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20 — OVERLOOKED AND UNDERCOUNTED work schedules or other characteristics that result in lower earnings. 22 Because there are strong differences by gender and race/ethnicity in rates of income adequacy, it might be expected that occupational segregation by gender and race/ethnicity would explain a portion of differences in income adequacy. 23 That is, if gender or race-based occupational segregation was a factor in higher income inadequacy rates among these households, one would expect that women and/or non-White householders would be found in different occupations than their White and/or male counterparts. However, there is much more overlap than difference in occupational distribution by both gender and race/ethnicity. As seen in Table 10, male and female householders with incomes below the Standard have six of their ten top occupations in common. That is, men and women householders with inadequate incomes are overall working in many of the same occupational fields, such as ‘office and administrative support’ and ‘food preparation and serving’. However, female householders with incomes below the Standard do not share a few occupations with male householders below the Standard: 1) personal care and service, 2) education, training, and library, 3) healthcare support, and 4) healthcare practitioners and technical. Likewise, the following occupational categories are only among the top ten for male householders below the Standard: 1) construction and extraction, 2) installation, maintenance, and repair, 3) management, and 4) fishing, farming, and forestry. As seen in Table 11, there are even more occupations in common between African-American and White householders. Eight of the top ten occupations of African-American and White householders with incomes below the Standard are shared: 1) sales, 2) office and administrative support, 3) production, 4) construction and extraction, 5) food preparation and serving, 6) transportation and material moving, 7) personal care and service, and 8) building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. These occupations represent nearly twothirds of the occupations held by African-American and White householders with incomes below the Standard, indicating that African-American and White householders with inadequate incomes are working primarily in the same occupational fields. However, some occupations are not shared across race/ethnicity for households with incomes below the Standard: Table 11. Top Ten Occupations 1 of Householders 2 Below the Self-Sufficiency Standard by Race and Ethnicity: Mississippi 2007 HOUSEHOLDS BELOW SELF-SUFFICIENCY STANDARD WHITE HOUSEHOLDERS BLACK OR AFRICAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDERS Rank Occupation Percent Cumulative Percent Rank Occupation Percent Cumulative Percent 1 Sales 13.7% 13.7% 1 Production 12.8% 12.8% 2 Office and Administrative Support 10.5% 24.2% 2 Food Preparation and Serving 10.4% 23.2% 3 Production 8.8% 33.0% 3 Sales and Related 10.1% 33.3% 4 Construction and Extraction 8.6% 41.6% 4 Office and Administrative Support 8.7% 42.0% 5 Food Preparation and Serving 6.9% 48.5% 5 Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance 8.1% 50.2% 6 Transportation and Material Moving 6.1% 54.6% 6 Transportation and Material Moving 6.8% 57.0% 7 Personal Care and Service 4.4% 59.0% 7 Healthcare Support 5.0% 62.0% 8 Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance 4.0% 62.9% 8 Personal Care and Service 4.9% 66.9% 9 Installation, Maintenance, & Repair 3.8% 66.8% 9 Education, Training, and Library 4.4% 71.3% 10 Management 3.8% 70.6% 10 Construction and Extraction 2.9% 74.2% 1 Occupation groupings are based on the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). For definitions of these major groups see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupation Classifications at http://www.bls.gov/soc/soc_majo.htm 2 The householder is the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented or, if there is no such person, the householder is any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET IN MISSISSIPPI — 21 Table 12. The Self-Sufficiency Standard and Federal Poverty Level by Earnings and Hours Worked of Householder 1 : Mississippi 2007 ANNUAL EARNINGS (ALL HOUSEHOLDERS) TOTAL MEDIAN BELOW SELF-SUFFICIENCY STANDARD ABOVE Below Standard and Below Poverty Below Standard and Above Poverty Total Below Standard SELF- SUFFICIENCY STANDARD Median Median Median Median 743,859 $23,000 $3,000 $14,600 $8,000 $32,000 WORKING HOUSEHOLDER EARNINGS AND HOURS Annual Earnings (Workers Only) 659,455 $26,000 $7,500 $15,600 $12,000 $34,000 Total Hours Worked 659,455 2,080 1,300 2,080 1,824 2,080 Hourly Pay Rate 659,455 $12.82 $6.09 $8.65 $7.21 $15.65 1 The householder is the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented or, if there is no such person, the householder is any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey. White but not African-American householders with insufficient income have ‘installation, maintenance, and repair’ and ‘management’ among their top ten occupations. African-American but not White householders with insufficient incomes had ‘healthcare support’ and ‘Education, training, and library’ occupations among their top ten occupations. Although some Mississippi households with incomes below the Standard experience employment in occupations distinct to their racial/ethnic group and/or gender, for the majority of households with inadequate incomes, occupations are shared across racial/ethnic groups and genders. The overlap in occupations is important because it means that householders with inadequate wages are much less likely to be in an occupational ghetto than, say, African-American women workers in the mid-twentieth century, when race and gender discrimination often confined them to only a few jobs in the low-wage job sector (such as housekeeping). Rather, many of the low-paying occupations with the greatest number of Mississippi workers are staffed by women and men, and by all racial/ethnic groups. Altogether, this examination of occupations suggests that the lower earnings of those with insufficient incomes combined with substantial work effort are not traceable to these householders holding jobs in “low-wage occupational ghettos.” Moreover, there is an absence of any patterns of specific race and/or gender occupational concentrations of low-income householders. On the other hand, it does suggest that there is considerable variation within occupational categories in wage rates. Hours Versus Wage Rates. While work schedules, number of workers, and to a lesser extent occupations each contribute somewhat to explaining income inadequacy, there is still a considerable gap between those above and below the Standard. One possible explanation is that those below the Standard, on average, work fewer hours. Of householders who work, those above the Standard work about 14% more hours per year than those below the Standard (a median of 2,080 hours versus 1,824 hours per year; see Table 12). However, wage rate differences between those above and below the Standard are substantially greater than differences in hours worked: overall, the average hourly wage rate of householders above the Standard is more than twice that of householders below the Standard ($15.65 per hour versus $7.21 per hour). Because the wage differences by race, gender, etc., are larger for those above the Standard than for those below, this earnings gap is somewhat less for people of color, women, and householders with children. Even among these groups, wages would have to be about double to match the median wage of householders above the Standard (see Table 13).
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