Job Quality among Minority and Immigrant Working Parents Alison Earle, Ph.D., Pam Joshi, Ph.D., Kim Geronimo, and Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Ph.D.

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1 Job Quality among Minority and Immigrant Working Parents Alison Earle, Ph.D., Pam Joshi, Ph.D., Kim Geronimo, and Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Ph.D. June 15, 2012 A project of: diversitydata-kids Using data to advance child well-being and racial/ethnic equity Acknowledgements: This research was funded by a grant from the W. W. Kellogg Foundation awarded to Dr. Acevedo-Garcia. 1

2 Agenda Background and Motivation: What is a bad job? Why examine the job quality among working parents, and by race/ethnicity and nativity? Data and Methods Findings Research and policy implications 2

3 Job Characteristics - Psychosocial: autonomy, control - Physical, health and safety - Cognitive demands, complexity - Fringe benefits: paid sick leave, paid annual leave, and paid leave for new parents. - Work hours, schedule, flexibility, predictability - Job stability, security 3

4 What characteristics matter for job quality? Tilly s seven partial measures of job quality: (1) adequate wages (2) fringe benefits (3) due process in discipline (4) hours flexibility (5) permanence (6) upward mobility (7) control over the work process

5 Job quality: definition using available data A good job offers: Adequate wage Employer-subsidized health insurance plan Access to a pension or retirement plan Kalleberg, Reskin and Hudson (2000), Schmitt (2007, ) 5

6 Why look at job quality among working parents? 6

7 Employment conditions can influence quality of life of working adults, family stress, parental availability, ability to meet basic needs of children

8 Parental job conditions can affect children s well-being Schedule/hours flexibility affect: parental involvement in school parents ability to address ongoing issues for children with special needs Having paid sick days affects children s recovery Having family health insurance plan affects children s health Having adequate income to meet basic needs

9 Why focus on racial/ethnic and nativity disparities in job quality? Previous studies Often focus on men only Wage threshold is very low Sub sample of the population, e.g. former TANF recipients Insufficient sample size to examine racial differences 9

10 Labor force participation rates of women aged 25 to 54 years, by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, White Black Asian Hispanic Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Employment during the Recovery, May 3, Available at: 10

11 Foreign-born Shares of the Total Population, of All Workers, Of Low-Wage, and Lower-Skilled Labor Forces: 2000 and 2005 Note: Low-wage workers are defined as those earning less than twice the minimum wage in main job held in the prior calendar year.. Lower-skilled workers are defined as those with less than a high school education. Source: Urban Institute tabulations from modified March 2000 and 2005 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Econ. Supplement.

12 Nearly half of U.S. children are from a racial/ethnic minority group. The number of births to minority women surpassed half of total births in One-fourth of U.S. children are growing up in immigrant families. Racial/ethnic and nativity disparities in parents job quality potentially affect disparities in children s outcomes.

13 Data Current Population Survey March Annual Social and Economic Supplement Nationally representative Five years: Sample: Parents employed at any job in prior calendar year ( ) N = 210,000 13

14 Key Variables Hispanic: Mexican Mexican American Chicano/Chicana Mexican (Mexicano) Mexicano/Chicano Puerto Rican Cuban Other Spanish Central/South American Hispanic, unspecified Race: Hispanic, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic Asian, and Non- Hispanic White 14

15 Key Variables Foreign born = both parents are foreign or foreign born U.S.-born = "Both parents native-born"', "Father foreign, mother native", "Mother foreign, father native". Health insurance coverage = participation in an employer- or union-sponsored plan where the employer pays some or all of the premium. Pension/Retirement plan = participation in an employersponsored plan, with or without employer contribution. Low-wage = hourly wage < Economic Self Sufficiency wage level needed by a working parent in a family with two workers and two children, or $16.79 in 2010 dollars. 15

16 What is an adequate wage for a working parent? 16

17 The Basic Economic Security Tables for the United States, 2010 (Workers without Employment-based Benefits) 1 Worker 2 Workers 1 Worker 2 Workers 1 Worker 1 Worker Schoolchild Schoolchild Preschooler Preschooler Monthly Expenses Preschooler Teenager Teenager Schoolchild Preschooler Preschooler Housing Utilities Food Transportation Child Care Personal & Household Items Health Care Emergency Savings Retirement Savings Taxes Tax Credits BEST Wage, Monthly PER WORKER $4,511 $3,855 $4,585 $2,955 $5,475 $3,154 BEST Wage, Annual PER WORKER $54,132 $46,260 $55,020 $70,908 $65,700 $75,696 BEST Wage, Hourly PER WORKER $25.63 $21.90 $26.05 $16.79 $31.11 $

18 Analyses Bivariate: Test of association between race/ethnicity and job quality index and individual components Multivariate: Poisson regression predicting count of number of bad job characteristics Race/ethnicity Race/ethnicity and immigration status Adding measures of demographic and local economic environment, and proxies for work arrangements 18

19 Percent of working parents with bad job characteristics, by race/ethnicity and nativity NHW NHA NHB Hispanic 10 0 No health insurance No pension Low wage job 19

20 Number of bad job characteristics, by race/ethnicity and nativity P e r c e n t NHW NHA NHB Hispanic

21 Table 2. Poisson Regression Predicting Number of Bad Job Characteristics VARIABLE Percent Change in number of bad job characteristics Race/ethnicity only Race/ethnicity and nativity Adding demographics, local economic environment, proxies for non-standard work arrangement Hispanic 45.79*** 32.12*** 8.976*** ( ) ( ) ( ) Non-Hispanic Black 21.77*** 19.87*** 10.30*** ( ) ( ) ( ) Non-Hispanic White *** 2.458*** (0.0116) (0.0125) ( ) Foreign-born 18.35*** 15.40*** ( ) ( ) 21

22 Table 3. Regression models predicting bad job characteristics. March CPS, Logistic Regression (Odds ratio) No Health Insurance No Pension Low Wage Job Hispanic 1.249*** 1.324*** 1.360*** (0.0285) (0.0321) (0.0352) Non-Hispanic Black 1.158*** 1.226*** 1.406*** (0.0278) (0.0308) (0.0363) Non-Hispanic Asian *** (0.0342) (0.0410) (0.0410) Foreign-born 1.421*** 1.672*** 1.565*** (0.0286) (0.0387) (0.0392) 22

23 Key findings Compared to whites, non-hispanic, Black and Hispanic working parents are at a significant disadvantage Compared to native-born working parents, foreign-born working parents are at a significant disadvantage The effect of being foreign-born on the risk of being in a bad job exceeds the effect of race. Asians at an advantage in terms of job quality. 23

24 Key findings Race and nativity interact: When nativity is controlled for, the effect on exposure to bad job characteristics for Hispanic parents is substantially reduced Gender is strongly significant women at higher risk of being in a bad job. Non-standard work proxies are significant Occupation and industry controls are significant 24

25 Policy implications Increase efforts to enhance job quality among Black, Hispanic, and immigrant parents Job ladders Youth development programs Diversity programs within workplaces Ensuring the few policies that are universal in coverage such as the FMLA are fully enforced Look to sector-specific strategies for models 25

26 Policy implications Parents who care for children and whose involvement improves children s outcomes need health insurance coverage. Improve parents ability to provide financially for their children Short-term living wage Over time -- accrue savings to support education and during young adulthood, and to weather a crisis increase access to retirement plans. Slow economic recovery, and mistrust of those investing retirement funds -- political and economic environment is not good for expanded coverage 26

27 Future Research Examine race and nativity interaction Model immigrant cohort, duration in the U.S. Explore possible explanations: Better data on work arrangements and job characteristics Labor market segregation Effects of occupation and industry are large and significant, and we know there s occupational segregation Different experiences for women vs. men > model separately Further assessment of the impact of parental work conditions/job quality on children s outcomes. 27