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
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
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
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
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, 2008 2009) 5
Why look at job quality among working parents? 6
Employment conditions can influence quality of life of working adults, family stress, parental availability, ability to meet basic needs of children
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
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
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Labor force participation rates of women aged 25 to 54 years, by race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 1972 2010 80 70 60 50 40 30 White Black Asian Hispanic 20 10 0 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Employment during the Recovery, May 3, 2011. Available at: http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/femalelaborforce/femalelaborforce.pdf 10
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.
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 2010. 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.
Data Current Population Survey March Annual Social and Economic Supplement Nationally representative Five years: 2007-2011 Sample: Parents employed at any job in prior calendar year (2006-2010) N = 210,000 13
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
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
What is an adequate wage for a working parent? 16
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 821 821 821 821 821 821 Utilities 178 178 178 178 178 178 Food 357 446 614 765 469 650 Transportation 536 536 536 1019 536 1019 Child Care 655 0 424 849 1310 1310 Personal & Household Items 366 390 435 476 396 445 Health Care 577 614 645 682 593 652 Emergency Savings 206 176 209 270 250 288 Retirement Savings 121 121 121 94 121 94 Taxes 861 690 852 1089 1101 1185 Tax Credits -167-117 -250-334 -300-334 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 $17.92 17
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
Percent of working parents with bad job characteristics, by race/ethnicity and nativity 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 NHW NHA NHB Hispanic 10 0 No health insurance No pension Low wage job 19
Number of bad job characteristics, by race/ethnicity and nativity 50 45 P e r c e n t 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 NHW NHA NHB Hispanic 0 1 2 3 20
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*** (0.00512) (0.00617) (0.00525) Non-Hispanic Black 21.77*** 19.87*** 10.30*** (0.00750) (0.00762) (0.00633) Non-Hispanic White 1.59-11.08*** 2.458*** (0.0116) (0.0125) (0.00911) Foreign-born 18.35*** 15.40*** (0.00638) (0.00535) 21
Table 3. Regression models predicting bad job characteristics. March CPS, 2007-2011. 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 1.000 1.145*** 0.957 (0.0342) (0.0410) (0.0410) Foreign-born 1.421*** 1.672*** 1.565*** (0.0286) (0.0387) (0.0392) 22
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
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
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
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
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