Hispanics in the Labor Force. Issues and Policies

Transcription

1 Hispanics in the Labor Force Issues and Policies

2 ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT, AND PUBLIC POLICY A series of volumes under the general editorship of Lawrence Susskind, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts PUBLIC POLICY AND SOCIAL SERVICES Series Editor: Gary Marx, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts AMERICANS ABROAD: A Comparative Study of Emigrants from the United States Arnold Dashefsky, Jan DeAmicis, Bernard Lazerwitz, and Ephraim Tabory me DIFFUSION OF MEDICAL INNOVATIONS: An Applied Network Analysis Mary L. Fennell and Richard B. Warnecke DIVIDED OPPORTUNITIES: Minorities, Poverty, and Social Policy Edited by Gary D. Sandefur and Marta Tienda FATAL REMEDIES: The Ironies of Social Intervention Sam D. Sieber HISPANICS IN THE LABOR FORCE: Issues and Policies Edited by Edwin Melendez, Clara Rodriguez, and Janis Barry Figueroa INNOVATION UP CLOSE: How School Improvement Works A. Michael Huberman and Matthew B. Miles OSHA AND THE POLITICS OF HEALTH REGULATION David P. McCaffrey RACIAL AND CULTURAL MINORITIES: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination (Fifth Edition) George E. Simpson and J. Milton Yinger Other subseries: ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND PLANNING Series Editor: Lawrence Susskind, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts CITIES AND DEVELOPMENT Series Editor: Lloyd Rodwin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

3 Hispanics in the Labor Force Issues and Policies Edited by EDWIN MELENDEZ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts CLARA RODRIGUEZ and janis BARRY FIGUEROA Fordham University at Lincoln Center New York, New York Springer Science+ Business Media, LLC

4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hispanics in the labor force: issues and policies 1 edited by Edwin Melendez, Clara Rodriguez, and Janis Barry Figueroa. p. cm.-(environment, development, and public policy. Public policy and social services) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Hispanic Americans-Employment. 1. Melendez, Edwin. Il. Rodriguez, Clara. III. Barry Figueroa, Janis. IV. Series. HD808l.H7H ' dc CIP ISBN Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1991 AII rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

5 We dedicate this book to Tamarinda Jean, Edgardo Jose, Oscar Javier, Clara Gelvina, and Jose Angel

6 Contributors JANIS BARRY FIGUEROA, Division of the Social Sciences, Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York, New York MARTIN CARNOY, School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California HOWARD CHERNICK, Department of Economics, Hunter College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York, New York, New York HUGH DALEY, Data Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California RAUL HINOJOSA-OJEDA, Institute for International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California EDWIN MELENDEZ, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts VILMA ORTIZ, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, California CORDELIA REIMERS, Department of Economics, Hunter College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York, New York, New York FRANCISCO L. RIVERA-BATIZ, Institute of Urban and Minority Education, and Department of Economics and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York CLARA E. RODRIGUEZ, Division of the Social Sciences, Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York, New York TERRY J. ROSENBERG, Community Service Society, 105 East 22nd Street, New York, New York CARLOS E. SANTIAG9, Department of Economics, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York WALTER STAFFORD, Urban Research Center, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, New York, New York ADELA DE LA TORRE, Health Care Administration Program, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California vii

7 viii CONTRIBUTORS ANDRES TORRES, Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, New York RODOLFO D. TORRES, Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California 90840

8 Foreword The bright side of the 1980s, or the "Hispanic decade," as it was dubbed early on, may ironically turn out to be the detail and sophistication with which the economic and social reversals affecting most Latinos in this period have been tracked, with a fresh cohort of Latino scholars playing an increasingly prominent role in this endeavor. As this volume conveys, these analyses are steadily probing more deeply into the fine grain of the processes bearing on the social conditions of U.S. Latinos and particularly into the diversity of the experiences of the several Latino-origin nationalities until recently generally treated in the aggregate as "Hispanics." Though still fragmented and tentative in perspective, as are the disciplines on which they draw and the research apparatus on which they rest, the quest among these new voices for a unifying perspective also comes across in this collection of essays. There is manifestly more under way here than a simple demand for inclusion of neglected instances on the margin of supposedly well understood larger or "mainstream" dynamics. The 1990s open with a more confident assertion of the centrality of the Latino presence and Latino actors in the overarching transformations reshaping U.S. society, and especially in the playing out of these restructurings in the regions and cities of Latino concentration. In that sense, each of these inquiries adds to a newly accumulating "critical capital" -questionings of reigning concepts and approaches, insights drawn from empirical observations at odds with received social science and policy wisdom, and a new sense of connectedness and motivation springing from newly available modalities of research collaboration. Significantly, in my view, there are no strident claims advanced here imputing decisive or overriding centrality to ethnic or cultural factors in determining behaviors or social outcomes, but rather a call for more careful attention to larger structural or, as in the case of employment and earnings, "demand-side" considerations. Nevertheless, in subtler ways, these essays highlight the necessary social legitimation of research-grounded knowledge and policy solutions and the ix

9 X FOREWORD place of ethnicity in the social construction of whatever larger consensus is to see the United States through the coming decade. FRANK BONILLA Inter-University Program for Latino Research Hunter College of the City University of New York New York, New York

10 Preface This volume is the outgrowth of a series of eight seminars that were held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueiios (Center for Puerto Rican Studies) at Hunter College, and the Center for Immigrant and Population Studies at the College of Staten Island. In addition to some of the contributors to this volume, participants in these seminars included Alice Colon-Warren, Palmira Rios, Luis Falcon-Rodriguez, Marisa Alicea, Robert Aponte, Miren Gaston-Uriarte, Rick McGahey, William Radison, Roberto Fernandez, Luis Prado, Tom Bailey, Roger Waldinger, Thierry Noyelle, Carolle Charles, Nina Glick, Linda Basch, Joyce Toney, Patricia Pessar, Mary Corcoran, Darlene Kalke, and Roy Bryce-Laporte. The impetus for the seminars was a growing concern on the part of the editors about the deteriorating economic situation of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in the last two decades. These seminars sought to bring together researchers from numerous disciplines to consider various dimensions of the labormarket problems affecting Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in the Northeast. We focused on three areas we considered critical to such an analysis. These were: trends in the characteristics and composition of Puerto Rican and Latino labor markets, the effects of industrial restructuring, and policies affecting the labormarket participation of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in the Northeast. The focus of the seminars was on new ideas and new research. We invited senior and junior researchers; works presented were, to the greatest extent possible, comparative in approach and focused largely on Latinos in the Northeast. Specific areas addressed were: the underclass, Hispanic women, income, migration, policy and program options in education and employment, industrial restructuring, and the economic role of new immigrants. The discussion in these seminars subsequently led us to consider the regional issues we had addressed within a broader, more national Latino framework-thus the birth of this volume. This volume seeks to examine many of the above issues within a larger context and from a variety of perspectives. It begins with an introduction that xi

11 xii PREFACE reviews current issues and approaches to the study of the Latino labor force. An overview of the economic situation of Latinos in the United States then provides the context within which to examine the effects of literacy and race on earnings. The relationship between labor-market segmentation and industrial change is examined regionally and comparatively. Hispanic employment and segmentation within the public sector are also examined. The feminization of poverty, women, family, and work also receive special attention. A critical assessment of laborforce policy and its effects on Latinos is provided. The volume concludes with an epilogue that examines the future implications of the problems and policy concerns that are raised. It is our hope that this volume will facilitate discussions leading to the development of more concrete solutions to enhance the employment situation of Latinos in the United States. We would like to thank the following for their support of the original seminar series: the Inter-University Program for Latino Research, the Ford Foundation, the American Sociological Association Small Grants Program, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, for providing much needed resources and space. We would also like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueiios at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the Center for Immigrant and Population Studies at the College of Staten Island, who cosponsored and organized some of the seminars. Special thanks also go to the seminar participants and to Betty Radwanski, whose assistance was invaluable in making the original seminar series a success and the current volume a reality. We would also like to acknowledge the very important commentary and editorial suggestions made by the editors at Plenum and by Gary Marx, the Series Editor. In the process of compiling the chapters for this book, we have also received valuable ideas, support, and participation from Frank Bonilla, Rudy de la Garza, Bill Diaz, Bennett Harrison, Thnney Lee, Robert Reischauer, Errol Ricketts, Palmira Rios, Raquel Ovrin Rivera, and Harriett Romo. We thank them now for their immeasurable contributions. Finally, special thanks go to the presenters and contributors to the volume, not just for their written contributions, but also for their indispensable comments on the other papers presented.

12 Contents 1. Hispanics in the Labor Force: An Introduction to Issues and Approaches Edwin Melendez, Clara E. Rodriguez, and Janis Barry Figueroa Hispanic Diversity and Immigrants' Assimilation Immigration and Labor Market Outcomes Socioeconomic Profile of Hispanics in the 1980s Earnings... 9 Education Employment and Unemployment Occupations Organization of the Volume References I. Earnings 2. An Even Greater "U-Turn": Latinos and the New Inequality Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, Martin Carnoy, and Hugh Daley A Changing U. S. Political Economy Dimensions of the Reversal Growing Overall Income Inequality Inequality within Ethnic/Gender Subgroups Explaining Increasing Inequality Human Capital Gaps Industrial-Occupational Employment Gaps A Polarization in Jobs Immigration and Demographic Change xiii

13 xiv CONTENTS The Relative Importance of Alternative Explanations The Immigration Issue Public Policy Implications and Future Research References The Effects of Literacy on the Earnings of Hispanics in the United States Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz Research on Literacy and Its Economic Effects The Economic Condition of Hispanics in the United States Factors Determining Socioeconomic Status Literacy and Earnings: The Empirical Framework Schooling, Employment, and Selectivity Bias First Stage Estimation: Determinants of the Probability of Employment The Effects of Literacy on Earnings: Results of the Wage Equation 67 Conclusions References The Effect of Race on Puerto Rican Wages Clara E. Rodriguez The Research Question Puerto Ricans and Race Data and Methodology Findings Race Results Other Findings Summary Conclusion References II. Segmentation and Industrial Change 5. Labor Market Structure and Wage Differences in New York City: A Comparative Analysis of Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites I 01 Edwin Melendez

14 CONTENTS xv Determinants of Hispanics' Earnings Labor Market Structures Method and Data Decomposition of Wage Differences Policy Implications References Latinos and Industrial Change in New York and Los Angeles Vilma Ortiz Introduction Methods and Data Results Industry Change in New York and Los Angeles Industry Change by Race/Ethnicity Unemployment Discussion and Conclusions References Ill. Government Employment 7. Hispanic Employment in the Public Sector: Why Is It Lower Than Blacks'? Cordelia Reimers and Howard Chernick Public-Sector Employment and Earnings by Ethnic/Gender Group. 136 Sectoral Distribution of Employment Sectoral Distribution of Earnings Hypotheses to Explain Variations in Public-Sector Employment Human Capital Redistributional Goals of Public Managers Group Differences in Labor Supply to the Public Sector Testing the Human Capital Hypothesis The Data Base Standardizations for Education, Occupation, Citizenship, and English A Multivariate Model to Test the Human Capital Hypothesis

15 xvi CONTENTS Conclusions References Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Employment Segmentation in New York City Agencies Walter Stafford Introduction Methods and Data Findings Changes in the Employment of Latino Men Changes in the Employment of Latino Women Changes in the Employment of Black Men Changes in the Employment of Black Women Changes in the Employment of White Men Changes in the Employment of White Women Changes in the Access of Groups to High-Wage Jobs between 1975 and Occupational and Agency Stratification Occupational and Agency Segmentation of Latino Men Occupational and Agency Segmentation of Latino Women Occupational and Agency Segmentation of Black Men Occupational and Agency Segmentation of Black Women Occupational and Agency Segmentation of White Men Occupational and Agency Segmentation of White Women Conclusion References IV. Women, Family, and Work 9. A Comparison of Labor Supply Behavior among Single and Married Puerto Rican Mothers Janis Barry Figueroa Labor Supply Differences between Single and Married Mothers Is Headship Status Really the Problem? The Employment Situation of Puerto Rican Women in New York City Mothers' Responsiveness to Economic Incentives and Constraints

16 CONTENTS xvii A Model for Estimating Women's Labor Supply Labor Force Participation Findings Hours and Weeks Worked Estimates Summary References Appendix Work and Family Responsibilities of Women in New York City Terry J. Rosenberg Introduction Data and Methods Findings Labor Force Characteristics by Cohort Family Characteristics by Cohort A Focus on Married Women Summary and Recommendations References V. Policy 11. Wage Policies, Employment, and Puerto Rican Migration Carlos E. Santiago Introduction Migration and the Demographic Transition in Puerto Rico Wage Policies and Puerto Rican Economic Development Labor Migration and Wage Shocks Estimation of the Migration Response Function Conclusions References Latino Research and Policy: The Puerto Rican Case Andres Torres and Clara E. Rodriguez Introduction Definition of Poverty Persistent Disadvantage

17 xviii CONTENTS Issues and Problems in Puerto Rican Labor Force Research Inadequate Data Inadequate Models Accessibility and the Indigenous Factor The Case of "the Underclass" From Conjecture to Conclusion Policy Debates on Policy Approaches Employment-Oriented Policies Conclusion References Latinos, Class, and the U. S. Political Economy: Income Inequality and Policy Alternatives Rodolfo D. Torres and Adela de La Torre Introduction Income Inequality and Discrimination: The Role of Human Capital Models The Class/Structural Model Industrial Policy Future Research References Epilogue Edwin Melendez, Clara E. Rodriguez, and Janis Barry Figueroa Labor Force Issues and Approaches Issues Data Problems Labor Market Discrimination Labor Market Conditions The Puerto Rican Worker Government's Role References Index