable factors that are typically associated with employment.

Url: http://students.washington.edu/jdlaird/laird_public_sector_inequality_ASA.pdf

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Authors: Laird, Jennifer

Publisher: University of Washington

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other, Race and Ethnicity

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