AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
At the Intersection of Race, Occupational Status, and Middle-Class Attainment in Young Adulthood
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 112,
May 2022
(pp. 48–52)
Abstract
Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 cohort, the study explores the intersection of labor force attachment and economic inequality. Using a wealth-based definition of middle-class status, changes in wealth inequality among the working and managerial class are examined. Results indicate that Black and Latinx young adults are disproportionately working class and that racialized identity is a stronger predictor of wealth attainment than occupational classifications among Black young adults. Wealth differentials by race are not static; they are growing over time, with downward mobility and lower growth experienced by both Black working and managerial class young adults.Citation
Addo, Fenaba R. 2022. "At the Intersection of Race, Occupational Status, and Middle-Class Attainment in Young Adulthood." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 48–52. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221017Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion