Search Results

Source: American Journal of Sociology
Resulting in 26 citations.
1. Aisenbrey, Silke
Fasang, Anette
The Interplay of Work and Family Trajectories over the Life Course: Germany and the United States in Comparison
American Journal of Sociology 122,5 (March 2017): 1448-1484.
Also: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691128
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Cross-national Analysis; Family Formation; Gender Differences; Germany, German; Life Course; Maternal Employment; Occupational Prestige

This article uses sequence analysis to examine how gender inequality in work-family trajectories unfolds from early adulthood until middle age in two different welfare state contexts. Results based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the German National Education Panel Study demonstrate that in Germany, all work-family trajectories are highly gender-specific irrespective of social class. In contrast, patterns of work-family interplay across the life course in the United States are, overall, less gendered, but they differ widely by social class. In fact, work-family patterns characterized by high occupational prestige are fairly equally accessible for men and women. However, women are far more likely than men to experience the joint occurrence of single parenthood and unstable low-prestige work careers in the United States. The authors contribute to the literature by bringing in a longitudinal, process-oriented life course perspective and conceptualizing work-family trajectories as interlocked, multidimensional processes.
Bibliography Citation
Aisenbrey, Silke and Anette Fasang. "The Interplay of Work and Family Trajectories over the Life Course: Germany and the United States in Comparison." American Journal of Sociology 122,5 (March 2017): 1448-1484.
2. Brand, Jennie E.
Simon Thomas, Juli
Job Displacement among Single Mothers: Effects on Children’s Outcomes in Young Adulthood
American Journal of Sociology 119,4 (January 2014): 955-1001.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/675409
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): CESD (Depression Scale); Depression (see also CESD); Educational Attainment; Job Patterns; Job Turnover; Layoffs; Maternal Employment; Parental Influences; Parents, Single; Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Unemployment; Well-Being

Given the recent era of economic upheaval, studying the effects of job displacement has seldom been so timely and consequential. Despite a large literature associating displacement with worker well-being, relatively few studies focus on the effects of parental displacement on child well-being, and fewer still focus on implications for children of single-parent households. Moreover, notwithstanding a large literature on the relationship between single motherhood and children’s outcomes, research on intergenerational effects of involuntary employment separations among single mothers is limited. Using 30 years of nationally representative panel data and propensity score matching methods, the authors find significant negative effects of job displacement among single mothers on children’s educational attainment and social-psychological well-being in young adulthood. Effects are concentrated among older children and children whose mothers had a low likelihood of displacement, suggesting an important role for social stigma and relative deprivation in the effects of socioeconomic shocks on child well-being.
Bibliography Citation
Brand, Jennie E. and Juli Simon Thomas. "Job Displacement among Single Mothers: Effects on Children’s Outcomes in Young Adulthood." American Journal of Sociology 119,4 (January 2014): 955-1001.
3. Campbell, Richard T.
Henretta, John C.
Status Claims and Status Attainment: The Determinants of Financial Well-Being
American Journal of Sociology 86,3 (November 1980): 618-629.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778632
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Assets; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Family Resources; Fathers, Influence; Pensions; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Well-Being

This paper examines the dimensionality of status measures related to net worth and occupation. The measures of status considered include: home equity, savings, real estate assets, business assets, earnings, and pension coverage. The authors consider the role of each in status evaluations and examine empirically whether the process of attainment of each is the same. This hypothesis is rejected and a final model presented that allows a different process of attainment for each measure. It was found that, net of earnings, family formation measures have large effects on the different status measures consistent with different patterns of family needs. Finally, the implications of using wealth and consumption measures as measures of status are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
Campbell, Richard T. and John C. Henretta. "Status Claims and Status Attainment: The Determinants of Financial Well-Being." American Journal of Sociology 86,3 (November 1980): 618-629.
4. Cheng, Siwei
A Life Course Trajectory Framework for Understanding the Intracohort Pattern of Wage Inequality
American Journal of Sociology 120,3 (November 2014): 633-700.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/676841
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Life Course; Modeling, Growth Curve/Latent Trajectory Analysis; Wage Gap

Much research has been devoted to cross-sectional and intercohort patterns of wage inequality, but relatively little is known about the mechanisms for the intracohort pattern of wage inequality. To fill this intellectual gap, this article establishes a life course trajectory (LCT) framework for understanding the intracohort pattern of wage inequality. First, the author proposes and conceptualizes three essential properties of the LCT framework (random variability, trajectory heterogeneity, and cumulative advantage) that are used to establish a mathematical formalization of the LCT framework. Both the conceptualization and the formalization imply that intracohort wage inequality will increase over the life course due to random variability, trajectory heterogeneity, and cumulative advantage. Finally, the author combines the LCT framework with the multilevel growth curve model, then applies the model to data from the NLSY79, and finds support for the significance of random variability, trajectory heterogeneity, and between-group cumulative advantage properties but not the within-group cumulative advantage property.
Bibliography Citation
Cheng, Siwei. "A Life Course Trajectory Framework for Understanding the Intracohort Pattern of Wage Inequality." American Journal of Sociology 120,3 (November 2014): 633-700.
5. Frech, Adrianne
Damaske, Sarah
Men's Income Trajectories and Physical and Mental Health at Midlife
American Journal of Sociology 124,5 (March 2019): 1372-1412.
Also: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/702775
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Income; Mobility, Economic

Using time-varying, prospectively measured income in a nationally representative sample of baby-boomer men (the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979), the authors identify eight group-based trajectories of income between ages 25 and 49 and use multinomial treatment models to describe the associations between group-based income trajectories and mental and physical health at midlife. The authors find remarkable rigidity in income trajectories: less than 25% of the sample experiences significant upward or downward mobility between ages 25 and 49, and most who move remain or move into poverty. Men's physical and mental health at age 50 is strongly associated with their income trajectories, and some upwardly mobile men achieve the same physical and mental health as the highest earning men after adjusting for selection. The worse physical and mental health of men on other income trajectories is largely attributable to their early life disadvantages, health behaviors, and cumulative work experiences.
Bibliography Citation
Frech, Adrianne and Sarah Damaske. "Men's Income Trajectories and Physical and Mental Health at Midlife." American Journal of Sociology 124,5 (March 2019): 1372-1412.
6. Goldscheider, Frances Kobrin
Waite, Linda J.
Sex Differences in the Entry into Marriage
American Journal of Sociology 92,1 (July 1986): 91-109.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2779718
Cohort(s): Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Gender Differences; Marriage; Parental Influences; Sex Roles

Among the many transitions young people make as they enter adulthood, marriage is perhaps the most important. This paper uses data from the NLS of Young Women and Young Men to examine the transition to marriage and how it differs by sex, testing the extent of variation in the desirability of marriage for men and women, and the effects of marriage market factors and marital and nonmarital roles. The design of the analysis allows the effects of these factors to vary over the young adult years. The pattern of findings suggests that recent declines in the marriage rate have not resulted from increased barriers to marriage but from declines in relative preferences for marriage.
Bibliography Citation
Goldscheider, Frances Kobrin and Linda J. Waite. "Sex Differences in the Entry into Marriage." American Journal of Sociology 92,1 (July 1986): 91-109.
7. Goldstein, Adam
Knight, Carly R.
Boom, Bust, Repeat: Financial Market Participation and Cycles of Speculation
American Journal of Sociology 128,5 (March 2023).
Also: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/723953
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Economic Behaviors; Economic Theories, Behavioral; Financial Activities, Risky; Financial Asset Bubble; Financial Behaviors/Decisions; Financial Capitalism; Financial Investments; Financial Investments, Aggressive; Financial Investments, Conservative; Financial Market Boom-and-Bust Cycle; Financial Market Participation; Financial Speculation; Stock Market; Stock Market Crash

This article asks whether the experience of a boom-and-bust cycle renders economic actors more or less likely to engage in risky financial activities in the future. The financialization of U.S. households has occurred in the context of two successive mass-participatory asset bubbles: first in the stock market during the 1990s and later in the housing market during the 2000s. Behavioral economic theories predict that prior experience of market crashes should dampen speculative tendencies and prompt actors to behave more conservatively. By contrast, the authors build on the sociological literature about the financialization of daily life to develop an alternative hypothesis: that participation in financial markets increases actors’ tendencies to engage in risky investment by socializing them to attend to novel market opportunities. The authors test these alternatives using panel data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Results from both control function and matched regression models reveal that those who participated more directly in the late 1990s stock market were more prone to invest aggressively in the mid-2000s housing market. These positive effects obtain irrespective of whether households gained or lost wealth during the bubble. The results provide new evidence about how financial capitalism is reshaping economic behavior.
Bibliography Citation
Goldstein, Adam and Carly R. Knight. "Boom, Bust, Repeat: Financial Market Participation and Cycles of Speculation." American Journal of Sociology 128,5 (March 2023).
8. Hao, Lingxin
Brinton, Mary C.
Productive Activities and Support Systems of Single Mothers
American Journal of Sociology 102,5 (March 1997): 1305-1344.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/231085
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Child Support; Coresidence; Education; Employment; Family Background and Culture; Human Capital; Local Labor Market; Marital Status; Maternal Employment; Modeling; Parents, Single; Racial Differences; School Completion; Training

Young single mothers' human capital development and labor market participation are important issues of public policy concern in the United States. This article uses a dynamic approach to model the determinants of single mothers' entry into and exit from productive activities. Using 14 waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the article shows that kin coresidence facilitates young single mothers' entry into productive activities but does not play a significant role in sustaining participation. Women's individual trainability, the local labor market conditions, child support, and d some family background factors all play a role. The results also demonstrate the insignificance of race and never-married versus ever-married status. (Copyright by the University of Chicago. All rights reserved.)
Bibliography Citation
Hao, Lingxin and Mary C. Brinton. "Productive Activities and Support Systems of Single Mothers." American Journal of Sociology 102,5 (March 1997): 1305-1344.
9. Henretta, John C.
Campbell, Richard T.
Net Worth as an Aspect of Status
American Journal of Sociology 83,5 (March 1978): 1204-1223.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778191
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Assets; Educational Returns; Family Background and Culture; Family Resources; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

This article discusses the role of net worth as a component of status and estimates a status attainment model for net worth. The findings show that: (1) the effect of family background is transmitted via education; (2) the effect of education is asymptotic rather than linear; (3) single and divorced persons possess substantially fewer assets, net of other characteristics, than married persons; and (4) net of all other variables, earnings have a considerable effect on net worth.
Bibliography Citation
Henretta, John C. and Richard T. Campbell. "Net Worth as an Aspect of Status." American Journal of Sociology 83,5 (March 1978): 1204-1223.
10. Hwang, Kylie Jiwon
Phillips, Damon
Entrepreneurship as a Response to Labor Market Discrimination for Formerly Incarcerated People
American Journal of Sociology published online (2024).
Also: https://doi.org/10.1086/729476
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Black Studies; Discrimination, Job; Entrepreneurship; Incarcerated/Jailed Individuals, Previously; Incarceration/Jail, Personal History of; Income; Labor Equality/Inequality; Labor Market Discrimination; Recidivism/Return to Crime; Work Reentry

This article examines entrepreneurship as a response to labor market discrimination. Specifically, we examine entrepreneurship as a career choice for formerly incarcerated individuals, a group of individuals who face substantial discrimination in the labor market. Using the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data, we find that formerly incarcerated people are more likely to become entrepreneurs compared to individuals who have never been incarcerated. We take advantage of a quasi-experimental setting by using the staggered implementation of “ban-the-box” policies in the United States to disentangle the underlying mechanism of how labor market discrimination affects formerly incarcerated individuals in their entrepreneurial choices. The findings suggest that formerly incarcerated Black individuals pursue entrepreneurship due to the discrimination they face from employers. We also find that entrepreneurship is a viable alternative career choice for formerly incarcerated people, yielding both higher income and lower recidivism rates. In addition to reporting robustness checks and addressing alternative explanations, we discuss theoretical, empirical, and policy implications.
Bibliography Citation
Hwang, Kylie Jiwon and Damon Phillips. "Entrepreneurship as a Response to Labor Market Discrimination for Formerly Incarcerated People." American Journal of Sociology published online (2024).
11. Jaeger, Mads Meier
A Dynamic Model of Cultural Reproduction
American Journal of Sociology 121,4 (January 2016): 1079-1115.
Also: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/684012
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Children, Academic Development; Extracurricular Activities/Sports; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Modeling, Fixed Effects; Parental Influences; Parental Investments; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings; Social Capital

The authors draw on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction to develop a formal model of the pathways through which cultural capital acts to enhance children's educational and socioeconomic success. The authors' approach brings conceptual and empirical clarity to an important area of study. Their model describes how parents transmit cultural capital to their children and how children convert cultural capital into educational success. It also provides a behavioral framework for interpreting parental investments in cultural capital. The authors review results from existing empirical research on the role of cultural capital in education to demonstrate the usefulness of their model for interpretative purposes, and they use National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979--Children and Young Adults survey data to test some of its implications.
Bibliography Citation
Jaeger, Mads Meier. "A Dynamic Model of Cultural Reproduction." American Journal of Sociology 121,4 (January 2016): 1079-1115.
12. Keister, Lisa A.
Conservative Protestants and Wealth: How Religion Perpetuates Asset Poverty
American Journal of Sociology 113,5 (March 2008): 1237-1271.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/10.1086/525506
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Assets; Poverty; Religion; Wealth

The association between cultural orientation and material outcomes is fundamental to sociology research. This article contributes to the understanding of this relationship by exploring how religious affiliation affects wealth ownership for conservative Protestants (CPs). The results demonstrate that religion affects wealth indirectly through educational attainment, fertility, and female labor force participation. The results also provide evidence of a direct effect of religion on wealth. Low rates of asset accumulation and unique economic values combine to reduce CP wealth beyond the effects of demographics. The findings improve understanding of the relationship between religious beliefs and inequality.
Bibliography Citation
Keister, Lisa A. "Conservative Protestants and Wealth: How Religion Perpetuates Asset Poverty." American Journal of Sociology 113,5 (March 2008): 1237-1271.
13. Kilbourne, Barbara Stanek
Farkas, George
Beron, Kurt
Weir, Dorothea
England, Paula A.
Returns to Skill, Compensating Differentials, and Gender Bias: Effects of Occupational Characteristics on the Wages of White Women and Men
American Journal of Sociology 100,3 (November 1994): 689-719.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2782402
Cohort(s): Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Educational Returns; Gender Differences; Human Capital Theory; Job Skills; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Skills; Unions; Wage Gap; Wages, Women

Gender differences in the earnings of white US workers are decomposed using a regression model with fixed-effects & national individual-level panel data from the 1966-1981 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = approximately 10,000 respondents ages 14-24 at initial sampling). In accordance with neoclassical predictions from human capital theory, net positive returns to individuals' education & experience & to occupations' cognitive physical skills are found. While sex differences in experience have large effects on the sex gap, skill contributes little. In accordance with cultural feminist predictions, negative returns to being in an occupation with a higher % of females or requiring more nurturant social skills are found. These forms of gendered valuation contribute significantly to the sex gap in pay. In contrast to the neoclassical prediction of compensating differentials, there are no consistently positive effects for onerous physical conditions, nor do these have much effect on the gap. 2 Tables, 1 Appendix, 54 References. Adapted from the source document. (Copyright 1995, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.)
Bibliography Citation
Kilbourne, Barbara Stanek, George Farkas, Kurt Beron, Dorothea Weir and Paula A. England. "Returns to Skill, Compensating Differentials, and Gender Bias: Effects of Occupational Characteristics on the Wages of White Women and Men." American Journal of Sociology 100,3 (November 1994): 689-719.
14. McLeod, Jane D.
Fettes, Danielle L.
Trajectories of Failure: The Educational Careers of Children with Mental Health Problems
American Journal of Sociology 113,3 (November 2007): 653-701.
Also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19855855
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Achievement; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); CESD (Depression Scale); Children, Academic Development; College Enrollment; Depression (see also CESD); Educational Aspirations/Expectations; Educational Attainment; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; High School Completion/Graduates; High School Diploma; Modeling, Growth Curve/Latent Trajectory Analysis; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); School Completion; School Dropouts

The authors draw on developmental psychopathology, life course sociology, and scholarship on educational processes to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the association of children's mental health problems with educational attainment. They use this framework to address two empirical gaps in prior research: lack of attention to mental health trajectories and the failure to consider diverse explanations. Using data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth data set, the authors identify latent classes that characterize trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems from childhood through adolescence. Youths in the classes vary significantly in their likelihoods of high school completion and college entry. The authors evaluate the ability of three sets of mediators to explain these patterns: academic aptitude, disruptive behaviors, and educational expectations. Educational expectations are important mediators independent of academic aptitude and disruptive behaviors. Social responses to youths' mental health problems contribute importantly to their disrupted educational trajectories.
Bibliography Citation
McLeod, Jane D. and Danielle L. Fettes. "Trajectories of Failure: The Educational Careers of Children with Mental Health Problems." American Journal of Sociology 113,3 (November 2007): 653-701.
15. Pais, Jeremy
The Effects of U.S. Immigration on the Career Trajectories of Native Workers, 1979–2004
American Journal of Sociology 119,1 (July 2013): 35-74.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/10.1086/671326
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Census of Population; Earnings; Immigrants; Modeling, Growth Curve/Latent Trajectory Analysis

While earlier work primarily examines the point-in-time effects of immigration on the earnings of native workers, this article focuses more broadly on the effects of immigration on native workers’ career trajectories. Cross-classified multilevel growth-curve models are applied to 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and U.S. Census Bureau data to demonstrate how people adjust to changing local labor market conditions throughout their careers. The key findings indicate that substitution and complementary effects depend on the stage of the worker’s career. At entry into the labor market, high levels of immigration have a positive effect on the career paths of young native-born adults. However, negative contemporaneous effects to natives’ earnings tend to offset positive point-of-entry effects, a finding that suggests job competition among natives is greater in areas of high immigrant population concentration. These results raise questions about whether foreign-born workers need to be in direct competition with natives for there to be substitution effects.
Bibliography Citation
Pais, Jeremy. "The Effects of U.S. Immigration on the Career Trajectories of Native Workers, 1979–2004." American Journal of Sociology 119,1 (July 2013): 35-74.
16. Parcel, Toby L.
Menaghan, Elizabeth G.
Early Parental Work, Family Social Capital, and Early Childhood Outcomes
American Journal of Sociology 99, 4 (January 1994): 972-1009.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2781737
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Birthweight; Child Care; Child Development; Child Health; Children, Behavioral Development; Cognitive Development; Fathers, Absence; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Household Composition; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Marital Status; Maternal Employment; Parent-Child Relationship/Closeness; Parental Influences; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Self-Esteem; Sociability/Socialization/Social Interaction; Wages

Uses data from the 1986 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to evaluate the impact of parental working conditions on both a cognitive & a social child outcome among a national sample of employed mothers with children ages 3-6. Results indicate that current maternal working conditions affect children's verbal facility, but paternal work hours in the early years have significant effects on children's behavior problems. Mothers' current occupational complexity interacts with her resources & employment characteristics to influence both cognitive & social outcomes. It is concluded that adequate parental resources contribute to the forms of family social capital useful in facilitating positive child outcomes, but that findings of negative effects of maternal work in the child's first year have been overgeneralized. 5 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Appendix, 70 References. Adapted from the source document. (Copyright 1994, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.)
Bibliography Citation
Parcel, Toby L. and Elizabeth G. Menaghan. "Early Parental Work, Family Social Capital, and Early Childhood Outcomes." American Journal of Sociology 99, 4 (January 1994): 972-1009.
17. Saperstein, Aliya
Penner, Andrew M.
Racial Fluidity and Inequality in the United States
American Journal of Sociology 118,3 (November 2012): 676-727.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/10.1086/667722
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Racial Differences; Racial Equality/Inequality; Racial Studies

The authors link the literature on racial fluidity and inequality in the United States and offer new evidence of the reciprocal relationship between the two processes. Using two decades of longitudinal data from a national survey, they demonstrate that not only does an individual’s race change over time, it changes in response to myriad changes in social position, and the patterns are similar for both self-identification and classification by others. These findings suggest that, in the contemporary United States, microlevel racial fluidity serves to reinforce existing disparities by redefining successful or high-status people as white (or not black) and unsuccessful or low-status people as black (or not white). Thus, racial differences are both an input and an output in stratification processes; this relationship has implications for theorizing and measuring race in research, as well as for crafting policies that attempt to address racialized inequality.
Bibliography Citation
Saperstein, Aliya and Andrew M. Penner. "Racial Fluidity and Inequality in the United States." American Journal of Sociology 118,3 (November 2012): 676-727.
18. Schneider, Daniel J.
Wealth and the Marital Divide
American Journal of Sociology 117,2 (September 2011): 627-667.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/661594
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Age at First Marriage; Assets; Educational Status; Gender Differences; Marriage; Racial Differences; Wealth

Marriage patterns differ dramatically in the United States by race and education. The author identifies a novel explanation for these marital divides, namely, the important role of personal wealth in marriage entry. Using event-history models and data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort, the author shows that wealth is an important predictor of first marriage and that differences in asset ownership by race and education help to explain a significant portion of the race and education gaps in first marriage. The article also tests possible explanations for why wealth plays an important role in first marriage entry.
Bibliography Citation
Schneider, Daniel J. "Wealth and the Marital Divide." American Journal of Sociology 117,2 (September 2011): 627-667.
19. Suter, Larry E.
Miller, Herman P.
Income Differences Between Men and Career Women
American Journal of Sociology 78,4 (January 1973): 962-974.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2776614
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Income Distribution; Occupational Status; Work Experience

The analysis of incomes for men and women 30-44 years old in 1967 presented in this paper shows that by considering only educational level, occupational status, and work experience, the income level for women can be predicted more confidently than for men. Women's pay is commensurate with effort and education, but incomes tend to cluster around the average rather than varying widely around the regression line. The absence of marked variation means that most women were receiving "just average" wages, regardless of training, job status, or experience. The income distribution of men, on the other hand, tends to be skewed toward higher income levels.
Bibliography Citation
Suter, Larry E. and Herman P. Miller. "Income Differences Between Men and Career Women." American Journal of Sociology 78,4 (January 1973): 962-974.
20. Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald
Thomas, Melvin
Johnson, Kecia Renee
Race and the Accumulation of Human Capital across the Career: A Theoretical Model and Fixed-Effects Application
American Journal of Sociology 111,1 (July 2005): 58-89.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/431779
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Hispanics; Human Capital; Racial Differences

The authors develop an explicitly sociological variant on human capital theory, emphasizing that most human capital acquisition is a social product, not an individual investment decision. The authors apply this model to racial earnings inequality, focusing on how exposure to discrimination influences both human capital acquisition and earnings inequalities as they develop across the career. The authors estimate models of career earnings trajectories, which show flatter trajectories for black and Hispanic men relative to white men, partial mediation by human capital acquired inside the labor market, and much larger race/ethnic career inequalities among the highly educated.
Bibliography Citation
Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, Melvin Thomas and Kecia Renee Johnson. "Race and the Accumulation of Human Capital across the Career: A Theoretical Model and Fixed-Effects Application." American Journal of Sociology 111,1 (July 2005): 58-89.
21. Torche, Florencia
Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility across Levels of Schooling in the United States
American Journal of Sociology 117,3 (November 2011): 763-807.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/661904
Cohort(s): Mature Women, NLSY79, Older Men, Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): College Degree; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Household Income; Mobility; Occupational Status; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)

A quarter century ago, an important finding in stratification research showed that the intergenerational occupational association was much weaker among college graduates than among those with lower levels of education. This article provides a comprehensive assessment of the “meritocratic power” of a college degree. Drawing on five longitudinal data sets, the author analyzes intergenerational mobility in terms of class, occupational status, earnings, and household income for men and women. Findings indicate that the intergenerational association is strong among those with low educational attainment; it weakens or disappears among bachelor’s degree holders but reemerges among those with advanced degrees, leading to a U-shaped pattern of parental influence. Educational and labor market factors explain these differences in mobility: parental resources influence college selectivity, field of study, and earnings more strongly for advanced-degree holders than for those with a bachelor’s degree alone.
Bibliography Citation
Torche, Florencia. "Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility across Levels of Schooling in the United States." American Journal of Sociology 117,3 (November 2011): 763-807.
22. Waite, Linda J.
Working Wives and the Life Cycle
American Journal of Sociology 86,2 (September 1980): 272-294.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778665
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Children; Family Resources; Life Cycle Research; Schooling; Wives; Work History

The concept of the "family life cycle" provides a valuable context within which to study labor force participation of married women. This article tests the hypothesis that the process by which wives make the decision to supply labor to the market varies with position in that life cycle. An examination is made of market activity during the early stages of the cycle, from marriage through the completion of childbearing. The effects of the most important determinants of married women's labor force involvement are found to depend on life-cycle stage. Wives who consider their families complete tend to be more responsible to family financial circumstances and the characteristics of the labor market in which they live than do childless women or mothers who expect more children. History of employment is found to be most important in predicting current market activity for mothers who expect more children and least important for those who do not.
Bibliography Citation
Waite, Linda J. "Working Wives and the Life Cycle." American Journal of Sociology 86,2 (September 1980): 272-294.
23. Waite, Linda J.
Berryman, Sue E.
Job Stability Among Young Women: A Comparison of Traditional and Nontraditional Occupations
American Journal of Sociology 92,3 (November 1986): 568-595.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2779916
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Gender Differences; Job Turnover; Military Training; Mobility; Mobility, Labor Market; Occupational Segregation; Occupations, Non-Traditional

This paper explores young women's retention in sex-atypical jobs in the military and in civilian firms. It develops hypotheses about the effects on one-year turnover of sex composition of the occupation in the national labor force. These hypotheses were drawn from several theoretical perspectives on career mobility and the effects of outgroup membership on acceptance. Tests of these hypotheses, using data from the NLSY, provide no evidence that being in a nontraditional occupation increases the chances that a young woman will leave her current employer. The military sector shows a more complex relationship between occupational typicality and women's exit from the services.
Bibliography Citation
Waite, Linda J. and Sue E. Berryman. "Job Stability Among Young Women: A Comparison of Traditional and Nontraditional Occupations." American Journal of Sociology 92,3 (November 1986): 568-595.
24. Western, Bruce
Beckett, Katherine
How Unregulated is the U.S. Labor Market? The Penal System as a Labor Market Institution
American Journal of Sociology 104,4 (January 1999): 1030-1060.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/210135
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Incarceration/Jail; Labor Market Outcomes; Unemployment Rate

Comparative research contrasts the corporatist welfare states of Europe with the unregulated U.S. labor market to explain low rates of U.S. unemployment in the 1980s and 1990s. In contrast, this article argues that the U.S. state made a large and coercive intervention into the labor market through the expansion of the penal system. The impact of incarceration on unemployment has two conflicting dynamics. In the short run, U.S. incarceration lowers conventional unemployment measures by removing able-bodied, working-age men from labor force counts. In the long run, social survey data show that incarceration raises unemployment by reducing the job prospects of ex-convicts. Strong U.S. employment performance in the 1980s and 1990s has thus depended in part on a high and increasing incarceration rate.
Bibliography Citation
Western, Bruce and Katherine Beckett. "How Unregulated is the U.S. Labor Market? The Penal System as a Labor Market Institution." American Journal of Sociology 104,4 (January 1999): 1030-1060.
25. Wolfe, Joseph D.
Thomeer, Mieke Beth
Bauldry, Shawn
Twentieth Century Change in the Educational Costs of Adolescent Childbearing
American Journal of Sociology published online (2023).
Also: https://doi.org/10.1086/729819
Cohort(s): Mature Women, NLSY79, NLSY97, Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Childbearing, Adolescent; Education; Educational Attainment; Educational Costs; Millennials; Schooling; Women

Although studies observe heterogeneity in the effects of adolescent childbearing on schooling, we currently know little about when this pattern emerged or how it changed across cohorts of women who lived in distinct periods of U.S. history. This article identifies the potential origins of effect heterogeneity in the educational costs of adolescent childbearing and extends recent advances in causal inference to detect group differences in heterogeneity. The analysis applies this approach to four cohorts of women from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) who entered adolescence before, during, and after expansive economic, demographic, and cultural change in the twentieth century. Results suggest that the educational costs of adolescent childbearing, as well as heterogeneity in those costs, increased for women in the latter half of the twentieth century, especially for Millennial women born 1980 to 1984. We conclude that midcentury social changes fundamentally altered the educational costs of adolescent childbearing for women.
Bibliography Citation
Wolfe, Joseph D., Mieke Beth Thomeer and Shawn Bauldry. "Twentieth Century Change in the Educational Costs of Adolescent Childbearing." American Journal of Sociology published online (2023).
26. Yu, Wei-hsin
Kuo, Janet Chen-Lan
Time Is Money? Wage Premiums and Penalties for Time-Related Occupational Demands
American Journal of Sociology 128,3 (November 2022): 820-865.
Also: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/722963
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Gender Differences; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Occupations; Wage Penalty/Career Penalty; Work Hours/Schedule

Despite research linking time-related work demands to gender inequality, the literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of wage premiums and penalties associated with differing temporal demands. Using longitudinal data and fixed-effects models that address unobserved heterogeneity among workers, we examine how various temporal constraints imposed by occupations are associated with pay. Unlike prior studies, our analysis separates an individual's working hours from an occupation's expected work time. We find pay premiums attached to the requirements for long hours and meeting frequent deadlines, but we find wage penalties for occupations that require much temporal coordination and allow little work-structuring discretion. Schedule irregularity is linked to lower pay for women but higher pay for men. Thus, differing remuneration logics appear to apply to different time-related occupational demands. The analysis also indicates that the premium for the occupation's work-time expectation is lower for women, particularly professional and managerial women, even after considering their actual working hours. We suggest that employers' suspicion of women's ability to comply with their occupation's work-time norm, which is likely more pronounced for professional and managerial women, might contribute to these results.
Bibliography Citation
Yu, Wei-hsin and Janet Chen-Lan Kuo. "Time Is Money? Wage Premiums and Penalties for Time-Related Occupational Demands." American Journal of Sociology 128,3 (November 2022): 820-865.