BACKGROUND PAPER 

Income Disparities 

Between Black and White American s 

December 1977 

O Congress of the United States 

Congressional Budget Office 

INCOME DISPARITIES 

BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE AMERICANS 

The Congress of the United States 

Congressional Budget Office 

FOf'8aie by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 

Stock Number 052-070-04329-6 
NOTE 

Throughout this paper, unless otherwise noted, the term 

white applies to Caucasians, including those of Hispanic heritage. The term nonwhite applies to blacks (which includes some 

persons of Hispanic heritage), American Indians, and Orientals. 

Whenever possible, data for blacks were separated from those 

for other nonwhites in order to focus specifically on their 

experiences. 

Recent legislation such as Public Law 93-311 and new guidelines of the Office of Management and Budget call for collecting 

data for various ethnic and racial groups and for curtailing the 

publication of data under the broad designation "nonwhite". 

These refinements would make it possible to consider the disparities in income experienced by such subgroups as Hispanic 

Americans, native Americans, Orientals, and blacks. As these 

more specific data become available in the future~ they will be 

reflected in CBO's analyses. 
PREFACE 

Income Disparities Between Black and White Americans is 

part of a series of studies undertaken by the Congressional 

Budget Office to examine the causes of and possible remedies 

for racial inequalities. The paper was prepared at the request 

of Parren J. Mitchell, Chairman of the House Budget Committee 

Task Force on Human Resources, and Louis Stokes, Chairman of the 

House Budget Committee Task Force on Community and Physical 

Resources. Topics of the related papers include inequalities 

in education, health, and wealth. 

This paper was written by Sinclair Coleman of CBO's Division of Human Resources and Community Development, under the 

supervision of Robert D. Reischauer and David S. Mundel. The 

author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of David Allen; the 

research assistance of William Bowes, Thomas Cantrell, Mark 

Chandler, John Shiels, and Toni Wright; and the helpful comments 

of Irwin Garfinkel of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The 

manuscript was edited by Robert L. Faherty. It was prepared 

for publication by Toni Wright and Norma Leake. 

In keeping with CRO's mandate to provide nonpartisan and 

objective analysis, the paper offers no recommendations. 

December 1977 

iii 

Alice M. Rivlin 

Director 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Preface .. " .............................................. . iii 

Summary .................................................. xv 

Chapter I. Overview of Income Disparities Between Blacks 

and Wllites .•. ... . .. ... ..• . .. •.. . .• ..• ... . .. . . 1 

Differences in Median Income and Different 

Proportions in Poverty............................. 3 

Comparisons Throughout the Income Distribution 4 

Changes in Relative Income Distributions ••••••••••• 6 

Differences in Types of Income and Effect on 

Income Distribution ... ... . .. . .. . .. ... ... . .. . .. ... 8 

Chapter II. Major Factors Contributing to the Income 

Disparities .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . .. .... 11 

Unemployment and Underemployment ••••••••••••••••••• 11 

Educational Levels . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . . . 16 

Occupational Distributions ••••••••••••• " • •• ••• •• . • 26 

Age and Region ••..........•......•.....•.•.•..... « • 42 

Interactions Among Some of the Major Factors ••••••• 46 

Relations Among Major Factors, Federal Policies, 

and Various Parts of the Income Distribution 49 

Chapter III. Federal Policies That May Affect the Major 

Factors S3 

Income Transfers ••• • •• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• • •• ••• ••• • •• • • 53 

Programs to Reduce Black Unemployment •••••••••••••• 53 

Programs to Increase the Educational Levels 

of Blacks •• • •• ••• ••• • •• ••• • •• • •• ••• ••• • •• ••• ••• • • 56 

Programs to Upgrade the Occupational Distribution 

of Blacks ..... I •••••••••••••••••••••• « • " • " " • • • • • • 60 

Programs to Affect Self-Employment Income of Blacks 

and to Promote Black Capitalism •••••••••••••••••• 64 

v 
General Comments on the Future Convergence of 

Income Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .• . . . • • . . . . . . . • . 65 

Summary • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • 66 

Appendix A. The Adjustment Procedure 

Appendix B. Tables of Occupational Distributions of 

Blacks and of the Total Population Over 

71 

Major Occupational Groups in 1969 ••••••••••• 73 

Appendix C. Tables on Distributions of Blacks and of 

the Total Population Over Subcategories of 

Selected Major Occupational Groups in 1969 81 

Appendix D. Tables Comparing Occupational Distributions 

and Median Earnings for White and ~lack Males 

by Age, Region, and Years of School in 1969.. 95 

vi 
LIST OF TABLES 

1. 

2. 

Changes in Ratios of Nonwhite-to-White and Black-toWhite Median Family Income, 1947 through 1975 •••• 

Comparison of Incomes of Black and White Families 

and Unrelated Individuals by Type of Income, 1974 

3. Comparison of Earned Income of Black and White 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

Civilians 14 Years Old and Over Who Worked and 

Had Earnings, by Work Experience and Sex, 1975 

Comparison of Total Money Income of Black and White 

Males 18 Years Old and Over by Level and Years of 

Schooling, 1975 ................................ . 

Comparison of Total Money Income of Black and White 

Females 18 Years Old and Over by Level and Years 

of Schooling, 1975 ............................. . 

Percentages of Black and White High School Graduates 

That Enrolled in College, Persons 20 to 24 Years 

Old by Sex, 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1974 •••••••••. 

Distribution of Employed Persons 16 Years Old and 

Over by Occupational Group for Total Population 

and Blacks, 1974 ..••......•..........•.••....... 

~ffidian Earnings for Major Occupational Groups by 

Race and Sex, 1974 ............................. . 

Median Earnings for Year-Round Full-Time Workers for 

Major Occupational Groups by Race and Sex, 1974 

Occupational Distribution and Mean Earnings for 

!1a..les, 1975 .......••.........•••••.••...•..•••.. 

Occupational Distributions and Mean Earnings for 

Females, 1975 ....••...........•.•............•.. 

vii 

7 

10 

13 

18 

20 

25 

28 

29 

30 

32 

33 
12. 

13. 

14. 

Effects of Adjustments on Income Disparities Between 

Blacks and Wllites •.•..•.•....•.•..••........•.•. 

Distribution of Employed Persons 16 Years Old and 

Over by Occupational Group for Total Population 

and Blacks, 1959 and 1969 ••••••••••••••••••••••• 

Cumparison of Total Money Income of Black and White 

Persons 14 Years Old and Over Who Had Income, by 

Age and Sex, 1975 ...............•............... 

15. Comparison of Total Money Income of Black and White 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

Persons 14 Years Old and Over Who Had Income, by 

Region of Residence and Sex, 1975 

Estimated Effects of Alternative Employment-Creating 

Programs on Total and Nonwhite Employment, Fiscal 

Year 1977: Thousands of Jobs per $1 Billion in 

Outlays, 12 Months Following Initiation of Outlays 

Source of Income for Postsecondary Students 16 Years 

Old and Over, 1963 .............................. . 

Comparison of Total Population and Blacks Employed 

In Total and EEOC-Reported Employment, 1966 and 

1974 ............................................... . 

Relative Gains in Black Employment in Total Employment and EEOC-Reported Employment, 1966 to 

1974 ............................................. 

viii 

34 

36 

44 

45 

55 

59 

62 

63 
LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES 

B-l. 

B-2. 

B-3. 

B-4. 

B-5. 

B-6. 

C-l. 

C-2. 

Percentage Distribution of Male High School Graduates for the Total Population and Blacks Over 

Major Occupational Groups, by Age, 1969 ••••••••• 

Percentage Distribution of Males with One to Three 

Years of College for the Total Population and 

Blacks Over Major Occupational Groups, by Age, 

1969 ........................................... . 

Percentage Distribution of Male College Graduates 

for the Total Population and Blacks Over Major 

Occupational Groups, by Age, 1969 ••••••••.•••.•. 

Percentage Distribution of Female High School 

Graduates for the Total Population and Blacks 

Over Major Occupational Groups, by Age, 1969 

Percentage Distribution of Females with One to Three 

Years of College for the Total Population and 

Blacks Over Major Occupational Groups, by Age, 

1969 ................•...........••.....•........ 

Percentage Distribution of Female College Graduates 

for the Total Population and Blacks Over Major 

Occupational Groups, by Age, 1969 .••••••••••••.• 

Percentage Distribution of Males with One to Three 

Years of College Over Subcategories of Professional and Technical Workers for the Total 

Population and for Blacks, by Age, 1969 •.••••.•• 

Percentage Distribution of Males with Four or ~1ore 

Years of College Over Subcategories of Professional and Technical Workers for the Total Population and for Blacks, by Age, 1969 •••••.••••••• 

ix 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

82 

83 
C-3. Percentage Distribution of Males with Four or More 

Years of High School Over Subcategories of Managers 

and Administrators for the Total Population and 

for Blacks, by Age, 1969 •••••••••••••••••••••••• 84 

C-4. Percentage Distribution of Males with One to Three 

Years of College Over Subcategories of ~funagers 

and Administrators for the Total Population and for 

Blacks, by Age, 1969 • • • • •• • •• ••• • •• • •• ••• • •• • •• • 85 

C-5. Percentage Distribution of Males with Four Years of 

College Over Subcategories of Managers and Administrators for the Total Population and for Blacks, 

by Age, 1969 .....•...•....•...•.•............... 86 

C-6. Percentage Distribution of Males with One to Three 

Years of College Over Subcategories of Sales 

Workers for the Total Population and for Blacks, 

by Age, 1969 . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. ... . .. . .. ... .. . 87 

C-7. Percentage Distribution of Males with Four Years of 

High School Over Subcategories of Service Workers 

for the Total Population and for Blacks, by Age, 

1969 . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . ... . .. ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. 88 

C-8. Percentage Distribution of Males with One to Three 

Years of College Over Subcategories of Service 

Workers for the Total Population and for Blacks, 

by Age, 1969 . .. . .. • .. •.. . .• . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .• . 89 

C-9. Percentage Distribution of Females with Four or More 

Years of College Over Subcategories of Professional and Technical Workers for the Total Population and for Blacks, by Age, 1969 •••••••••••• 90 

C-10. Percentage Distribution of Females with Four Years 

of High School Over Subcategories of Service 

Workers for the Total Population and for Blacks, 

by Age, 1969 . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . 91 

C-11. Percentage Distribution of Females with One to Three 

Years of College Over Subcategories of Service 

Workers for the Total Population and for Blacks, 

by Age, 1969 .................................... 92 

x 
C-12. Percentage Distribution of Females with Four Years 

of High School Over Subcategories of Sales Workers 

for the Total Population and for Blacks, by Age, 

1969 . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . 93 

D-1. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 25 to 34 Years Old with Four Years 

of High School by Region, 1969 • •• ••• • .. ••• • ••••• 96 

D-2. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 35 to 54 Years Old with Four Years 

of High School by Region, 1969 ... ......... ••. ... 98 

D-3. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 25 to 34 Years Old with One to 

Three Years of College by Region, 1969 •••••••••• 100 

D-4. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 35 to 54 Years Old with One to 

Three Years of College by Region, 1969 •••••••••• 102 

D-5. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 25 to 34 Years Old with Four Years 

of College by Region, 1969 • •• ••• ••• ••• • •• • •• ••• • 104 

D-6. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White ~fules 35 to 54 Years Old with Four Years 

of College by Region, 1969 •••••••••••••••••••••• 106 

D-7. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 25 to 34 Years Old with Five or 

More Years of College by Region, 1969 •••.••••••• 108 

D-8. Comparison of Median Earnings and Percentage 

Distribution Over Occupational Groups for Black 

and White Males 35 to 54 Years Old with Five or 

More Years of College by Region, 1969 ••••••••••• 110 

xi 

FIGURES 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

Ratios of Black-to-White Income to Families, 

Males, and Females, 1975 ••••••••••••..••••••••••• 

Ratios of Nonwhite-to-White Income to Families, 

1947 and 1975 ................................... . 

Ratios of Nonwhite-to-White Income to Persons, 1949 

and 1975 ........................................ . 

Ratios of Black-to-White Earnings for Males, With 

Adjustment for Work Experience, 1975 ••••••••••••• 

Ratios of Black-to-White Income to Males, With 

Adjustment for Years of School Completed, 1975 

Ratios of Black-to-Whi te Income to Females, l>li th 

Adjustment for Years of School Completed, 1975 

xiii 

5 

9 

9 

15 

23 

23 

SUMMARY 

Substantial differences exist between the incomes of 

white and black Americans. These differences in income are a 

major aspect of inequality between blacks and whites. 

Income differences exist for both families and individuals. 1/ Median incomes in 1975 were $8,779 for black families 

and $14,268 for white families. The ratio of black-to-white 

median incomes was thus 0.615. Moreover, whereas fewer than 8 

percent of white families were below the poverty income level in 

1975, more than 27 percent of black families were. With respect 

to individuals, fewer than 10 percent of whites and more than 31 

percent of blacks were in families with incomes below the poverty 

level. Among males 14 years old and over who had any income, 

median incomes in 1975 were $5,560 for blacks and $9,300 for 

whites, a ratio of 0.598. The corresponding median incomes for 

females in 1975 were $3,107 for blacks and $3,420 for whites, a 

ratio of 0.908. 

The problem of income disparities is not just a matter 

of differences in proportions below the poverty level or at 

the median level (the 50th percentile). 1./ At all percentiles 

throughout the income distribution, income differences exist 

between black and white families and between black and white 

males, and for most of the distribution between black and white 

females. For both families and individuals, the inequality 

Jj The income figures, except where otherwise indicated, are 

total money income -- the total of wages and salaries, 

self-employment income, and income other than earnings 

(including welfare, public aSSistance, social security, 

retirement, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, alimony). 

2/ "Percentiles" refers to relative positions on the income 

distribution. Thus, for example, the 85th percentile of 

family incomes for blacks and whites is the income level 

for each race below which 85 percent of the families of 

that race can be found. 

xv 
between blacks and whites increases near the high end of the 

income distribution. For example, the ratio of black-to-white 

incomes for families at the 85th percentile is about 0.72, 

while at the 95th percentile it is only about 0.57 (see Figure 1 

in the text). 

Improvements and declines in black inco~e relative to 

white income have roughly paralleled expansions and contractions 

in the business cycle. Thus changes in the income relationship 

appear to reflect changes in the tightness of the overall labor 

market. Since the late 1940s, black income level& have improved 

relative to white income levels throughout the distribution, 

though the relative gains have been smallest at the upper end of 

the 'distribution. This suggests that the factors underlying the 

income disparities at the lower end and, to some extent, the 

middle of the income distribution have undergone greater changes 

than the factors affecting higher incomes. 

Major Factors Contributing to the Income Disparities 

Income differences between blacks and whites are related 

to a number of factors, including racial differences in unemployment, work experience, educational attainment, occupations, 

age, region of residence, and discrimination. Racial income 

disparities can be affected by federal policies that influence 

these factors. 

Relative to whites, blacks are disproportionately unemployed. Black males work fewer weeks in the year than white 

males and a higher proportion of black males work only part-time. 

For example, in 1975 almost two-thirds (64 percent) of white 

males 14 years old and over who worked and had earnings worked 

year-round full-time. Just over half (55 percent) of black males 

were so employed. On the other hand, black women worked fulltime and year-round more frequently than white women (43 percent 

for black women, compared with 40 percent for white women). 

Levels of educational attainment for blacks are much 

lower than for whites. For example, while more than two-thirds 

(69 percent) of white males 18 years old and over in 1975 had 

completed at least high school, fewer than half (47 percent) of 

black males had. Income to black males tends to be lower 

than income to white males at all schooling levels. White 

males who were high school graduates had a median income in 1975 

only about $100 lower than black males who were college graduates. Black women, on the other hand, generally have higher 

incomes than white women for equal years of schooling. 

xvi 
Compared with whites, blacks are disproportionately concentrated in the categories of jobs in which the rates of pay are 

lower. Blacks are underrepresented relative to whites among 

professionals, managers, and craftsmen; they are overrepresented 

among service workers, operatives (primarily semiskilled jobs), 

and laborers (unskilled jobs). Blacks are particularly underrepresented among managers and administrators, the highest-paying 

category for white males. 

Differences exist between black and white occupational 

distributions not only across the major occupational groups 

but also over the subcategories within the broad groups. The 

distributions among specific occupations explain a good deal of 

the income disparities within major occupational categories 

between white and black males. Black males are in the lower-paid 

subcategories of the major groups more often than white males. 

For example, among service workers, more black males than white 

are cleaning service workers, whereas more white males than black 

proportionately are policemen or firemen. Similarly, among 

professionals, white males more frequently than black are accountants or engineers. Blacks seem to be confined to jobs or 

promotion ladders that do not lead to positions of authority 

or to other high levels. 

Among women, 

broad occupational 

the distributions over subcategories within 

groups are similar for blacks and whites. 

The contributions to income disparities of some of these 

major factors can be measured and compared by a series of adjustments (see the table following) .1/ On average, work experience accounted for about 31 percent of the income gap between 

3/ The contributions of the factors to income disparities 

are measured by adjustments that reflect the income levels 

blacks would receive if differences between blacks and whites 

on one of the factors (for example, years of school) were 

eliminated but blacks continued to receive their current 

income levels within categories. The adjustments are univariate, that is, they measure the effect of only one variable 

and their effects are, therefore, not additive. The adjustment method is explained more fully in the text and in 

Appendix A. 

xvii 

~!9 .. 7g0 0 - 77 .. 2 
EFFECTS OF ADJUSTMENTS ON INCOME DISPARITIES BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES 

Income Ratios 

Percent of 

Unadj usted Adjusted Income Gap 

B1ack-to- B1ack-to- Differ- Closed by 

Adjustment for: White Wh ite !!:.I ence Adj ustment 'E./ 

MALES 

Work Experience 

Average over distribution 0.670 0.772 0.102 30.9 

Average for lower half 0.648 0.809 0.161 45.7 

Average for upper half 0.691 0.735 0.044 14.2 

Years of School 

Average over distribution 0.619 0.724 0.105 27.6 

Average for lower half 0.592 0.698 0.106 26.0 

Average for upper half 0.648 0.754 0.105 29.8 

Occupational Distribution 

Mean incomes 0.655 0.753 0.098 23.4 

FEMALES 

Work Experience 

Average over distribution 0.977 0.922 -0.055 0.0 

Average for lower half 1.001 0.912 -0.089 0.0 

Average for upper half 0.963 0.928 -0.035 0.0 

Years of School 

Average over distribution 0.918 1.071 0.153 100.0 

Average for lower half 0.971 1.110 0.139 100.0 

Average for upper half 0.876 1.040 0.164 100.0 

Occupational Distribution 

Mean incomes 0.951 1.104 0.154 100.0 

!!..! The adjustments reflect the income levels blacks would receive if 

differences between blacks and whi tes on one of the fac tors were 

eliminated. The adjustment method is explained more fully in Chapter 

II and in Appendix A. 

'E./ The income gap at any percentile is measured by the difference 

between the ratio of black-to-white income at that percentile and 

the ratio that represents parity in incomes (that is, a ratio of 1). 

The income gap over any range of percentiles is the area between 

the ratio curve and the horizontal line that represents ratios of 

1. The percent of the gap accounted for by an adjustment is the 

difference between the unadjusted and adjusted ratios as a percentage of the difference between the unadj usted ratios and 1. 

xviii 
black and white males; years of school accounted for about 28 

percent. Differences in broad occupational categories accounted 

for about 28 percent of the disparity in mean, or average, 

incomes between white and black males. The adj ustment for work 

experience for women increases the income disparity between 

blacks and whites. Both the schooling and occupational adjustments for women put black income levels higher than white. 

As the table shows, the individual factors affect different 

parts of the income distribution. Almost half (46 percent) of 

the income gap between black and white males in the lower half of 

the distribution was accounted for by differences in work experience. Relatively little (about 14 percent) of the gap in the 

upper half of the distribution was affected. Differences in 

years of school completed, on the other hand, affect black-towhite income ratios throughout the distribution. Just slightly 

more of the gap in the upper half (30 percent) of the income 

distribution than in the lower half (26 percent) was accounted 

for by differences in educational level for males. 

Age and region of residence also contribute to income 

disparities between blacks and whites, but they are important 

mostly because of their interrelationship with the other factors. 

For exam'ple, blacks are disproportionately located in the South, 

where schooling and occupational differences between blacks and 

whites are greater and incomes are generally lower. 

These factors -- work experience, educational attainment, 

occupational distribution over broad categories, and region of 

residence -- all contribute to the lower income levels for 

blacks relative to whites throughout the income distribution. 

But income disparities between black and white males remain even 

after accounting for the differences in years of school, age, 

region, and broadly defined occupation. At least part of this 

remaining disparity results from differences in the white and 

black proportions in the various subcategories of the major 

occupational groups. 

Many forms of discrimination, cutting across all other 

factors, undoubtedly have a great impact on income disparities. 

Although the existence of discrimination and its influence on 

income differences are clear, the measurement of that influence 

is elusive. There are no generally accepted quantitative measures of discrimination. Attempts to measure the effects of 

xix 
discrimination have largely relied on the assumption that discrimination accounts for the difference that remains following 

adjustment for other factors. This confounds the effects of many 

different kinds of racial discrimination -- past and present, 

labor market and nonlabor market. Discrimination is not considered explicitly in the analysis presented in this paper. 

Several changes have occurred in these major factors that 

underlie the income disparities between blacks and whites. 

Blacks have shown improvement in their levels of educational 

attainment, both absolutely and relative to whites. Changes in 

the black distribution over major occupational groups have 

reduced racial differences in occupational distributions. Income disparities between blacks and whites, both overall and 

within various regional, schooling, and occupational subgroups, 

tend to be smaller among the younger age groups than among the 

older age groups, implying further relative improvements over 

time for blacks. Even so, the occupational distributions and 

the distributions of schooling levels remain quite different 

between blacks and whites, in the younger age groups as well as 

in the older ones. And school enrollment rates among young, 

recent high school graduates remain lower for black males than 

for white males. 

Federal Policies That May Affect the Major Factors 

The factors that underlie the income disparities tend 

to affect specific parts of the income distribution. Federal 

policies that may affect the maj or factors are thus likely to 

affect the disparities at different parts of the income distribution. 

Convergence of black and white income distributions requires programs aimed throughout the range of incomes. Welfare 

and related programs can affect income disparities at the lowest 

part of the distribution. Programs that reduce black unemployment rates would raise black income relative to white at the 

lower parts of the income distribution. Policies that attempt 

to improve levels of educational attainment and to promote 

other kinds of occupationally relevant training among blacks, 

and other policies that attempt to upgrade occupational levels 

of blacks (particularly males), may' improve black income relative 

to white in the middle and upper-middle income ranges. 

xx 
Better access to entry-level positions in the higher-paying 

occupations does not, however, necessarily imply eventual advancement within these occupations. Substantial advancement by 

blacks in the upper levels of corporate and other management 

structures is required for equality at the very high income 

levels. 

Federal policies to reduce black unemployment include 

the following: stimulative fiscal policy to increase aggregate 

demand, public service employment and other employment-creating 

programs, programs to increase the training and education of 

current and potential workers, and antidiscrimination policy. 

Direct cash assistance to the unemployed is frequently mentioned 

along with these other programs, even though it is not likely to 

affect unemployment levels. It can, however, relieve the financial burdens of unemployment and reduce the cyclical instability 

of black incomes. Education and antidiscrimination policy to 

reduce unemployment, although included in this list, are considered with other policies to affect educational levels and 

occupational distribution. 

Stimulative fiscal policy that influences overall economic 

activity may have a positive effect on black income during the 

period of expansion, but the relative gains may be only temporary 

if a recession follows the expansion. Job creation efforts are 

not likely to reduce black unemployment relative to white without 

either substantial expenditures or high concentration of the 

program on blacks. (Such programs could, however, reduce the 

large fluctuations in black incomes associated with the business 

cycle.) Training programs to reduce unemployment have included 

two kinds of activities: skill development, to enhance skills or 

productivity through classroom or on-the-job training; and 

employability development, to develop personal attitudes and 

attributes necessary for entry-level employment (generally for 

lower-skilled jobs). The effects of these programs on the 

earnings of the participants have been small and temporary. 

Although programs intended to reduce black unemployment can 

affect income disparities at the lower parts of the income 

distribut ion, the impacts of past training programs have been 

small relative to the income gap between blacks and whites. 

Federal policies to improve levels of educational attainment fall into two major categories: programs of financial 

assistance, and programs that aim, at least in part, to improve 

achievement levels. Programs to affect achievement levels 

include Head Start, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

xxi 
Education Act, and the Emergency School Aid Act. Head Start 

participants, about half of whom are black, seem to make substantial achievement gains relative to nonparticipants, and the 

effects seem to persist through elementary school. The other two 

programs, which are aimed at the elementary and secondary levels, 

appear not to have had enduring impacts on school achievement of 

the participants. 

Programs of financial assistance to students for higher 

education include grants, loans, and subsidized jobs.. These 

outlays have gone primarily to students from lower-income families, and they should increase the likelihood that students 

from lower-income families will enroll in college. Since blacks 

are disproportionately from lower-income families, and since 

black postsecondary students are more dependent on financial 

assistance as a source of income than white stl).dents, programs 

of financial assistance for higher education should help to 

equalize college enrollment rates between blacks and whites. 

The improved levels of black income that are likely to result 

should improve educational opportunities for the next generation 

of blacks, because higher family income and higher levels of 

educational attainment seem to reinforce each other. 

The current rate of improvement in schooling levels for 

blacks relative to those for whites will not result in equality 

in years of schooling in the short run. Gaps in income remain 

even when differences in age, region, and schooling are accounted 

for. Increased proportions of blacks among professional and 

technical workers, managers and administrators, and craftsmen 

would likely reduce income disparities. Even greater reductions 

in income disparities would likely result from increased proportions of blacks in the higher-paying specific jobs within the 

major categories, particularly in the higher-paying subcategories 

of the professional, managerial, sales, and service occupations. 

Such changes would have a sizable impact on income disparities 

compared with the impact of reductions in unemployment differences or in the incidence of poverty. (The obj ectives of 

reduction of unemployment and of poverty could also be accomplished through occupational changes.) 

Policies to reduce occupational differences between blacks 

and whites include programs to improve educational attainment, 

specific training programs or on-the-job training for certain 

occupations (management, skilled crafts, some technical occupat ions, higher-level service jobs, higher-paying sales jobs), 

and other affirmative action and antidiscrimination efforts. 

xxii 
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been 

an important part of the federal effort to increase black proportions in various occupations. The EEOC has enforcement powers 

regarding statutes that bar job discrimination. Its authority 

extends to employees of federal, state, and local governments; 

educational institutions; and firms or labor organizations with 

15 or more workers or members. Only those employers with 100 or 

more workers, however, have been required to report the race and 

sex composition of their work force. Between 1966 and 1974, 

EEOC-reporting employers showed a higher net increase in black 

employment than the total of all employers. The changes varied 

by occupation, with the largest gains for blacks in EEOC-reported 

employment relative to gains for blacks in all employment being 

among sales and clerical workers and craftsmen. Although these 

gains are important, they are of a smaller impact than corresponding gains among the professional, technical, and managerial 

groups. 

These comparisons do not consider any impacts on the subcategories ·of the major occupational groups. Yet, these subcategories, or specific jobs, are of great importance in determining 

the amount of difference between black and white incomes. In 

order to achieve greater equality between blacks and whites in 

occupational distributions, and to bring about the corresponding 

reductions in income disparities, policies that are effective 

in getting blacks into the higher-paying specific jobs within 

the major occupational groups are required. 

The evidence on the likely effectiveness of programs to 

promote black capitalism for the purpose of reducing racial 

disparities in incomes is mixed. Some suggest that federal 

programs to increase the financial capital available to the 

black business community would be an inefficient use of resources. A recent study concludes tentatively that, while additional capital may not help the more traditional black businesses such as small retail and service establishments, it might 

make entry and growth possible in emerging lines of black-owned 

businesses in the transportation, mlnlng, construction, manufacturing, and wholesaling industries.!/ The study suggests a 

4/ Alfred E. Osborn, Jr., and Michael E. Granfeld, "The Poten tial of Black Capitalism in Perspective," Public Policy, 

vol. 24 (Fall 1976), pp. 529-44. 

xxiii 
policy of ective capital subsidies for capital-intensive 

firms in emerging lines of business, in lieu of broader policies 

to improve the competitiveness of capital markets and the access 

to them. 

It must be noted, however, that expected rates of pay for 

self-employed managers are considerably lower than those for 

salaried managers. Also, salaried managers represent a maj or 

growth occupation, while self-employed managers represent an 

occupation that is currently in a state of decline. Caution, at 

least, should be exercised if federal programs to promote black 

capitalism tend to draw from the pool of black prospects for 

higher-level salaried managerial positions in major companies 

in the national economy. 

xxiv 
CHAPTER I. OVERVIEW OF INCOME DISPARITIES BETWEEN BLACKS 

AND \~HITES 

Income differences are a major aspect of inequality between 

black and white Americans. Many other elements of tnequality --

social, political, and economic -- are reflected in income disparities, and other facets of inequality are sometimes measured 

by their effects on income. This paper analyzes disparities between blacks and whites in income distribution, changes over time 

in these disparities, some of the major factors that affect them, 

and federal policies that may affect these income differences. 

This chapter gives an overview of income disparities between blacks and whites as portrayed by a number of different 

measures. It presents differences in median incomes, 1/ different proportions below the poverty income level, and differences throughout the remainder of the distribution of income. 

It also summarizes changes that have occurred in the income 

distribution of blacks relative to whites, the differences in 

the types 6f income received by blacks and whites, and the 

effects of these differences on income distributions. 

Chapter II summarizes differences between blacks and whites 

with respect to some of the major factors that affect income, 

such as unemployment and underemployment, educational levels, 

1./ If all persons are listed in ascending order according to 

their income level, the income level in the middle of the 

list is the median income. Half of the population thus have 

incomes higher than the median income level, and half have 

incomes below that level. The median income differs from the 

mean, or average, income, which is calculated by dividing 

total income by the number receiving income. The mean income 

level is usually higher than the median income level. 

1 
occupational distributions, a~e, and region of residence. ~I It 

notes recent changes and trends in these factors, and the relation between differences in these factors and differences in 

income. It considers how these factors affect different parts of 

the income distribution. 

Chapter III discusses federal policies that may affect the 

major factors that underlie the income disparities between 

blacks and whites. It distinguishes among policies that are 

likely to affect different parts of the income distribution. It 

considers the probable impact on the major factors and, where 

possible, on income of some of the federal policies that have 

been proposed. 

The analysis in each chapter is limited to readily available data sources: the Current Population Survey and the 1970 

Census. Where possible, direct comparisons are made between 

blacks and whites. In some cases, however, comparisons between 

blacks and the total of all races or between nonwhites (of whom 

about 90 percent are blacks) and whites are presented because of 

data limitations. 

~ Many forms of discrimination -- current and past labor market 

discrimination, current and past discrimination in access to 

education and training programs of various sorts, to name the 

most obvious -- undoubtedly have a large effect on income 

disparities between blacks and whites. Al though the existence and influence of discrimination on income differences 

are clear, the measurement of that influence 1s elusive. 

There are no generally accepted quantitative measures of 

discrimination. Because discrimination is more difficult to 

measure than other factors (for example, years of school), 

calculating its contribution to income differentials is 

more difficult. Attempts to measure the effects of discrimination on income differences between blacks and whites have 

generally assumed that discrimination accounts for the income 

difference that remains following adjustment for other 

factors. This approach confounds the effects of many different kinds of racial discrimination -- past and present, 

labor market and nonlabor market. Because of these difficulties, discrimination is not considered explicitly in the 

analysis presented in this paper. 

2 
DIFFERENCES IN MEDIAN INCm1E AND DIFFERENT PROPORTIONS IN POVERTY 

For a complete picture of income disparities between 

blacks and whites, total money income to both families and persons should be compared. 1/ At any given time, family units 

vary in the number of persons that compose them, in the number 

of earners, and in the degree to which extended families live 

in the same household. More importantly, family structures 

vary between whites and blacks, and changes in these structures 

have occurred in different ways over time. The greatest change 

in rates of participation in the labor force since World War II 

has been for white women. 

Median incomes in 1975 were $8,779 for black families and 

$14,268 for white families so that the ratio of b1ack-to-\'lhite 

median incomes was 0.615; that is, the median income f or black 

families was only 61.5 percent of that for white families. (The 

median income figures for families are calculated excluding 

unrelated individuals.) Among males 14 years old and over who 

had income, median incomes in 1975 were $5,560 for blacks and 

$9,300 for whites, a ratio of 0.598. The corresponding median 

incomes for females in 1975 were $3,107 for blacks and $3,420 

for whites, a ratio of 0.908. i/ 

The lower median incomes for blacks reflect generally 

lower levels of income throughout the distribution. The different proportions of families and individuals in poverty are 

further evidence of the generally lower levels of income for 

blacks. lYhereas 7.7 percent of white families were below the 

poverty income level in 1975, the figure for black families was 

27.1 percent. Similarly, 9.7 percent of white persons and 

31.3 percent of black persons were in families with incomes 

3/ Total money income comprises wages and salaries, 

from self-employment, and income other than earnings. 

components will be considered in this chapter. 

income 

These 

i/ U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Money Income in 1975 of Families 

and Persons in the United States,". Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 105 (1977), Tables 15 and 41. 

3 
below the poverty income level. 2! The percentages are smaller 

when in-kind transfers (nonmoney transfers such as food stamps 

and medicaid) are taken into account. For fiscal year 1976, including money transfers and imputed values for in-kind transfers, 

5.9 percent of white and 12.9 percent of nonwhite families were 

below the poverty level.!:!..! The corresponding percentages for 

persons were 5.4 percent for whites and 12.9 percent for nonwhites. 

COMPARISONS THROUGHOUT THE INCOME DISTRIBUTION 

Disparities in income exist between black and white families and between black and white males through the whole income 

distribution, and between black and white females through most 

of the distribution. This is illustrated in Figure 1. 1! The 

black-to-white income ratios for families and for males, after 

an initial decline, generally increase with increasing percentiles to near the high end of the distribution, where the ratios 

again decline with increas percentiles of the distribution. 

At the high end, blacks run into a variety of obstacles not 

apparent when comparing median incomes or proportions in poverty. 

The decline in black income relative to white near the top of 

the distribution is related to the small number of blacks at 

21 u.s. Bureau of the Census, "Characteristics of the Population 

Below the Poverty Level: 1975," Current Population Reports, 

Series P-60, No. 106 (1977), Table 4. 

!:!..! Congressional Eudget Office, Poverty Status of Families 

Under Alternative Definitions of Income, Background Paper, 

revised edition (June 1977). 

71 This method of comparing t,.,o income distributions was developed in Albert Hohlstetter and Sinclair Coleman, "Race 

Differences in Income," in A. H. Pascal, ed, Racial Discrimina t ion in Economic Lif e (Heath and Co., 1972), and Rand 

Corporation, Report R-S78-0EO, October 1970. The ratios of 

black-to-white income at corresponding percentiles of the 

two income distributions are plotted to produce graphs such 

as those shown in Figure 1. For ratios below 1.0, the lower 

the ratio the greater the inequality in income between blacks 

and whites. 

4 
Figure 1. 

Ratios of Black-to-White Income to Families, Males, and Females, 

1975 

Ratio of 

Black-to-White 

1.2 

1.1 

1.0 

0.9 

0.8 

0.7 

" 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

o 

~\ ", I 

'\ 

, 

\ 

, 

\ 

\ 

'\ 

\1 FEMALES ~....- ... /\ \. .- ..., 

............. 1--,..,.... ...... \ 

\ 

, 

I l;-\ 

I . 

~ ~.,--- -'\: .,-" .,." ' .... " ,,"-.... ' MALES 

,., ~ .... -"'" 

,"'", ......... ;-:! ". - I 

20 40 60 80 100 

Percentile of the I nco me Distribution 

5 
higher educational levels and in the kinds of occupations most 

often associated with top incomes. And even for blacks in 

higher-income occupations, further obstacles seem to prevent them 

from attaining supervisory and other managerial roles within 

those occupations. Blacks, along with some other groups, have 

been traditionally excluded from top-level decisionmaking positions. 

CHANGES IN RELATIVE INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS 

In this section, historical trends in racial income disparities between whites and nonwhites are examined. Data for 

nonwhites are used because they are more complete than data 

for blacks. Black-to-white income ratios are lower than nonwhite-to-white income ratios, especially in the upper half of the 

distribution. ~ 

The ratios of nonwhite-to-white income at the center 

of the distribution improved dramatically for families throughout 

the 1960s, but it declined somewhat in the early 1970s (see 

Table 1). The ratio had improver.! slightly in the early 1950s 

but then returned to the former level by the late 1950s. The 

income changes for nonwhite persons relative to white persons 

display a pattern similar to that for families, except that 

the fluctuations are wider. These relative improvements and 

declines roughly parallel business expansions and contractions 

(usually referred to as the "business cycle"), and so they appear 

to reflect changes in the tightness of the overall labor market. 

In general, wages fluctuate most, the general run of salaries 

less, and the professional and executive salaries least. The 

greater cyclical instability of nonwhite income than white 

is related to the fact that nonwhites had a disproportionately 

large share of the types of earnings that fluctuate most widely. 

This relative instability of nonwhite income means that nonwhites are worse off relative to whites than a mere comparison 

of averages or accumulated totals over time would indicate. 

!i/ The black-to-white income ratios for families in 1975 are 

shown in Figure 1; the nonwhite-to-white income ratios for 

families in 1975 are shown in Figure 2. The difference 

between the two ratio curves is about 5 percentage points 

from about the 40th percentile to about the 90th percentile. 

6 
TABLE 1. CHANGES IN RATIOS OF NONl'lHITE-TO-WHITE AND BLACK-TO-

,.,HITE MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME, 1947 THROUGH 1975 

Median Family Income 

(Dollars) Ratio of Ratio of 

Nonwhite- B1ack-toYear Nonwhite Black White to-~fui te White 

1947 1,614 N/A 3,157 0.511 N/A 

1949 1,650 N/A 3,232 0.511 N/A 

1954 2,416 N/A 4,338 0.557 N/A 

1959 2,915 N/A 5,643 0.517 N/A 

1964 3,838 N/A 6,858 0.560 N/A 

1969 6,191 5,999 9,794 0.632 0.613 

1974 al 8,265 7,808 13,356 0.619 0.585 

1974 bl 8,577 8,005 13,408 0.640 0.597 

1975 9,321 8,779 14,268 0.653 0.615 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Money Income in 1975 of 

Families and Persons in the United States," Current 

Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 105 (1977), Table 

10. 

N/A Not available. 

!il Unrevised 1974. 

earlier years. 

This estimate should be compared to the 

~I Revised 1974. Because of a change in estimation procedures 

by Current Population Survey, the revised 1974 estimate 

should be compared to later years. 

For both families and persons, the greatest improvement in 

black income relative to white since the late 1940s has taken 

place in the lower part of the income distribution. 2! Somewhat 

21 Relative changes over time in whtie and black (or nonwhite) 

income distributions are in some cases sensitive to the 

choice of years compared because of business cycle effects 

and secular trends that affect whites and blacks differently. 

7 
less relative improvement has occurred in the middle of the 

distribution and the least relative improvement has been at 

the high end of the distribution. (See Figures 2 and 3.) This 

suggests that the greatest changes in the factors that underlie 

the income disparities have been in those factors that affect 

the lower end and ot some extent the middle of the income distribution, and that the factors affecting higher incomes have not 

undergone important changes. 

DIFFERENCES IN TYPES OF INCOME AND EFFECT ON 

INCOME DISTRIBUTION 

Total income includes three components: wages and salaries, self-employment income, and other income. The first 

two components together represent earnings; or "unearned" income. 

Self-employment income is usually broken down further into 

non-farm self-employment income and farm self-employment income. 

Disparities between the incomes of whites and blacks exist 

in the distribution of all three components of total income (see 

Table 2). The black-to-white income ratios for both the median 

and the mean, or average, incomes are lower for self-employment 

income than for wages and salaries. The proportion of blacks 

receiving self-employment income (including both farm and nonfarm 

income) is only about one-third the proportion of whites. 

Although the median unearned income for black families and 

unrelated individuals is almost 20 percent higher than that for 

whites, there are major differences in the two major components 

of unearned income. In the category "public assistance and 

welfare," blacks have both a higher mean and a higher median 

income than whites, and proportionately four times as many 

black receive this type of income as whites. In the category 

"dividends, interest, rental income, estates, trusts, royalties," 

blacks have proportionately only one-quarter as many income 

receivers as whites. The ratio of black-to-white median incomes 

in the latter category is almost 85 percent, and the similar 

ratio for mean incomes is only 35 percent. Also, those who 

receive public assistance and welfare are less likely to receive 

any earnings than are those who receive other types of "unearned" 

income. 

8 
Figure 2. 

Ratios of Nonwhite-to-White Income to Families, 1947 and 1975 

Ratio of 

Nonwhite·to-White 

0.9 

0.8 

I 

I 

I ~ ~ ! ~~ _\. ....."",--- - ~-:;..----;;~' ....... , 

0.7 

0.6 ,." ..., 

-- ~~~'T--" - ""-

,.-- ,.' ------",,-

0.5 

0.4 I I 

o 20 40 60 80 100 

Percentile of the I ncome Distribution 

Figure 3. 

Ratios of Nonwhite-to-White Income to Persons. 1949 and 1975 

Ratio of 

N onwh ite-to-W hite 

1.0 

0.9 

- ,I r I 

I I 

, 

~ I , 

! 

~ 1975 ..... 

0.8 

0.7 " i-- -.,;-

i 

I I 

1949 ,.' j,oo ...... _-, i 

---~ 

",.' , ,.' "'-- \ ,." --... _ ----"" --------- \ 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

o 20 40 60 80 100 

Percentile of the I ncome Distribution 

9 

99-780 0 .. 77 • 3 
,..... 

0 

TABLE 2. COMPARISON OF INCOMES OF BLACK AND WHITE FAMILIES AND 

UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS BY TYPE OF INCOME, 1974 

Percent 

Receiving Median Income for Those Mean Income for Those 

the Type Receiving the TXEe of Income Receiving the TXEe of Income 

of Income Ratio of Ratio of 

B1ack- B1ackType of Income Black White Black White to-White Black White to-White 

Wage or Salary 75.3 77.8 $7,536 $11,576 0.646 $8,592 $12,623 0.681 

Self-employment 

(Nonfarm) 3.9 10.7 2,369 4,033 0.587 4,306 7,671 0.561 

Self-employment 

(Farm) 1.1 4.2 851 1,473 0.578 1,257 4,366 0,288 

Unearned (Total) ~ 58.6 73.2 1,907 1,591 1.199 2,341 2,804 0.835 

Dividends, interest, 

rental income, 

estates, trusts, 

royalties 13.0 51.4 571 673 0.848 428 1,216 0.352 

Public assistance 

and welfare 25.0 6.1 1,569 1,319 1.190 1,885 1,604 1.175 

at There are five categories of unearned income. The two major categories are itemized here. The 

- other three categories are: (1) social security and government railroad retirement; (2) unemployment 

and workmen's compensation, government employee pensions, and veterans' payments; and (3) private 

pensions, annuities, alimony, and the like. 
CHAPTER If. MAJOR FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE INCOME 

DISPARITIES 

In order to formulate federal policies that may reduce 

racial disparities in income, one must first understand the 

process that generates such disparities and the factors that 

drive that process. This chapter considers some of the maj or 

factors that contribute to the income disparities between blacks 

and whites, while Chapter III discusses federal policies that may 

affect these factors. The factors treated here are unemployment 

and underemployment, educational levels, occupational distributions, age, and region of residence. 1/ The contribution 

of each of these factors to the income disparities, their interactions, and recent changes and trends in the factors are discussed, and the relations between the factors and the disparities 

at different parts of the income distribution are presented. 

UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT 

The unemployment rate for nonwhites has been about double 

that for whites for some time.2/ In August 1977 the unemployment 

rate for whites was 6.1 percent, while the rate for nonwhites 

1.1 For other treatments of the factors that may be related to 

the income disparities between blacks and whites, see Giora 

Hanoch, "An Economic Analysis of Earnings and Schooling," 

The Journal of Human Resources. vol. 2 (Summer 1967), pp. 

310-329; Jacob Mincer, "The Distribution of Labor Incomes: A 

Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 8 (March 1970), 

pp. 1-26; Lester Thurow, "The Occupational Distribution of 

the Returns to Education and Experience for Whites and 

Negroes," Federal Programs for the Development of Human 

Resources, Joint Economic Committee, vol. 1 (1968), pp. 267-

284; Albert Wohlstetter and Sinclair Coleman, "Race Differences in Income," in A. H. Pascal, ed., Racial Discrimination 

in Economic Life (Heath and Co., 1972), and Rand Corporation, 

Report R-578-0EO, October 1970. 

l/ See Congressional Budget Office, The Unemployment of Nonwhite 

Americans: The Effects of Alternative Policies, Background 

Paper No. 11 (July 1976). 

11 
was 14.5 percent. 11 The contribution of differences in measured 

unemployment rates to the overall income disparity is, however, 

smaller than is generally assumed. Those who are unemployed 

tend to be employed in lower-paying occupations when they do 

work, and they also tend to be in the lower income levels within 

those occupations. Differences between blacks and whites in 

unemployment rates, measured by weeks unemployed among those 

in the labor force, accounted for 7.6 percent of the earnings 

disparity between black and white males in 1975. (The procedure 

used to produce this result is explained below on pages 14-15.) 

Moreover, unemployment rates capture only one aspect of 

labor market experience. Other aspects that are important in the 

present context are underemployment, labor force participation 

rates, and proportions of persons working part-time or part-year. 

Underemployed persons are those who work part-time only because 

they can not find full-time work. Labor force participation 

rates refer to the percent of the population that is either 

employed or actively looking for work. Differences between 

blacks and whites with respect to these other aspects of labor 

market experience affect income differences between blacks and 

whites much more than the differences in unemployment rates 

themselves. Of course, the factors are interrelated. Faced with 

poor employment prospects, blacks are discouraged from participating in the labor force or are forced to take part-time and 

temporary jobs. 

Labor force participation rates are lower for nonwhite 

males than for white, and they are higher for nonwhite women 

than for white. In 1974, among males 16 years old and over, 

79.4 percent of the whites and 73.3 percent of the nonwhites 

were in the labor force. The corresponding rates for women 

were 45.2 percent of the whites and 49.1 percent of the nonwhites. Low labor force participation rates sometimes reflect 

discouraged workers -- that is, those who are not actively 

looking for work because they do not believe they will find work, 

and therefore are not counted as unemployed. These discouraged 

workers are sometimes referred to as the hidden unemployed. 

Almost two-thirds (63.7 percent) of white male civilians 

14 years old and over who worked and had earnings in 1975 worked 

11 u.s. Department of Labor, 'Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly 

Labor Review, vol. 100, No. 10 (October 1977). 

12 
year-round full-time (see Table 3). The corresponding percentage 

of black males is more than 8 percentage points lower (55.1 

percent). Higher proportions of black males are found in parttime employment and in the full-time categories with fewer weeks 

worked. Furthermore, the ratios of black-to white median earnings tend to be lower as the number of weeks worked increases; 

one of the lowest ratios is for year-round full-time workers 

(0.744). Because of the greater proportion of blacks than whites 

in the categories with lower incomes -- namely, part-time jobs 

and full-time jobs with a smaller number of weeks worked -- and 

the correspondingly greater proportion of whites than blacks in 

year-round full-time work, the overall ratio of black-to-white 

earnings (0.665) is lower than the ratio for any of the work 

experience categories. 

TABLE 3. COMPARISON OF EARNED INCOME OF BLACK AND WHITE CIVILIANS 14 YEARS OLD AND 

OVER WHO WORKED AND HAD EARNINGS, BY WORK EXPERIENCE AND SEX, 1975 

Percent 

Median Income Ratio of 

Black-toBlack White White Black White 

MALES 

Worked at Full-time Jobs 

50-52 weeks $9,707 $13,054 0.744 55.1 63.7 

48-49 weeks 7,263 9,826 0.739 2.8 2.2 

40-47 weeks 6,913 8,883 0.778 5.4 5.0 

27-39 weeks 5,187 6,403 0.810 7.2 5.7 

14-26 weeks 2,964 3,264 0.908 6.9 5.3 

Less than 14 weeks 835 1,042 0.801 7.0 4.6 

Worked at Par t-t ime Jobs 999 1,217 0.821 15.5 13.5 

TOTAL 6,687 10,061 0.665 100.0 100.0 

FEMALES 

Worked at Full-time Jobs 

50-52 weeks 7,237 7,513 0.963 43.5 40.3 

48-49 weeks 4,972 5,689 0.887 2.5 1.9 

40-47 weeks 5,108 5,200 0.982 4.0 4.4 

27-39 weeks 3,478 3,808 0.913 6.3 5.7 

14-26 weeks 2,079 2,165 0.960 7.1 6.8 

Less than 14 weeks 729 737 0.989 8.2 6.5 

Worked at part-time Jobs 1,178 1,286 0.916 28.4 34.5 

TOTAL 3,854 3,952 0.975 100.0 100.0 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Money Income in 1975 of Families and Persons 

in the United States," Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 105, 

Table 58. 

Percentage of the total number of workers within the racial group who worked 

and had earnings in 1975. Components may not add to total because of rounding. 

13 
The work experience differences between black and white 

males do not hold for women. Among women who worked in 1975, 

the proportions of black and white women working year-round ful1-

time are almost the same (43.3 percent of blacks and 40.2 percent 

of whites). Among white women who work, a somewhat higher proportion worked part-time (34.5 percent of whites as opposed to 

28.4 percent of blacks). No clear pattern emerges in the figures 

for females relating weeks worked and the ratios of b1ack-towhite median earnings. 

To measure the contribution of differences in part-time 

employment rates and in weeks worked during the year to income 

disparities, an adjusted income distribution can be constructed. 

The adjusted income distribution is the income distribution that 

would be produced if blacks had the same distribution of "weeks 

worked and whether full-time or part-time" as whites while maintaining the black levels of earnings within the categories of 

weeks worked and part-time or full-time. i/ The adjustment, 

which is illustrated in Figure 4, reflects the earnings levels 

blacks could expect to receive if the differences in part-time 

employment and in weeks worked were eliminated. 

The ratios for the adjusted earnings distribution are 

higher than the unadjusted throughout the distribution for 

males; they are still, however, substantially below 100 percent 

(see Figure 4), That is, equalizing work experience would 

improve black earnings relative to whites for males, but most of 

the income disparity would remain. 5/ The work experience 

adjustment for males shows a much greater relative gain for 

blacks in the lower part of the earnings distribution than in the 

upper part. Almost half (45.7 percent) of the earnings gap 

between blacks and whites in the lower half of the distribution 

is accounted for by differences in work experience, while only 

4/ The procedure is described more fully in Appendix A. 

1/ A corresponding graph for females is not included. The 

adj ustment lowers relative earnings for black women. This 

reflects the higher part-t;ime work rates for white women; 

that is, the adjustment reduces the proportion of black 

women working full-time, and therefore reduces black income. 

14 
14.2 percent of the earnings gap in the upper half of the earnings distribution is accounted for by differences in work experience. 6/ Averaged over the whole earnings distribution, the 

adjustm~t for work experience differences for males accounts for 

30.9 percent of the difference in earnings between blacks and 

whites. (This compares with 7.6 percent due just to unemployment 

differences. ) 

Figure 4. 

Ratios of Black-to-White Earnings for Males, With Adjustment 

for Work Experience, 1975 

Ratio of 

Black-to-White 

1.0 

I\. 0.9 

, -..J " 

0.8 

0.7 / 

.",.; 0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

I. 

:~ 

"-- ADJUSTED 

- ~, ,.. ... ,' .. __ . ---_.- 1---- NOT ADJUSTED ." 

I 

o 20 40 60 

Percentile of the Income Distribution 

---- ----

80 100 

~I The income gap at any percentile is measured by the difference between the ratio of b1ack-to-white income at that 

percentile and the ratio that represents parity in incomes 

(that is, a ratio of 1). The income gap over any range of 

percentiles is the area between the ratio curve and the 

horizontal line that represents ratios of 1. The percent 

of the gap accounted for by an adjustment is the difference 

between the unadjusted and adjusted ratios as a percentage 

of the difference between the unadjusted ratios and 1. 

15 
The differences in unemployment rates and, more importantly, in proportions working part-time or full-time and yearround or part-year do account for a sizable share of the income 

disparity between blacks and whites, at least for males. The 

differences in these aspects of work experience, however, probably result from differences between blacks and whites in 

educational levels and occupational distributions. These two 

major factors are considered in the following two sections. 

EDUCATIONAL LEVELS 

Black Americans tend to have less formal schooling than 

white Americans. The median number of years of school completed 

by males 18 years old and over in 1975 was 12.5 for whites and 

11. 5 for blacks. 71 The corresponding medians for females in 

1975 were 12.4 years for whites and 12.0 years for blacks. While 

more than two-thirds (69.1 percent) of white males had completed 

at least 12 years of school, only 47.0 percent of black males 

had. 

These differences reflect the lower enrollment rates for 

blacks compared with whites at all schooling levels. Nearly half 

(49.2 percent) of white males age 18 and over who had at least 

12 years of school also had at least 1 year of college or other 

schooling beyond high school; the corresponding percentage for 

black males was 35.5 percent. Similarly, among males with at 

least 13 years of school, 51.8 percent of whites but only 33.5 

percent of blacks completed at least 16 years of school. 

11 Beginning with 1975 data, the Current Population Reports 

series report schooling data for those 18 years old and over. 

Before 1975, data were reported for those 25 years old and 

over. 

16 
Both mean and median incomes for both white and black 

males rise with increasing years of school. As Table 4 shows, 

there is no clear pattern relating schooling level and ratios of 

black-to-white,median incomes, though the highest ratios of mean 

incomes occur for the lowest schooling levels. The table also 

shows that white males with just 12 years of school completed 

had a median income in 1975 only about $100 lower than black 

males who were college graduates. 8/ Similarly, white college 

graduates had a higher median income than black males with 17 

or more years of school. Such findings have been used as evidence against the value of formal education for blacks. It 

should be noted, however, that even among black males those with 

more education tend to have higher incomes. The median income of 

those with fewer than 8 years of school is only one-third that of 

college graduates and one-fourth that of those with 5 or more 

years of college (17 or more years of school). 

Among females with 12 or more years of school, blacks have 

higher median and mean incomes than whites (see Table 5). It 

should be noted, however, that lower proportions of black females 

than white females are at the higher schooling levels, and higher 

proportions are at the lower schooling levels. For women, the 

ratios of black-to-white income for both mean and median incomes 

generally increase wi th higher levels of schooling, except for 

those with 17 or more years of school. This partly reflects the 

lower part-time work rate for black women, which results to some 

degree from the lower levels of family income for blacks. Black 

women, especially those with higher levels of school attainment, 

may expect to contribute a larger share to total family income, Jj and they may therefore behave more like primary than 

secondary earners within the family. 

~/ The issue is confounded by the higher average age of white 

males who are high school graduates compared with black males 

who are college graduates. 

9/ Earnings of white women in husband/wife families in which 

both had earnings accounted for about one-fourth (24.9 percent) of family income in 1974. The corresponding contribution of a wife's earnings to black family income was about 

one-third (32.4 percent). U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current 

Population Reports, P-60, No. 101 (1977), Table 79. 

17 
TABLE 4. COMPARISON OF TOTAL MONEY INCOME OF BLACK AND WHITE 

MALES 18 YEARS OLD AND OVER BY LEVEL AND YEARS OF 

SCHOOLING, 1975 

Level and Years 

of Schooling 

Level of Schooling 

Elementary 

Secondary 

College 

Years of Schooling 

Less than 8 

8 

9-11 

12 

13-15 

16 

17 and over 

TOTAL 

$ 

Black 

4,107 

6,536 

9,657 

3,871 

5,149 

5,356 

7,468 

8,300 

10,573 

14,539 

5,967 

Median Income 

White 

$ 5,663 

9,695 

13,129 

4,843 

6,640 

7,864 

10,463 

10,656 

14,656 

17,622 

9,891 

Ratio of 

B1ack-to-White 

0.725 

0.674 

0.703 

0.799 

0.775 

0.681 

0.714 

0.779 

0.721 

0.825 

0.603 

SOURCE: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, 

Series P-60, No. 105 (1977), Table 47. 

18 
TABLE 4. (Continued) 

Mean Income 

Percent Distribution a/ 

Ratio of 

Black White B1ack-to-White Black White 

$ 5,245 $ 6,891 0.761 31.8 16.6 

7,105 ·10,388 0.683 51.5 49.4 

9,913 15,056 0.658 16.7 34.0 

4,953 6,019 0.823 24.3 8.3 

6,192 7,766 0.797 7.5 8.3 

6,072 8,661 0.701 21.2 14.3 

7,831 1l,089 0.706 30.3 35.1 

8,385 11,546 0.776 11.0 16.4 

11,880 16,629 0.714 3.6 10.0 

14,677 20,571 0.713 2.0 7.6 

6,982 11,398 0.612 100.0 100.0 

~/ The number of males in the racia~ group with income who 

completed school at the particular level as a percent of the 

total number of males in the racial group. Components may 

not add to 100.0 because of rounding. 

19 
TABLE 5. COMPARISON OF TOTAL MONEY INCOME OF BLACK AND WHITE 

FEMALES 18 YEARS OLD AND OVER BY LEVEL AND YEARS OF 

SCHOOLING, 1975 

Level and Years 

of Schooling 

Level of Schooling 

Elementary 

Secondary 

College 

Years of Schooling 

Less than 8 

8 

9-11 

12 

13-15 

16 

17 and over 

TOTAL 

$ 

Black 

2,168 

3,624 

7,119 

2,027 

2,676 

2,997 

4,234 

5,165 

8,461 

10,900 

3,250 

Median Income 

White 

$ 2,460 

3,734 

5,443 

2,342 

2,621 

2,997 

4,143 

4,238 

6,700 

10,047 

3,703 

Ratio of 

B1ack-to-White 

0.881 

0.970 

1.308 

0.865 

1.021 

1.000 

1.022 

1.219 

1.263 

1.085 

0.878 

SOURCE: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, 

Series P-60, No. 105 (1977), Table 47. 

20 
TABLE 5. (Continued) 

Black 

$ 2,495 

4,285 

6,938 

2,293 

2,964 

3,592 

4,782 

5,671 

8,032 

11,025 

4,269 

Mean Income 

White 

$ 1.081 

4,4(.7 

6,412 

2,822 

3,319 

3,624 

4,769 

5,139 

7,005 

9,974 

4,782 

Ratio of 

Black-to-Wh ite 

0.810 

0.959 

1.082 

0.812 

0.893 

0.991 

1.003 

1.103 

1.147 

1.105 

0.893 

Percent Distribution a/ 

Black White 

26.5 16.3 

56.3 55.8 

17.2 27.8 

18.5 7.9 

8.0 8.5 

23.5 14.7 

32.7 41.0 

10.3 15.5 

4.9 8.2 

2.1 4.2 

100.0 100.0 

~/ The number of females in the racial group with income who 

completed school at the particular level as a percent of the 

total number of females in the racial group. Components may 

not add to 100.0 because of rounding. 

21 
Part of the explanation for lower incomes for black males 

relative to white males at the same school level lies in the 

differences in occupational distribution, which are considered 

in the next section. Part of the explanation may also have to 

do with the quality of the years of school, or the inadequacies 

of using years of school as the measure of educational level. 

Education increases in differentiation as one goes from grade 

school to graduate school; there may be greater variations in 

income by years of school at higher education levels. The gap 

between white and black incomes at equal levels of educational 

attainment is also in part a result of discrimination. 

An adjusted income distribution similar to that for work 

experience can be constructed to measure the contributions of 

differences in years of school to income disparities. The adjusted income distribution is the income distribution produced 

by applying the white distribution of years of school completed 

to the black levels of income within schooling categories. It 

reflects the income levels blacks could expect to receive if 

the differences in schooling levels attained were eliminated. 

Figure 5 shows the unadjusted and adjusted income ratios for 

males. The ratios for the adjusted income distribution are 

higher than the unadjusted throughout the distribution, though 

they are substantially below 100 percent. Thus, as was the case 

with work experience, equalizing educational levels would improve black income relative to white for males, but would not 

eliminate most of the income disparity_ The hypothetical improvements for males 18 and over average 26.0 percent of the 

income disparity in the lower half of the distribution, 29.8 percent in the upper half, and about 27.6 percent over the entire 

distribution. A similar adjustment for females puts the income 

ratio above 100 percent for most of the distribution (see Figure 

6) • 

Adjusting the income distribution for educational level 

produces different results from adjusting for work experience. 

These two factors affect different parts of the income distribution. Almost half of the earnings gap between black and white 

males in the lower half of the distribution was accounted for 

by differences in weeks worked and by whether the work was parttime or full-time. The upper half of the distribution was 

little affected. Differences in years of school completed, on 

the other hand, affect black-to-white income ratios for males 

throughout the distribution. Just slightly more of the gap in 

22 
Figure 5. 

Ratios of BI~ck-to-Wllite Income to Males, With Adjustment 

for Years of School Completed, 1975 

Ratio of 

Black-to-White 

0.9 

0.8 

0.7 ---I 

ADJUSTED 

I .... 

-..., - -

- ~ .... """ _--., _ ,- "","""--' ----... .... " ". '"*-"' ..... - .. ,,- r-." NOT ADJUSTED 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

o 20 40 60 80 

Percentile of the I ncome Distribution 

Figure 6. 

Ratios of Black-to-White Income to Females, With Adjustment 

for Years of School Completed, 1975 

Ratio of 

B lack-to-White 

1.3 

1.2 "-

" "' "'- , ADJUSTED " '" - " ~ : 

- - ~ 

1.1 

100 

" " ,--" ..... 

1.0 

0.9 ..... lo-'--___ _. P----- ~, ,\ NOT ADJUSTED \ 

" 

0.8 

0.7 

o 20 40 60 80 100 

Percentile of the I ncome Distribution 

23 
the upper half than in the lower half of the income distribution 

is accounted for by differences in education level. (Black-towhite income ratios for women were higher than 100 percent after 

the adjustment for schooling differences, but they were reduced 

by the adjustment for differences in work experience.) 

Between 1969 and 1974, educational levels among males 25 

years old and over increased for both whites and blacks. The 

proportions of black males with fewer than 8 years of school and 

with 8 years of school declined over this period. The largest 

increase for black males was in the proportion with 1 to 3 years 

of college. The proportion of black males at this level increased from 6.0 percent in 1969 to 9.5 percent in 1974. The 

corresponding proportions of white males were 11.4 percent in 

1969 and 13.6 percent in 1974. The proportion of black males 

with 16 or more years of school also increased, from 4.9 percent 

to 6.8 percent, but this was less than the corresponding increase 

for whites, from 15.2 percent in 1969 to 18.4 percent in 1974. 

While the percentage of whites 25 and over completing at least 

high school increased from 58.1 percent to 65.1 percent between 

1969 and 1974, the percentage of blacks completing at least 

high school incI:eased from 33.4 percent to 41.7 percent. 

School enrollment data for those in the 20 to 24 age group 

provide some indication of the future levels of educational attainment for blacks. Of the black males in this age group who 

had completed high school, the proportion that enrolled in college increased dramatically between 1965 and 1970, but declined 

slightly between 1970 and 1974 (see Table 6). Among women in 

this age group, a substantial increase in college enrollment 

between 1970 and 1974 occurred for both blacks and whites. Even 

for this younger age group, however, less than 40 percent (36.8 

percent for men, 38.7 percent for women) of blacks enrolled in 

college after high school graduation. Among whites, more than 

half (53.5 percent) of the males and almost half (47.1 percent) 

of the females enrolled in college. 

24 
TABLE 6. PERCENTAGES OF BLACK AND WHITE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES 

THAT ENROLLED IN COLLEGE, PERSONS 20 TO 24 YEARS OLD 

BY SEX, 1960, 1965, 1970, AND 1974 

Total Male Female 

Year Black White Black White Black White 

1960 28.6 37.9 30.8 43.1 28.9 32.4 

1965 30.6 40.8 28.0 47.4 31.3 33.8 

1970 35.4 47.0 37.1 53.0 34.3 44.2 

1974 37.5 50.6 36.8 53.5 38.7 47.1 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, "The Social and Economic 

Status of the Black Population in the United States 

1974,'" Current Poeulation Reeor~s, Series P-23, No. 54, 

(July 1975), p. 97, Table 67. 

Although black enrollment rates are lower overall, they 

are about equal to the rates for whites after controlling for 

either family income or achievement in school (for example, 

grade point average). 10/ Family incomes for blacks are much 

lower than those for whites, however, as are the levels of 

achievement in high school by black students. Differences in 

the level of educational attainment between blacks and whites 

may thus remain substantial for some time to come. 

lQ/ Congressional Budget Office, Postsecondary Education: The 

Current Federal Role and Alternative Aeeroaches, Budget 

Issue Paper (February 1977). 

25 

99-780 0 .. ?7 .. 4 
The relationship between education and income is largely a 

matter of the impact of education on occupational distributions. 11/ Of course, occupational choices and opportunities 

are also aff ec ted by other fac tors. The impac t of schooling 

differences between blacks and whites on occupational differences, and the effect of occupational differences on income 

disparities are discussed in the next section. 

OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS 

Although the trends in occupational shifts over the last 

15 years are toward convergence of black and white occupational 

distributions, blacks are overrepresented relative to whites in 

some occupational categories and underrepresented in others. 12/ 

Blacks are disproportionately concentrated in the kinds of jobs 

in which rates of pay are lower, and in which returns to experience are small. The occupational distributions of blacks and 

whites differ even among those with the same number of years of 

school completed, though these differences are smaller among the 

younger age groups. Differences between the occupational distributions of black and white males exist not only across the major 

occupational groups, but also across the specific jobs within 

the broad groups. In general, black males are underrepresented 

11/ The intrinsic value of education may vary for different 

individuals and different ethnic groups at any given time. 

The relation between level of educational attainment and 

income captures only part of the value of education. Convergence of education levels may have broad social value 

as well. 

12/ Because of gaps in the data, the comparisons in this section 

are not all based on the same populations. The comparisons 

of median earnings for major occupational categories in 1974 

are for blacks and whites by sex. The adjustment for differences in occupational distributions between blacks and 

whites uses mean earnings by occupation in 1975. The comparisons of the distributions over the major categories for 

1959, 1969, and 1974 are. for all blacks and for the total 

population. The comparisons of the distributions over major 

categories and subcategories of the major occupational 

groups by age and schooling are for blacks and for the total 

of all races, by sex, but only for the year 1969. 

26 
in the higher-paying specific jobs within the broad occupational 

groups. In fact, the income disparities between black and white 

males are explained in large part by the distributions among the 

specific occupations. Black and white women, on the other hand, 

have similar distributions over specific occupations. 

Differences in the Distribution Over 

Major Occupational Categories 

Relative to the total population, a smaller percentage of 

blacks are found in the higher-paying occupational groups and a 

larger percentage are found in the lower-paying groups (see 

Table 7). Moreover, within the various broad occupational groups, 

black males tend to have lower median earnings than whites (see 

Tables 8 and 9). 

As the tables show, the income of blacks relative to that 

of whites varies across major occupations. \\lith the exceptions 

of sales workers among men and farm laborers among women, however, the ratios of b1ack-to-white median earnings are higher 

within all of the categories than they are for the aggregate, or 

total, over all occupations. This results from the different 

occupational distributions of blacks and whites: blacks are 

underrepresented relative to whites among professionals, managers, and craftsmen; they are overrepresented among service 

workers, operatives (primarily semiskilled jobs), and laborers 

(unskilled jobs). Blacks are particularly underrepresented among 

managers and administrators, the highest-paying category for 

white males. And the ratio of b1ack-to-white median earnings 

for this category (0.657) is one of the lowest for males. Among 

year-round full-time workers, white male clerical workers had 

higher median earnings in 1974 than black male managers. White 

male sales workers had higher median earnings than black male 

professionals. Among women who are year-round full-time workers, 

there was near parity in median earnings in 1974 within the major 

occupational groups (though the occupational distributions are 

still different), with ratios ranging from 95 percent to 104 

percent. 

27 
TABLE 7. DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYED PERSONS 16 YEARS OLD AND OVER BY 

OCCUPATIONAL GROUP FOR TOTAL POPULATION AND BLACKS, 1974 

Occupational Group 

White Collar 

Workers (total) 

Professional and 

technical workers 

Managers and administrators (except farm) 

Sales workers 

Clerical workers 

Blue Collar Workers 

(total) 

Craftsmen 

Operatives 

Nonfarm laborers 

Service Workers 

(total) 

Private household 

workers 

Other service workers 

Farm Workers (total) 

Farmers and farm 

managers 

Farm laborers and 

supervisors 

Total Employed 

Total Population 

Number 

(Thousands) 

41,739 

12,338 

8,941 

5,417 

15,043 

29,776 

11,477 

13,919 

4,380 

11,373 

1,228 

10,145 

3,048 

1,643 

1,405 

85,936 

Percent 

Distribution 

48.6 

14.4 

10.4 

6.3 

17.5 

34.7 

13.4 

16.2 

5.1 

13.2 

1.4 

11.8 

3.5 

1.9 

1.6 

100.0 

Number 

(Thousands) 

2,977 

970 

379 

214 

1,414 

3,748 

874 

2,041 

833 

2,337 

474 

1,863 

254 

64 

190 

9,316 

Blacks 

Percent 

Distribution 

32.0 

10.4 

4.1 

2.3 

15.2 

40.2 

9.4 

21.9 

8.9 

25.1 

5.1 

20.0 

2.7 

0.7 

2.0 

100.0 

Percent 

of Total 

Employed 

Population 

7.1 

7.9 

4.2 

4.0 

9.4 

12.6 

7.6 

14.7 

19.0 

20.5 

38.6 

18.4 

8.3 

3.9 

13.5 

10.8 

SOURCE: National Commission for Manpower Policy, The Economic Position of 

Black Americans: 1976, Special Report No.9 (July 1976) Table 2. 

28 
TABLE 8. MEDIAN EARNINGS FOR MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS BY RACE AND SEX, 1974 

Males Females 

Ratio of Ratio of 

Occupational Group Black White Black-to-White Black White Black-to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers $11,088 $13,514 0.820 $8,376 $7,271 1.152 

Managers and 

Administrators 9,543 14,524 0.657 8,461 6,621 1.278 

Clerical Workers 7,982 9,360 0.853 4,876 4,687 1.040 

Sales Workers 5,247 9,541 0.550 2,357 1,944 1.212 N Craftsmen 7,609 10,787 0.705 N/A 4,764 N/A '" Operatives 7,019 8,465 0.829 4,015 3,876 1.036 

Private Household 

Workers N/A N/A N/A 996 382 2.607 

Other Service Workers 

(excluding private 

household) 4,500 4,563 0.986 2,939 1,791 1.641 

Farm Laborers 1,108 1,303 0.850 397 483 0.822 

Laborers except Farm 4,266 3,426 1.245 N/A 2,740 N/A 

Total 6,144 9,439 0.651 3,368 3,658 0.921 

N/A = Not available. 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 101 (1977) 

Table 65. 
w 

0 

TABLE 9. MEDIAN EARNINGS FOR YEAR-ROUND FULL-T!ME WORKERS FOR MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS 

BY RACE AND SEX, 1974 

Males 

Ratio of Ratio of 

Occupational Group Black White Black-to-White Black White Black-to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers $12,552 $14,961 0.839 $9,477 $9,538 0.994 

Managers and 

Administrators 11,100 15,651 0.709 N/A 8,515 N/A 

Clerical Workers 10,779 11,597 0.929 6,777 6,824 0.993 

Sales lvorkers N/A 12,633 N/A N/A 5.163 N/A 

Craftsmen 9,333 12.167 0.767 N/A 6.387 N/A 

Operatives 8,534 10.459 0.816 5,511 5,824 0.946 

Private Household 

Workers N/A N/A N/A 2,733 2,660 1.027 

Other Service Workers 

(excluding private 

households) 7,231 9,109 0.794 5,175 4,984 1.038 

Farm Laborers N/A 5.336 N/A N/A N/A N/A 

Laborers except Farm 6,914 8,372 0.826 N/A 5.887 N/A 

Total 8.524 12.104 0.704 6,258 6,823 0.917 

N/A = Not available. 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current ffopulation Reports. Series P-60. No. 101 (1977). 

Table 65. 
How differences in the distribution of blacks and whites 

in major occupational groups contribute to the income disparities 

must be measured by differences in mean earnings because income 

distributions by race and occupation are not currently available 

(see Tables 10 and 11). If the mean earnings for blacks in each 

occupation are weighted by the occupational distributions of 

whites, 28.4 percent of the gap in 1975 mean earnings between 

white and black males can be accounted for. This compares with 

about 27.6 percent (averaged over the distribution) of the income 

gap accounted for by years of school, and 30.9 percent for work 

experience. Thus, broad occupational categories account for 

roughly as much of the income disparity as the other two factors 

discussed. The adjustment for occupations puts the earnings 

ratio above 100 percent for women. (The effects of the three 

sets of adjustments are summarized in Table 12.) 

Changes in the Distribution Over Major Occupations 

Between 1959 and 1974 the distribution of blacks in the 

maj or occupational categories tended to converge with the distribution of the total population. The distribution in the 

category of operatives is an exception to this tendency. (The 

occupational distribution for blacks and the total population 

in 1959 and 1969 are presented in Table 13; the same information 

for 1974 is presented in Table 7.) During this period, substantial declines occurred in the proportions of blacks who were 

laborers (both farm and nonfarm) and private household workers. 

which are among the lowest-paying categories. Relative gains 

for blacks were largest among professionals. clerical workers. 

and craftsmen. There were also gains. though much smaller, 

among managers and sales workers. 

Differences in the Distribution Over Major 

Occupational Categories by Age and Schooling 

The higher-paying occupations in general require more 

formal schooling and on-the-job training. The occupational 

shifts noted above could thus not all result from changes in 

occupations of individuals; rather, these shifts must reflect 

the entrance into the labor force of younger, better trained 

blacks. Differences between blacks and whites in occupational 

distribution remain, however, even when age and years of schooling are the same. 

31 
TABLE 10. OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND MEAN EARNINGS FOR MALES, 1975 

Percent 

Mean Earnin8s Distribution !Y 

Ratio of 

Black-toOccupational Group Black White White Black White 

White Collar Workers $10,193 $15,018 0.679 19.7 42.1 

Professional workers 10,830 16,108 0.672 7.1 15.4 

Salaried 11,064 15,225 0.727 6.6 13.9 

Self-employed N/A 24,509 N/A 0.4 1.5 

Managers 10,901 16,732 0.651 3.8 14.5 

Salaried 12,460 17,874 0.697 2.9 11.8 

Self-employed N/A 11,678 N/A 0.9 2.8 

Sales workers 8,066 13,195 0.611 1.8 6.1 

Clerical workers 9,707 10,014 0.969 7.1 6.0 

Blue Collar Workers 7,396 9,521 0.777 59.0 45.7 

Craftsmen 9,090 10,925 0.832 15.9 21.8 

Operatives 7,553 9,119 0.828 27.2 16.8 

Operatives excluding 

transport 7,497 8,851 0.847 17.2 11.2 

Transport workers 7,648 9,660 0.792 9.9 5.6 

Laborers except farm 5,442 6,171 0.882 15.9 7.1 

Service Workers 6,186 7,023 0.881 17.2 7.9 

Private household 

workers N/A N/A N/A 0.0 0.0 

Other service workers 6,200 7,037 0.881 17.1 7.8 

Farm Workers 3,069 6,580 0.466 4.0 4.3 

Farmers N/A 8,054 N/A 0.9 2.7 

Laborers 3,023 4,087 0.739 3.1 1.6 

Total 7,565 11,515 0.657 100.0 100.0 

N/A - Not available 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, 

No. 105 (1977), Table 53. 

~/ Percent of the total number of workers within the racial group who 

worked within particular occupational groups. Components may not add 

to totals because of rounding. 

32 
TABLE 11. OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND MEANS EARNINGS FOR FEMALES, 1975 

Occupational Group 

White Collar Workers $ 

Professional workers 

Salaried 

Self-employed 

Managers 

Salaried 

Se lf -emp 10yed 

Sales workers 

Clerical workers 

Blue Collar Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives 

Operatives excluding 

transport 

Transport workers 

Laborers except farm 

Service Workers 

Private household 

workers 

Other service workers 

Farm Horkers 

Farmers 

Laborers 

Total 

NIA = Not available. 

Mean Earnings 

Percent 

Distribution 2:.1 

Black White 

6,631 $5,853 

8,678 7,542 

8,753 7,542 

N/A 3,400 

7,699 7,540 

NIA 8,116 

N/A 4,388 

2,775 3,086 

5,936 5,398 

4,183 4,416 

N/A 5,255 

4,118 4,347 

4,147 4,389 

N/A 3,637 

N/A 4,051 

3,222 2,755 

1,525 1,121 

3,929 2,928 

N/A 1,351 

N/A N/A 

N/A 11 433 

4,746 5,009 

Ratio of 

Black-toWhite Black White 

1.133 40.4 65.1 

1.151 11.7 16.2 

1.160 11.5 15.4 

NIA 0.1 0.8 

1.021 1.9 5.8 

NIA 1.6 4.9 

NIA 0.3 0.9 

0.899 2.3 7.6 

1.099 24.5 35.5 

0.947 18.8 15.0 

N/A 1.0 1.5 

0.947 16.6 12.4 

0.945 16.2 11.7 

N/A 0.4 0.7 

N/A 1.2 1.1 

1.169 39.4 18.9 

1.360 11.6 1.8 

1.342 27.8 17.1 

N/A 1.3 0.9 

N/A 0.0 0.2 

N/A ---.!!Q ~ 

0.947 100.0 100.0 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, 

No. 105 (1977), Table 53. 

2:.1 Percent of the total number of workers within the racial group who 

worked within particular occupational groups. Components may not add 

to totals because of rounding. 

33 
TABLE 12. EFFECTS OF ADJUSTMENTS ON INCOME DISPARITIES BETWEEN BLACKS 

AND WHITES !'}:/ 

Income Ratios 

Percent 

Unadjusted Adjusted of Gap 

B1ack-to- B1ack-to- Differ- Closed by 

Adj ustment for: White White ence Adjustment 

MALES 

Work Experience 

Average over distribution 0.670 0.772 0.102 30.9 

Average for lower half 0.648 0.809 0.161 45.7 

Average for upper half 0.691 0.735 0.044 14.2 

Years of School 

Average over distribution 0.619 0.724 0.105 27.6 

Average for lower half 0.592 0.698 0.106 26.0 

Average for upper half 0.648 0.754 0.105 29.8 

Occupational Distribution 

Mean incomes 0.655 0.753 0.098 28.4 

FEMALES 

Work Experience 

Average over distribution 0.977 0.922 -0.055 0.0 

Average for lower half 1.001 0.912 -0.089 0.0 

Average for upper half 0.963 0.928 -0.035 0.0 

Years of School 

Average over distribution 0.918 1.071 0.153 100.0 

Average for lower half 0.971 1.110 0.139 100.0 

Average for upper half 0.876 1.040 0.164 100.0 

Occupational Distribution 

Mean incomes 0.951 1.104 0.154 100.0 

!'}:I The adjustments were done using total money income for those 18 years 

old and over for years of school; earnings for those 18 and over for 

occupations; and earnings for those civilians 14 and over for work 

experience. 

34 
Tables B-1 to B-6 in Appendix B summarize data on the occupational distributions for blacks and for the total of all races 

in 1969, by age, sex, and years of schooling. The following discussion is based on these data. 

Among male high school graduates in 1969, a high percentage 

of blacks in the younger age groups were in the operatives category, and a high percentage in the older age groups were in the 

service workers category. Since operatives generally have higher 

incomes than service workers, blacks seem to be moving away from 

the lowest-paying occupations. 

Among males with one to three years of college in 1969, 

a relatively high percentage of blacks at all ages were clerical 

workers. Compared with the total population, more of the blacks 

in the younger age groups for this schooling category were 

operatives or professional and technical workers, and more of the 

blacks in the older age groups were service workers. A somewhat 

higher percentage of the blacks in this schooling group than in 

the high school graduates group were managers and administrators, 

though the percentage was still well below the percentage for the 

total population. 

The big change among males with four or more years of 

college in 1969, relative to those with fewer years of school, 

was the proportion in the professional and technical category. 

About two-thirds of the blacks in this schooling group in the 

25 to 29 and 30 to 34 age groups were professionals, while in 

the older age groups just over half were professionals. The 

percentage of black males who were professionals in this schooling category was nearly equal to the percentage for the total 

population -- slightly higher for the 30 to 34 and 35 to 44 age 

groups, and slightly lower for the other age groups (25 to 29, 

45 to 54, and 55 to 64 years). Among black males in the older 

age groups, a somewhat higher percentage of college graduates 

than of those with less schooling were managers and clerical 

workers. While about 8 to 9 percent of total male college graduates were sales workers (varying over the age groups), only 2 to 

3 percent of black male college graduates were, except in the 

25 to 29 age group in which about 5 percent of black males were 

sales workers in 1969. 

35 
TABLE 13. DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYED PERSONS 16 YEARS OLD AND OVER 

BY OCCUPATIONAL GROUP FOR TOTAL POPULATION AND BLACKS, 

1959 AND 1969 

1959 

Total POEulation Blacks 

Percent 

Number Percent Number Percent of Total 

(thou- Distri- (thou- Distri- Employed 

Occupational Group sands) but ion sands bution Population 

White Collar Workers 

(total) 27,593 42.7 954 14.4 3.5 

Professional and 

technical workers 7,140 11.1 304 4.6 4.3 

Managers and 

administrators 

(except farm) 6,936 10.7 163 2.4 2.4 

Sales workers 4,210 6.5 83 1.3 2.0 

Clerical workers 9,307 14.4 404 6.1 4.3 

Blue Collar Workers 23,993 37.1 2,728 41.2 11.4 

Craftsmen 8,554 13.2 389 5.9 4.5 

Operatives 11,816 18.3 1,321 20.0 11.2 

Nonfarm laborers 3,623 5.6 1,018 15.3 28.1 

Service Workers 

( total) 7,697 11.9 2,109 31.9 27.4 

Private household 

workers 1,948 3.0 973 14.7 49.9 

Other service workers 5,749 8.9 1.136 17 .2 19.8 

Farm Workers (total) 5.344 8.3 830 12.5 15.5 

Farmers and farm 

managers 3,013 4.7 232 3.5 7.7 

Farm laborers and 

supervisors 2,331 3.6 598 9.0 25.7 

Total Employed 64,627 100.0 6,621 100.0 10.2 

36 
TABLE 13. (Continued) 

Occupational Group 

White Collar Workers 

( total) 

Professional and 

technical workers 

Managers and 

aC\.tninistrators 

(except farm) 

Sales workers 

Clerical workers 

Blue Collar Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives 

Nonfarm laborers 

Service Workers 

(total) 

Private household 

workers 

Other service workers 

Farm Workers (total) 

Farmers and farm 

managers 

Farm laborers and 

supervisors 

Total Employed 

Total Population 

Number 

(thousands) 

36,845 

10,769 

7,987 

4,692 

13,397 

28,237 

10,193 

14,372 

3,672 

9,528 

1,631 

7,897 

3,292 

Percent 

Distribution 

47.3 

13.8 

10.3 

6.0 

17.2 

36.2 

13.1 

18.4 

4.7 

12.2 

2.1 

10.1 

4.3 

1,844 2.4 

1.448 1.9 

77,902 100.0 

1969 

Blacks 

Number Percent' 

(thou- Distrisands but ion 

2,198 

695 

254 

166 

1,083 

3,590 

709 

2,004 

877 

2,239 

714 

1,525 

356 

84 

272 

8,383 

26.2 

8.3 

3.0 

2.0 

12.9 

42.9 

8.5 

23.9 

10.5 

26.7 

8.5 

18.2 

4.2 

1.0 

3.3 

100.0 

Percent 

of Total 

Employed 

Population 

6.0 

6.5 

3.2 

3.5 

8.1 

12.7 

7.0 

13.9 

23.9 

23.5 

43.8 

19.3 

10.8 

4.6 

18.8 

10.8 

SOURCE: National Commission for Manpower Policy, The Economic 

Position of Black Americans: 1976, Special Report No.9 

(July 1976), Table 2. 

37 
On the whole, the distributions of black males and for all 

males over major occupational categories in 1969 differed even 

among those of the same age and with the same number of years of 

school completed. These differences may, in part, be because of 

discrimination. The occupational differences were generally 

smaller, however, among the younger age groups and at the higher 

schooling levels. 

The primary shift among black women between the older and 

the younger age groups was from service workers (for older age 

groups) to clerical workers (for younger age groups) for the 

high school graduates and for those with one to three years of 

college. In general. this represents movement to higher-paying 

occupations. There were no significant age trends among the 

college graduates, with a high percentage of all age groups in 

the professional and technical category. 

Among black female high school graduates in 1969, a substantial percentage were service workers, particularly in the 

older age groups. Just over half of black female high school 

graduates 55 to 64 years old were service workers, compared with 

only one-sixth of the total female population in this age and 

schooling group. A greater proportion of younger black females 

in this schooling group were clerical workers, though the proportion of blacks in this occupational category was not as great 

as the proportion of the total population at any age group. A 

large percentage of black female high school graduates were 

operatives, somewhat more so in the younger age groups. 

Among women with one to three years of college, most blacks 

and whites were either professional and technical workers or 

clerical workers. Between 20 and 25 percent of black women in 

this group were professional and technical workers. The proportion of clerical workers declined steadily with age for black 

females, from 51.6 percent in the 25 to 29 age group to 28.2 percent in the 55 to 64 age group. There was a corresponding increase over age groups in the proportion of black female service 

workers. 

The dominant occupational category in 1969 for women with 

four or more years of college was professional and technical 

workers. Between 80 and 85 percent of black women college 

graduates (varying over age groups) were in this occupational 

group. This was slightly higher than the percentage for women 

of all races. 

38 
Differences in Distribution Among Subcategories 

of the Major Occupational Categories 

Differences between black and white occupational distributions exist not only across the major occupational groups but 

also over the subcategories within the broad groups. These distributions are summarized in Tables C-l to C-16 in Appendix C for 

blacks and for the total of all races in 1969 by sex, age, and 

years of school. 13/ By and large, black males were underrepresented in the higher-paying specific jobs within the broad occupational groups. The distributions over specific occupations 

were similar for black and white women. 

Male professional and technical workers. For professional 

and technical workers who were at least college graduates in 

1969, black males were most strongly overrepresented among 

teachers and most strongly underrepresented among engineers. 

Nearly half of the black male professionals, but only 20 to 30 

percent of male professionals of all races, were teachers. On 

the other hand, only 6 to 7 percent of black males, across different age groups, were engineers, whereas 16 to 21 percent of 

all males were engineers. This is noteworthy because the average income for engineers is considerably higher than that for 

teachers. Across all age groups from 25 to 54, black college 

graduates were relatively numerous among social and recreational 

workers, and they were somewhat underrepresented among accountants and physicians. 

Among professional and technical workers with one to three 

years of college, the dominant subcategories for the total population were engineers, engineering and science technicians, and 

accountants. Blacks were almost proportionately represented 

among the technicians, but they were considerably underrepresented among accountants and engineers. Again in this schooling 

group, a greater percentage of blacks than of the total population for all age groups were social and recreational workers. 

13/ The age and schooling groups included in the tables vary 

depending on the major occupational category. Distributions among subcategories are given for professional and 

technical workers, managers and administrators, sales 

workers, and service workers. 

39 
The distribution of black males over the subcategories of 

the professional and technical group in 1969 shows a relatively 

high percentage of blacks in the lower-paying subcategories of 

the group. This accounts to some extent for the fact that black 

males within this occupational category have lower median earnings than white males. 

Male managers and administrators. Among males of all races 

employed as managers and administrators in 1969, nearly half 

(ranging only from 42 percent to 48 percent over the age and 

schooling categories) were salaried managers in manufacturing, 

transportation, commerce, wholesale and retail, or finance and 

insurance. Among black male managers and administrators who 

either were high school graduates or had one to three years of 

coliege, only one-third were salaried managers. Even fewer 

proportionately of the black male college graduates (only onequarter or fewer among those aged 35 and over) were salaried 

managers. The dominant subcategory for black male college 

graduates aged 30 and over was school administration (20 percent 

for black male managers and administrators 30 to 34 years old, 

and roughly 40 percent for those 35 and over). A sizable proportion of blacks relative to whites across all age and schooling 

categories were in public administration. Public administrators 

and school administrators generally receive lower earnings than 

salaried managers in the private sector. Blacks were especially 

underrepresented among salaried managers in manufacturing, 

generally the highest paid group of salaried managers, but the 

proportion of blacks that were salaried managers was somewhat 

higher among the younger age groups than it was among the older 

age groups. This age pattern suggests that the black occupational distribution is improving. 

Male sales workers. Distributions among male sales workers 

in 1969 are compared only for the group with one to three years 

of college because that is the only schooling group in which the 

percentage of black males was consistently as high as 4 to 6 percent across the age groups. For that schooling group, black 

males were most frequently retail sales clerks; in fact, the 

proportion of black males in this category was generally about 

double the proportion for males of all races. Blacks were somewhat overrepresented among insurance agents, brokers, and underwriters. Although between 36 and 39 percent of male sales 

workers of all races with one to three years of college were 

sales representatives in manufacturing or wholesale trade, only 

40 
between 12 and 22 percent of blacks were. Once again, the category within which blacks had a low proportion relative to the 

total population (namely, sales representatives) has considerably 

higher earnings than the category in which blacks had a high 

proportion (namely, sales clerks). 

Male service workers. Among male service workers in 1969, 

the groups examined are high school graduates and those with one 

to three years of college for ages 20 to 54. The primary differences between the distributions over subcategories for all males 

and for black males were in the proportions of firemen, policemen, and cleaning service workers. Among high school graduates 

aged 20 to 44, the percentage of all male service workers and of 

black male service workers who were cleaning service workers 

ranged (over age groups) between 16 and 25 percent and between 

29 and 35 percent, respectively. For those 45 to 54 years old, 

the figures were 28.3 percent of all races and 42.5 percent of 

blacks. On the other hand, between 35 and 39 percent of male 

service workers of all races aged 25 to 44 were policemen or 

firemen, whereas only 10 to 16 percent of black male service 

workers were. The percentages were lower for those under 25 and 

over 44, although the racial differences were the same. The 

distributions for those with one to three years of college were 

similar, although somewhat higher proportions of both blacks and 

the total population were policemen and higher proportions of the 

total population were firemen. Blacks were more seriously underrepresented among firemen than among policemen for all of the 

age and schooling groups. Between 1 and 3 percent of black male 

service workers were firemen. whereas for most of the age and 

schooling categories considered between 10 and 12 percent of all 

male service workers were. The earnings levels for policemen and 

firemen are significantly higher than those of cleaning service 

workers. 

Subcategories for women. Occupational distributions in 

1969 over subcategories for women are considered for the following groups: professional and technical workers aged 25 to 54 who 

are college graduates; service workers aged 20 to 54, both high 

school graduates and those with one to three years of college; 

and sales workers aged 20 to 54 who are high school graduates. 

The distributions over subcategories of professional and 

technical workers were similar for women of all races and for 

black women. Relative to all women, a somewhat higher percentage 

of blacks were teachers and a slightly lower percentage were 

registered nurses. Teaching was the dominant subcategory among 

women professionals, both for all races and for blacks. 

41 

90.780 0 • 77 - 5 
Among services workers who are high school graduates, proportionately more black women than women of all races were health 

service workers or private household workers, and proportionately 

fewer were food service or personal service workers. Among 

those with one to three years of college, the relative distributions were similar, except that only black women 35 and over 

were substantially overrepresented among private household 

workers. 

For women sales workers who are high school graduates, the 

distributions over subcategories are similar for blacks and for 

the total population. For those between ages 20 and 34, the 

percentage of blacks who were sales clerks in retail trade in 

1969 was somewhat higher than that for all races, and the percentage who were "demonstrators, hucksters, or peddlers" was 

somewhat lower. 

Conclusion. The distributions among specific occupational 

subcategories explain a good deal of the income disparities 

between white and black males within the major occupational 

groups. Not only are black males disproportionately in the 

lower-paid major categories, but they also tend to be in the 

lower-paid subcategories of the maj or groups. In both cases, 

this holds true even after controlling for age and years of 

school. Among women, distributions over subcategories are 

relatively similar for blacks and whites. 

AGE AND REGION 

Age and region of residence are also factors that contribute to the income disparities between blacks and whites. 

But unlike differences in unemployment, work experience, education, and occupation, age and region of residence may not be 

factors that can be much affected by federal policies. Both 

age and region are, however, strongly related to the other 

factors that contribute to the income disparities. In the previous section the relation between age, years of school, occupational distributions, and income disparities was discussed. 

Educational levels and occupational distributions appear to be 

less unequal between blacks and whites among the younger age 

groups. Comparisons by age groups indicate that changes are 

occurring in the relations among the other factors, and between 

the other factors and income disparities. 

42 
The relationship of age to income disparities can be seen 

in Table 14, which shows both the age distributions for blacks 

and whites 14 years old and over who had income in 1975 and the 

median incomes by age group. Blacks who had income are on 

average slightly younger than whites who had income. The ratio 

of black-to-white median incomes for males generally declines 

with increasing age. There is near parity in median incomes 

between black and white women up to about age 45. Median incomes 

of black women 45 and over are substantially lower than median 

incomes to white women 45 and over, and the disparity is largest 

for the 55 to 64 age group. 

Region of residence affects overall income disparities. 

Incomes are generally lower in the South than in the other three 

major census regions (Northeast, North Central, and West -- collectively referred to here as "North and West"). Blacks are 

disproportionately located in the South and income disparities 

between blacks and whites are generally greater in the South than 

elsewhere. Just over half of all blacks 14 years old and over 

who had income in 1975 lived in the South, compared with just 

under 30 percent of whites (see Table 15). Income levels in the 

South are lower than those in the North and West for both groups, 

but the differences are significantly greater for blacks. The 

black-to-white median income ratios are about 20 percentage 

points lower in the South for men and about 40 percentage points 

lower for women. 

Substantial migration of blacks from the South to other 

regions of the country took place during the 1940s, 1950s, and 

1960s; this migration has slowed sharply since 1969. Between 

1959 and 1969 the proportion of blacks in the South decreased 

from 60.3 percent to 53.5 percent, but between 1969 and 1974 it 

decreased only marginally to 53.2 percent. 14/ The decline in 

emigration of blacks from the South has coincided with the 

general growth of the economy in the South and the corresponding 

increases in income levels. 

14/ National Commission for Manpower Policy, The Economic 

Position of Black Americans: 1976, Special Report No. 9 

(July 1976). 

43 
TABLE 14. COMPARISON OF TOTAL MONEY INCOME OF BLACK AND WHITE 

PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER WHO HAD INCOME, BY AGE 

AND SEX, 1975 

Age Group 

14 to 19 

20 to 24 

25 to 34 

35 to 44 

45 to 54 

55 to 64 

65 to 69 

70 and Over 

Total 

14 to 19 

20 to 24 

25 to 34 

35 to 44 

45 to 54 

55 to 64 

65 to 69 

70 and Over 

Total 

Median Income 

Ratio of 

B1ack-toBlack White White 

$803 

4,577 

8,251 

8,668 

7,326 

5,880 

3,323 

2,880 

$5,560 

$833 

2,932 

5,138 

4,669 

4,068 

2,431 

2,191 

2,071 

$3,107 

MALES 

$995 

5,621 

11,351 

13,851 

13,761 

11,068 

6,243 

4,672 

$9,300 

0.807 

0.814 

0.727 

0.626 

0.532 

0.531 

0.532 

0.616 

0.598 

FEMALES 

$872 

3,684 

5,007 

4,677 

5,201 

4,159 

2,796 

2,736 

$3,420 

0.955 

0.796 

1.026 

0.998 

0.782 

0.585 

0.784 

0.757 

0.908 

Percent 

Distribution !!/ 

Black 

10.4 

13.8 

21.0 

16.7 

14.9 

11.9 

4.9 

6.5 

100.0 

8.7 

13.9 

22.1 

16.2 

14.1 

10.8 

5.7 

8.3 

100.0 

White 

10.0 

12.0 

21.1 

15.2 

15.8 

13 .1 

5.0 

7.6 

100.0 

11.0 

12.6 

17.8 

13.1 

13.4 

12.6 

6.8 

12.8 

100.0 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, 

Series P-60, No. 105 (1977), Table 46. 

a/ Percentage of the total number of persons within the racial 

group who had income. Components may not add to totals 

because of rounding. 

44 
TABLE 15. COMPARISON OF TOTAL MONEY INCOME OF BLACK AND WHITE 

PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER WHO HAD INCOME, BY REGION 

OF RESIDENCE AND SEX, 1975 

Region of 

Residence 

South 

North and 

Total 

South 

North and 

Total 

Black 

$4,737 

West 7,258 

5,560 

2,427 

West 3,876 

3,107 

Mean Income 

White 

MALES 

$8,546 

9,697 

9,300 

FEMALES 

3,317 

3,457 

3,420 

Ratio of 

B1ack-toWhite 

0.554 

0.750 

0.598 

0.732 

1.121 

0.908 

Percent 

Distribution at 

Black White 

53.9 30.0 

46.1 70.0 

100.0 100.0 

53.4 29.8 

46.6 70.2 

100.0 100.0 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current P012u1ation Re12orts, 

Series P-60, No. 105 (1977), Table 42. 

at Percentage of the total number of persons within the racial 

group who had income. 

45 
INTERACTIONS AMONG SOME OF THE MAJOR FACTORS 

Analyses of income distributions generally follow the 

"human capital" approach, that is, consideration of the costs 

and returns to investment in people through education and other 

training. Multifactor studies on the determinants of an individual's position on the income distribution strongly document 

the importance of educational level. A study by Jacob Mincer 

has shown that most of the variation among individuals-in income 

levels reflects the different costs of the training required 

for various occupations. 151 According to Giora Hanoch, mobility 

across occupations and industries is important as the main channel by which individuals realize returns on their additional 

investment in education. 161 Many of the factors that affect 

income are not independent, but complementary; returns are not 

additive but multiplicative. Lester Thurow cites on-the-job 

training and education as an example: low education levels make 

some kinds of training impossible and other types expensive; as 

education levels rise, training costs fall and the variety of 

training that can be given expands. 121 

This section on interactions among the major factors considers the relation of the industry in which a person is employed 

(including the public sector) to occupation and region. Occupational distributions and earnings levels for blacks and whites 

are then compared after controlling jointly (to measure the 

interactions) for region, age, and years of school. 

151 Mincer, "The Distribution of Labor Incomes." 

161 Hanoch, "An Economic Analysis of Earnings and Schooling." 

Hanoch also considers some methodological problems in the 

usual regression analyses relating income and various 

factors -- that no variable (except race) is truly exogeneous or uncorre1ated with the residuals of earnings, 

and that interactions need to be explicitly included in 

the model. 

121 Thurow, "The Occupational Distribution of the Returns to 

Education and Experience for Whites and Negroes." 

46 
Industry and Occupation 

In general, a disproportionately high number of blacks have 

jobs in low-wage industries and a disproportionately low ntnnber 

have jobs in high-wage industries. Of course, exceptions do 

exist. 18/ But the wage structure of an industry is largely 

determined by its occupational distribution, so that movement 

to higher-wage industries generally parallels movement to higherpaying occupations. This is related to the greater income disparity between blacks and whites in the South than in the North 

and West: blacks in the South are more frequently unskilled 

or service workers, whereas those in the other regions are more 

frequently semiskilled operatives. ll/ 

An industry of particular importance to blacks is the 

public sector. While about 10 percent of those in nonfarm occupations in private industry in 1974 were blacks, about 16 percent 

of civilian employees in the federal government were blacks. 

And blacks in government jobs, on the average, earned about 

26 percent more than blacks in the private sector in 1974. 

By comparison, the earnings of whites in the public sector 

averaged about 14 percent more than those of whites in private 

industry. ~/ Nonetheless, even in the public sec~or, the 

occupational distributions remain quite different between whites 

and blacks. Among full-time federal employees in May 1974, about 

21.9 percent of those in a GS-1 to GS-4 level job on the general 

schedule and similar pay plans were blacks, whereas only about 

2.8 percent of those at the GS-16 to GS-18 level were blacks. 11/ 

..!§../ See National Commission for Manpower Policy, The Economic 

Position of Black Americans: 1976. 

l1../ Richard Raymond, "Regional Differences in Racial Discrimination in Education and Employment," Western Economic 

Journal, vol. 8 (June 1970), pp. 190-208. 

~/ National Commission for Manpower Policy, The Economic Position of Black Americans: 1976. 

21/ U. S. Bureau of the Census, "The Social and Economic Status 

of the Black Population in the United States 1974," Current 

Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 54 (July 1975). 

47 
A study by Arthur Alexander found that, in general, blacks 

are confined to jobs or promotion ladders that do not lead to 

positions of authority or to other high levels. He found that, 

even in the industries in which nonwhites had their highest 

average incomes, the percentage of nonwhites in the highest 

income category of these industries was very small. ~/ 

Joint Effects of Region, Age, and Years of School 

on Occupations and Incomes 

The overriding conclusion that can be drawn from a comparison of occupational distributions and median earnings for 

white and black males in 1969 is that, even when differences in 

region, age, and years of school are controlled for, black and 

white occupational distributions still differ. And, when occupa tions along with the other factors are controlled for, black 

earnings remain lower than white earnings. See Tables D-1 to 

D-8 in Appendix D. For women, occupational and earnings differentials between whites and blacks, where such differentials exist 

at all, are small, after controlling for any of the factors. In 

fact, for many subgroups, earnings of black women are higher than 

those of white women. 

Among males, the most nearly equal subgroup in 1969 was 

those aged 25 to 34 in the North and West with five or more 

years of college. For that subgroup, in which blacks represented 

less than 2 percent of the total, about 85 percent of blacks 

compared with about 88 percent of whites were in either professional and technical or managerial and administrative occupations. The ratios of median earnings for these two occupations 

in that subgroup were both between 90 and 95 percent. 

Among the subgroups in which blacks were more numerous in 

1969, the occupational and earnings disparities were much greater. These disparities tended to be larger in the South than in 

the North and West, and they tended to be larger among those aged 

35 to 54 than among those aged 25 to 34, even when controlled 

for years of school and region. For example, the proportion of 

black males who were laborers or operatives was substantially 

higher than the proportion of white males for both high school 

111 Arthur Alexander, Structure, Income, and Race: A Study in 

Internal Labor Markets, Rand Corporation, R-577-0EO, October 

1970. 

48 
graduates and those with some college, for all regions and age 

groups. Even among black males 25 to 34 years old in the North 

and West with some college, almost one-quarter (24.4 percent) 

were either laborers or operatives. Only 11.6 percent of the 

corresponding group of white males were in these occupations, 

and this occupational disparity was even greater in the South. 

Proportionately, only about two-thirds as many black high school 

graduates as white were craftsmen, when region and age are 

controlled for. The earnings gap between whites and blacks among 

professional and technical workers in the South was especially 

large, when age and years of school are controlled for. Among 

college graduates 35 to 54 years old in the South, the ratio 

of b1ack-to-white median earnings for professionals was only 

0.605. 

RELATIONS AMONG MAJOR FACTORS, FEDERAL POLICIES, AND 

VARIOUS PARTS OF THE INCOME DISTRIBUTION 

Federal policies to reduce racial disparities in income 

can have different effects on different parts of the income distribution. These different effects result, in large part, from 

the fact that federal programs are focused primarily on one or 

another of the major factors contributing to income disparities. 

This section points out the interrelationships among the major 

factors, federal policies, and the various parts of the income 

distribution. 

There are relatively few blacks in the higher-paying broad 

occupational categories (professional and technical workers, 

managers and administrators, and craftsmen). Moreover, the 

blacks in those broad occupational categories receive lower 

earnings than whites because few blacks are found in the highestpaying subcategories wi thin the broad categories. These relations contribute to the large disparities in income that exist 

between blacks and whites in the middle and upper percentiles of 

their respective income distributions. Differences in educational levels (measured by years of school completed) also 

contribute, largely through their effect on occupational distributions, to the disparities in the middle and higher ranges. 

These observations suggest the importance of higher levels of 

education and of occupational shifts as a means of reducing 

racial disparities in income through the middle and upper ranges 

of the income distribution. 

49 
A smaller disparity in median earnings is found within 

occupational groups among younger males, and this indicates a 

positive trend toward parity in earnings over time. But even 

so, earnings, occupational distributions, and the distributions 

of schooling levels remain quite different between blacks and 

whites, in the younger age groups as well as in the older ones. 

And the differences in earnings and occupations still hold to a 

substantial degree even when differences in years of school, age, 

and region are controlled for. 

Policies that attempt to improve schooling levels and other 

kinds of training among blacks, and other policies that attempt 

to upgrade occupational levels of blacks, particularly for black 

males relative to white, could, if successful, substantially 

reduce the income disparities in the middle and upper ranges. 

(Higher education is appropriate for most occupations in the 

professional and managerial groups, specific training apprenticeships for some of the skilled crafts.) For the very high 

income levels, substantial advancement in the upper levels of 

corporate and other management structures, and among independent 

professionals, is required. Although improved educational levels 

may be sufficient for better access among blacks to entry-level 

positions in the higher-paying occupations, such improvement may 

not be sufficient for advancement within those occupations. 

Policies that stress reducing black unemployment rates --

through public employment, manpower development, or private 

sector job stimulation by influencing the aggregate level of 

economic activity -- would tend to reduce the income disparities 

in the lower part of the income distribution. Such programs 

typically train or otherwise prepare low-skilled or unemployed 

persons for jobs that tend to pay less than the median income for 

white males who work year-round full-time, and somewhat less than 

the median for black males who work year-round full-time. Other 

kinds of changes would be required to reduce income disparities 

in other parts of the income distribution. 

This should not be interpreted as diminishing the importance of programs that deal directly with the problem of unemployment (which longer-range policies do not do); rather, it 

indicates the limitations of such programs to achieve convergence of income distributions. Although policies that influence 

overall levels of economic activity have led to improvement in 

black incomes relative to white during a period of economic 

50 
expansion, in some cases the next recession has wiped out the 

relative gains that were made during the period of expansion. 

Manpower development programs could theoretically have long-term 

effects, though the empirical evidence so far suggests that this 

effect is relatively small. Programs for public service employment during periods of economic decline could smooth out the 

earnings curve for those whose income is particularly sensitive 

to the business cycle, and blacks are disproportionately included 

in this group. 

Welfare and related programs affect income disparities at 

the lowest income levels. Changes over time in the income of 

blacks relative to. whites at the low end of the distribution 

reflect the effects of such programs; that is, there have been 

greater relative improvements at the lowest percentiles. 

Examining the effects of federal policies to reduce racial 

disparities in income in terms of the likely effects on various 

parts of the distribution highlights the different possible 

objectives in reducing or eliminating the disparities. One 

possible objective is to equalize unemployment rates. A further 

possible obj ective is to equalize educational opportunities and, 

with some lag, attainment levels as well. Before the larger 

part of the overall income disparities is removed, however, the 

occupational distributions, and particularly the distributions 

within the subcategories of the major occupational groups, must 

be equalized. 

51 

CHAPTER III. FEDERAL POLICIES THAT MAY AFFECT THE MAJOR 

FACTORS 

The convergence of the income distributions of whites and 

blacks requires programs that are aimed at the whole range of 

incomes. This chapter considers specific federal policies that 

may affect the 'major factors that underlie the income disparities, and the likely impact of the policies on these factors and, 

where possible, on income differences. It considers welfare and 

other direct transfer programs, programs to reduce black unemployment, programs to improve educational levels of blacks, 

programs to upgrade the occupational distribution of blacks, and 

programs to affect black self-employment income and to promote 

black capitalism. It makes some general observations on trends 

that may accelerate and factors that may limit the future convergence of the income distributions. The final section then 

summarizes the findings regarding federal policies as they relate 

to eliminating or reducing racial disparities in income. 

INCOME TRANSFERS 

Welfare and other programs involving direct money transfers 

can reduce income disparities at the low end of the income distribution. Black income has shown greater improvement relative 

to white income at the low end of the income distribution, and 

this reflects the effects of direct transfers. 

PROGRAMS TO REDUCE BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT 

Unemployment or its impact can be reduced by any of five 

basic strategies: stimulative fiscal policy to increase aggregate demand; public service employment and other direct employment-creating programs; direct cash assistance to the unemployed; 

programs to increase the training and education of current and 

potential workers; and antidiscrimination policy. 1./ Antidiscrimination policy affects the occupational distribution broadly, 

1/ See Congressional Budget Office, The Unemployment of Nonwhite 

Americans: The Effects of Alternative Policies, Background 

Paper No. 11 (July 1976). 

53 
not just unemployment rates, and is considered below in the 

sec tion on policies that may affect the occupational distribution. Programs that may affect educational levels are considered 

in the following section of this chapter. 

The effect of business cycles on black income relative to 

white was discussed at the conclusion of Chapter II. It was 

noted that stimulative fiscal policy for the purposes of increasing aggregate demand has a positive effect on black income during 

periods of expansion. The effect, however, is more directly on 

relative unemployment rates than on relative incomes, but the 

effect on income disparities may be greater if expansionary 

policy yields significant improvements in black levels of weeks 

and hours worked. Experience from the recent past cautions that 

such relative gains tend to be at least partially reduced if 

recessions are allowed to follow expansions. 

Cash assistance to the unemployed is a transfer program. 

As such, it can relieve financial burdens caused by unemployment, 

but may contribute little in the long term toward reducing 

either unemployment differences or income disparities. It may, 

however, reduce the cyclical instability of black incomes. 

"Employment-creating programs" include public service 

employment, accelerated public works, general government expenditures, and tax cuts. Table 16 summarizes the effect of these 

programs with respect to both the number of jobs created for each 

$1 billion of expenditure level and the degree of targeting on 

nonwhites (that is, the estimated percent of such jobs filled by 

nonwhites) • The unemployment gap between nonwhites and whites 

would narrow by about one-seventh of 1 percent per 100,000 jobs 

created if 40 percent of the newly created jobs were filled by 

nonwhites. At least 17 percent of the new jobs must be filled py 

nonwhites just to avoid widening the unemployment gap, because of 

higher nonwhite unemployment rates. As indicated in the table, 

the rate of nonwhite targeting in most of these programs is not 

likely to reduce significantly the unemployment gap without 

substantial expenditures for job creation. Therefore, such 

programs alone are not likely to have much impact on income 

disparities. 

It appears that job creation efforts must be justified on 

the grounds of their short-run impact on the income of currently 

unemployed individuals. These efforts would affect blacks somewhat more than whites, because blacks are disproportionately 

54 
unemployed. They would not, however, have a great impac t on 

unemployment differentials without expenditures of tens of 

billions of dollars. 

TABLE 16. ESTIMATED EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT-CREATING 

PROGRAMS ON TOTAL AND NONWHITE EMPLOYMENT, FISCAL 

YEAR 1977: THOUSANDS OF JOBS PER $1 BILLION IN 

OUTLAYS, 12 MONTHS FOLLOWING INITIATION OF OUTLAYS 

Program Activities 

Public Service Employment 

CETA Titles II and VI 

Targeted toward: 

Long-term unemployed 

Poverty population 

Summer Youth Employment 

Accelerated Public Works 

Countercyclical Revenue Sharing 

Tax Cut 

General Government Expenditures 

N/A = Not available. 

Number of Jobs 

Created 

97 

97 

118 

355 a/ 

69 

89 

46 

55 

Estimated 

Percent of 

Jobs Filled 

by Nonwhites 

27 

18 

28 

41 

15 

24 

17 

N/A 

SOURCE: Congressional Budget Office, The Unemployment of Nonwhite 

Americans: The Effects of Alternative Policies, Background Paper No. 11 (July 1976), p. xiii. 

~ Job-year equivalents. 

55 
Training programs to reduce unemployment have included 

two kinds of activities: skill development, to enhance skills 

or productivity through a period (about six months) of classroom 

or on-the-job training; and employability development, to develop 

personal attitudes and attributes necessary for entry-level 

employment (generally for lower-skilled jobs). A number of 

studies have attempted to measure the gains in earnings that can 

be attributed to these programs. 1/ The estimates of increases 

in annual earnings vary by as much as a factor of two, but all 

of the estimates are small. They range from $400 to $800 per 

year for skill development programs, and from $200 to $400 per 

year for employability development programs. And the effects 

on earnings appear to diminish over time. The percentage of 

black participants in such programs for fiscal year 1975 ranged 

from 38.5 percent to 55.2 percent. These programs have a shortrun impact on earnings, although the impact is small relative to 

the total income gap between blacks and whites; the long-run 

impact on earnings appears to be either very small or nil. 

PROGRAMS TO INCREASE THE EDUCATIONAL LEVELS OF BLACKS 

Income to blacks improves substantially with increasing 

years of school completed, but not consistently as fast as for 

whites. For males, the income disparities between blacks and 

whites are s'mallest among the lowest educational levels. For 

females, the disparities generally decline with increasing years 

of school. Because the differentiation in education increases 

at higher schooling levels, years of school is less useful as a 

measure of education at higher schooling levels. The link between higher levels of education and the higher-paying job categories is probably related to the quality and market relevance 

of the advanced training. Thus, in addition to programs that 

increase schooling levels for blacks, programs that equalize 

the quality and relevance of the increased levels of education 

may also be important. 

1/ For a review of this evidence, see Congressional Budget 

Office, Employment and Training Programs, Staff Working 

Paper (May 1976). 

56 
Educational attainment levels for younger blacks far surpass those for older blacks, and the educational difference 

between blacks and whites is smaller in the younger age groups. 

Similarly, school enrollment rates for blacks among the younger 

age groups are approaching the rates for whites, though the 

differences are still substantial (see Table 6 in Chapter II). 

Since educational attainment levels for students are related to 

family income, improvements in education and income may reinforce each other over time. 

Federal policies to improve levels of educational attainment fall into two major categories: financial assistance ·of 

various sorts, and special training programs to improve achievement levels. Federal policies relating specifically to higher 

education generally involve financial assistance, though policies 

in other areas may affect whether or not an individual eventually 

reaches the higher schooling levels. Policies that attempt to 

affect achievement levels include Head Start, Title I of the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the Emergency 

School Aid Act (ESAA). Head Start participants, about half of 

whom are black, seem to make substantial achievement gains 

relative to nonparticipants, and the effects seem to persist 

through elementary school. The other two programs, ESEA and 

ESAA, which are aimed at the elementary and secondary levels, 

have apparently been less successful. 31 There is no conclusive 

evidence that these two programs have any enduring impact on 

school achievement of the participants. 

Programs of financial assistance for higher education 

include grants, loans, and subsidized jobs (some federal institutional support money is used to support students as well). These 

outlaY'S have gone primarily to students from lower-income families. More than half (55 percent) of the fiscal year 1977 outlays have gone to dependent students from families with incomes 

of less than $10,000, and about one-third (33 percent) have 

gone to students from families with incomes below $7,500. !:il 

]) Congressional Budget Office, Inequalities in the Educational 

Experiences of Black and White Americans, Background Paper 

(September 1977). 

!:il Congressional Budget Office, Postsecondary Education: The 

Current Federal Role and Alternative Approaches, Budget 

Issue Paper (February 1977). 

57 

99-780 0 77 - 6 
Financial status affects plans about whether or not to go to 

college as well as choices about which college to attend, even 

when controlling for level of achievement in high school. 2./ 

Student assistance programs then should increase the likelihood 

that students from lower-income families will enroll in college. 

While college enrollment seems to respond to changes in tuition 

charges, no studies have yet determined whether different forms 

of student assistance (grants, loans, or job subsidies) have 

different effects on enrollment decisions. 

Since blacks are disproportionately from lower-income 

families, these programs should, to some degree, equalize college 

enrollment rates between blacks and whites. As shown in Table 

17, black postsecondary students are more dependent on financial 

assistance as an income source than are white students. In 

addition, some assistance (currently funded at about $70 million, 

compared with total funding of $7.9 billion for all student 

assistance programs) is aimed specifically at affecting achievement levels for lower-achievement students through remedial and 

other special service programs for potential postsecondary students. Such programs are also needed, since black achievement 

levels tend to be lower than those for whites. The results for 

these programs, however, are mixed. ~I 

The financial assistance programs should improve the 

relative distributions among educational levels for blacks. 

As a result, access to entry-level professional and managerial 

positions should be improved, and levels of black income should 

also rise. This, in turn, should improve educational opportunities for the next generation of blacks, since higher family 

income and higher levels of schooling attainment seem to reinforce each other. 

The current rate of improvement in schooling levels for 

blacks relative to those for whites will not result in equality 

in years of schooling for blacks and whites in the short run. 

Moreover, gaps in income remain even when controlled for the 

51 Ibid. 

61 Congressional Budget Office, Inequalities in the Educational 

Experiences of Black and White Americans. 

58 
VI 

\,0 

TABLE 17. SOURCE OF INCOME FOR POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS 16 YEARS OLD AND OVER, 1973 

All Students Black Students 

Percent 

Percent Percent Black 

of Total Number of Total of Total 

Number of All of Black of All 

Source of Income (thousands) Students (thousands) Students Students 

Personal Savings 3,254 34 170 22 5 

Earnings while Taking Courses 4,855 50 316 40 7 

Spouse's Earnings or Savings 1,809 19 125 16 7 

Parents 3,924 41 211 27 5 

College Work-Study Program 441 5 93 12 21 

National Defense Student Loan 524 5 81 10 15 

Educational Opportunity Grant 323 3 88 11 27 

Federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program 513 5 52 7 10 

Basic Educational Opportunity Grant 105 1 19 2 18 

Veterans Administration Benefits 1,146 12 94 12 8 

Personal Loan 370 4 43 5 12 

State Scholarship or Grant 775 8 74 9 10 

Local Scholarship or Grant 699 7 62 8 9 

Social Security Benefits 395 4 59 7 15 

Public Assistance 104 1 25 3 24 

Educational Expenses from Employer 488 5 24 3 5 

Other Sources 811 8 79 10 10 

Not Reported 246 3 32 4 13 

Totals~ 9,673 100 789 100 8 

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, "The Social and Economic Status of the Black Population in the 

United States, 1974," Current Population Reports, Special Studies, Series P-23, No. 54 

(July 1975), p. 101. 

Detailed figures may not add to totals because some students received income from more than 

one source. 
age, region, and schooling differences. Although improvements in 

educational attainment should resul t in improved access to 

entry-level positions in higher-paying occupational categories, 

this does not necessarily imply equality in specific jobs or in 

income. As with programs that attempt to equalize the unemployment and other work experiences of blacks and whites, programs 

that aim at equalizing achievement and attainment levels would 

have to be highly targeted and very amply funded before their 

effects on the income gap betwe"en blacks and whites would 

become substantial. 

PROGRAMS TO UPGRADE THE OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF BLACKS 

Income disparities between blacks and whites would likely 

be reduced by increased proportions of blacks among professional 

and technical workers, managers and administrators, and craftsmen. Even greater reductions in income disparities would likely 

result from increased proportions of blacks among the higherp~ying subcategories of the professional, managerial, sales, 

and service occupations. The impact of such changes on income 

disparities would be sizable relative to the impact of reductions 

in unemployment differences or reductions in the incidence of 

poverty, though these last two objectives could be accomplished 

from occupational changes. 

Policies to reduce occupational differences between blacks 

and whites include programs to improve educational levels (considered in the previous section), specific training programs or 

on-the-job training for certain occupations (management, skilled 

crafts, some technical occupations, higher-level service jobs, 

higher-paying sales jobs), and other affirmative action efforts. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has 

provided an important federal effort to increase black proportions in various occupations. The EEOC has been in operation 

sin~e 1965, and since 1972 it has had enforcement powers regarding statutes that bar job discrimination. Its authority extends 

to employees of federal, state, and local governments; educational institutions; and firms or labor organizations with 15 

or more workers or members. Employers, trade unions, and others 

under the authority of the commission are required to report 

at least once a year the race and sex composition of their work 

force, though so far the EEOC has required reports only from 

those with 100 or more employees. 

60 
The comparisons in Tables 18 and 19 give some indication 

of the effects of the work of the EEOC. Table 18 compares 

the total number of people employed and the number of blacks 

employed in all employment and in EEOC-reported employment for 

1966 and 1974. Table 19 shows improvements for blacks relative 

to the total population over this period for all employment and 

for EEOC-reported employment. EEOC-reporting employers show 

a higher net increase in black employment than do the total of 

all employers. Whereas 14.7 percent of the net number of new 

jobs between 1966 and 1974 were filled by blacks, 23.2 percent 

of the net number of new jobs in EEOC-reported employment were 

filled by blacks. 

The gains in black employment vary by occupation. The 

largest gains for blacks in EEOC-reported employment relative 

to gains for blacks in all employment were among sales workers, 

clerical workers, craftsmen, and operatives. The percent increments for blacks in professional and managerial employment were 

slightly higher in EEOC-reported employment than in all employment. But the bases were so low in these two occupations for 

EEOC-reported employment -- less than 1 percent for managers 

(0.8 percent) and only 2.4 percent for professional and technical 

workers in 1966 -- that the percent shares for blacks of the net 

increases in employment in these two groups were still lower in 

EEOC-reported employment than in all employment. For all employment, 13.8 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively, of the net 

increases in employment in the professional and managerial occupation groups were increases in black employment. The corresponding percent shares for blacks of the net increases in EEOCreported employment for these occupations were only 11.2 percent 

(for professional and technical workers) and 6.8 percent (for 

managers and officials). These increases are still impressive 

when compared to the very low 1966 bases in EEOC-reported employment in these two occupations. 

The gains for blacks among sales and clerical workers and 

among craftsmen are important gains. These gains, however, 

especially in the case of sales and clerical workers, have a 

smaller impact on overall income disparities than corresponding 

gains among the professional and technical and managerial groups. 

And the comparisons do not consider any impacts on the subcategories of the major occupational groups, which are of great 

importance in determining the amount of difference between black 

and white incomes. 

61 
TABLE 18. COMPARISON OF TOTAL POPULATION AND BLACKS EMPLOYED 

IN TOTAL AND EEOC-REPORTED EMPLOYMENT, 1966 AND 1974 

Total Employment ~! EEOC-Reported Employment l! 

Occupational 

Group 

White Collar 

Professional and 

technical workers 

Managers and 

administrators 

Sales workers 

Clerical workers 

Blue Collar 

Craftsmen 

Operatives 

Laborers 

Service Workers 

Total Employment 

White Collar 

Professional and 

technical workers 

Managers and 

administrators 

Sales workers 

Clerical workers 

Blue Collar 

Craftsmen 

Operatives 

Laborers 

Service Workers 

Total Employment 

Total Black 

population, Percent 

number Number of total 

33,068 

9,310 

7,405 

4,541 

11,821 

26,950 

9,589 

13,829 

3,532 

7,308 

63,325 

46,739 

12,338 

8,941 

5,417 

15,043 

29,776 

11,477 

13,919 

4,380 

10,145 

81,660 

1,644 

551 

207 

138 

748 

3,300 

600 

1,782 

918 

1,544 

6,487 

2,977 

970 

379 

214 

1,414 

3,748 

874 

2,041 

833 

1,863 

8,588 

1966 

5.0 

5.9 

2.8 

3.0 

6.3 

12.2 

6.3 

12.9 

26.0 

21.1 

9.6 

1977 

7.1 

7.9 

4.2 

4.0 

9.4 

12.6 

7.6 

14.7 

19.0 

18.4 

10.5 

Total Black 

population, Percent 

number Number of total 

10,997 

2,834 

2,084 

1,802 

4,277 

12,615 

3,630 

6,507 

2,478 

1,961 

25,573 

14,668 

3,833 

3,127 

2,714 

4,994 

14,515 

4,227 

7,413 

2,875 

2,420 

31,603 

278 

68 

17 

43 

150 

1,357 

132 

701 

524 

452 

2,807 

868 

180 

88 

149 

451 

2,043 

293 

1,165 

585 

573 

3,484 

2.5 

2.4 

0.8 

2.4 

3.5 

10.8 

3.7 

10.8 

21.1 

23.0 

8.2 

4.7 

2.8 

5.5 

9.0 

14.1 

6.9 

15.7 

20.3 

23. 7 

11. 6 

SOURCE: National Commission for Manpower Policy, The Economic Position of Black 

Americans: 1976, Special Report No.9 (July 1976), p. 27. 

Excluding private household and farm workers. 

Reported .to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by firms with 

100 or more employees. 

62 
TABLE 19. RELATIVE GAINS IN BLACK EMPLOYMENT IN TOTAL EMPLOYMENT 

AND EEOC-REPORTED EMPLOYMENT, 1966 TO 1974 

Percent Share for Blacks 

Gain in Percent of the Net Increase in 

Black by Occupation, Employment by Occupation, 

1966 to 1974 1966 to 1974 

EEOC- EEOCTotal reported Total reported 

Occupation employment employment employment employment 

Professional and 

Technical 2.0 2.3 13.8 11.2 

Managers and 

Administrators 1.4 2.0 11.2 6.8 

Sales Workers 1.0 3.1 8.7 11.6 

Clerical Workers 3.1 5.5 20.6 42.0 

Craftsmen 1.3 3.2 14.5 27.0 

Operatives 1.8 4.9 al 

Laborers -7.0 -0.8 'E..! 

Service Workers -2.7 0.7 11.2 26.4 

Total 0.9 3.4 14.7 23.'2 

~I There was a net decline in white employment for operatives 

between 1966 and 1974. 

bl There was both an absolute and a relative (to white) net 

decline in black employment for laborers between 1966 and 1974. 

63 
That there were gains for blacks between 1966 and 1974 in 

the higher-paying major occupation groups in non-EEOC-reported 

employment can be considered encouraging news. But greater 

effectiveness in influencing the higher reaches of the occupational scale, and especially the higher-paying subcategories 

within the major groups, is required for greater equality between 

blacks and whites in occupational distributions, and for the 

corresponding reductions in income disparities. 

PROGRAMS TO AFFECT SELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOME OF BLACKS 

AND TO PROMOTE BLACK CAPITALISM 

The evidence on the likely effectiveness of programs to 

promote black capitalism for the purpose of reducing racial disparities in income is mixed. Black-owned business enterprises 

are, for the most part, small retail and service businesses that 

operate in primarily black communities. These businesses do not 

compete in the larger economy. In the past, at least, traditions 

of racial segregation provided a protected market for such 

businesses. Correspondingly, however, this meant that black 

entrepreneurs faced a limited market, and increased desegregation 

has eroded the position of many black businessmen who were 

dependent on segregation to protect their markets. II 

It has been suggested that federal programs to increase 

the financial capital available to the black business community 

would be an inefficient use of resources. A more recent study, 

however, concludes that increases in the supply of financial 

capital available to the black business community have been and 

will continue to be productive, at least for some businesses. ~I 

This study considered two broad groups of black-owned businesses: 

the traditional retail trade and services establishments, and 

what were referred to as "emerging" black-owned businesses in the 

transportation, mining, construction, manufacturing, and wholesaling industries. The study found that, for the latter group, 

II Andrew F. Brimmer and Henry S. Terrell, "The Economic Potential of Black Capitalism" (Paper presented at the 82nd 

Annual Meeting of the American Economic ASSOCiation, New 

York, December 1969). 

§j Alfred E. Osborn, Jr., and Michael E. Granfield, "The Potential of Black Capitalism in Perspective," Public Policy, 

vol. 24 (Fall 1976), pp. 529-44. 

64 
financial capital made entry possible in pursuits that have 

historically faced an artificial capital constraint. It found 

that firms in the more traditional categories were failing at 

higher than normal rates, even with access to cheaper financial 

capital from a federally funded program. The authors of this 

study concluded tentatively that additional capital might not 

help the more traditional types of businesses, but might help in 

the emerging lines of black business activity. They suggested 

that, in lieu of broader policies to improve the competitiveness 

of capital markets, and especially the access to them, a policy 

of selective capital subsidies for capital-intensive firms in 

emerging lines of business may well be in order. 

It should be noted, however, that expected rate.s of pay 

for self-employed managers are considerably lower than for 

salaried managers. And salaried managers represent a major 

growth occupation, while self-employed managers represent an 

occupation that is currently in a state of decline. Caution, 

at least, should be exercised if any federal programs to promote 

black capitalism may draw off from the pool of black prospects 

for higher-level salaried managerial positions in major companies 

in the national economy. 

GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE FUTURE CONVERGENCE 

OF INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS 

A number of observable trends are reducing income disparities between blacks and whites. Among these trends are a decrease in the differences between black and white levels of 

educational attainment, and a corresponding increase in the 

similarities between black and white occupational distributions 

(at least over the broad categories). Emphasis on the policies 

that affect these factors might accelerate these positive trends. 

A number of factors, however, limit the degree of convergence of income distributions that is possible in the short run. 

Despite relative improvements, school enrollment rates at all 

levels are still lower for blacks than for whites. Income and 

other inequalities between blacks and whites are generally greater for older blacks than for younger blacks, implying that overall inequalities could remain substantial even if inequalities 

among the younger age groups are eliminated. The remaining differences in school enrollment imply that equality in income, even 

65 

99-780 0 - 77 - 7 
for the younger age groups, is still some time away. Affirmative 

action programs, which could further accelerate positive trends, 

are being met with a good deal of resistance. These observations 

serve as a reminder of the difficulty in achieving convergence of 

income distributions between blacks and whites. 

SUMMARY 

Substantial differences exist between the incomes of 

. whites and of blacks. The problem is not just one of differences 

in proportions below the poverty level; the differences exist 

throughout the income distribution. Blacks are disproportionately unemployed, have generally lower levels of educational 

attainment, are employed more frequently in the lower-paying 

occupational categories and particularly in the lower-paying 

specific jobs within the broad occupational categories. Blacks 

are also disproportionately located in the South, where incomes 

are generally lower and the schooling and occupational differen~es between blacks and whites are greater. These factors 

all contribute to the lower income levels for blacks relative 

to whites throughout the income distribution. But income disparities between blacks and whites remain even when differences in years of school, age, region, and broadly defined 

occupation are controlled for. At least part of this remaining 

disparity results from differences in the white and black proportions in the various subcategories of the major occupational 

groups. Part is a reflection of discrimination. 

Black income levels have improved relative to white income 

levels, though the relative gains have been smallest at the 

upper end of the distribution. Black levels of educational 

attainment have improved both absolutely and relative to whites. 

Changes in the black distribution over major occupations have 

reduced racial differences in occupational distributions. Income 

disparities between blacks and whites, both overall and within 

various regional, schooling, and occupational subgroups, tend to 

be smaller among the younger age groups than among the older 

age groups, implying further relative improvements for blacks. 

The factors that underlie the income disparities tend to 

affect specific parts of the income distribution. Federal 

policies that may affect the maj or fac tors are thus likely to 

affect the disparities at different parts of the income distribution. 

66 
Convergence of black and white income distributions requires programs aimed throughout the range of incomes. Welfare 

and related programs can affect income disparities at the lowest 

part of the distribution. Programs that stress reducing black 

unemployment rates may raise black income relative to white at 

lower parts of the income distribution. Policies that influence 

overall levels of economic activity are important means of 

reducing disparities in income, but too often the relative 

gains for blacks during the expansion are partially wiped out 

during the next recession. Policies that attempt to improve 

levels of educational attainment and to promote other kinds of 

occupationally relevant training among blacks, and other policies 

that attempt to upgrade occupational levels of blacks (particularly, black males relative to white males), have great potential 

for improving black income relative to white income in the middle 

and upper-middle income ranges. But better access to entry-level 

positions in the higher-paying occupations does not necessarily 

imply eventual advancement within these occupations. Substantial 

advancement by blacks in the upper levels of corporate and 

other management structures is required for equality at the very 

high income levels. 

67 

APPENDIXES 

APPENDIX A. THE ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE 

Chapter II discusses the effects on income disparities 

between blacks and whites of two adjustments: 

o An adjustment for differences in work experience -- that 

is, the number of weeks worked during a year and whether 

the work was part-time or full-time; and 

o An adjustment for differences in years of school completed. 

Although the specific populations used for the two adjustments 

differ, the adjustment procedure is the same in both cases. 

The adjusted income distribution is derived by assigning 

black levels of income within some major category (for example, 

years of school) to the white distribution over those categories. 

The comparison of black-to-white income ratios and adjusted 

black-to-white income ratios indicates how much of the overall 

income disparity is the result of differences in proportions 

in various subgroups (for example, differences in education 

level) and how much is the result of different income levels 

within those subgroups (for example, differences in income 

within schooling categories). 

If bi and w. are respectively the black and white proportions in catego}y i (for example, proportions with 12 years 

of school completed), Fb (y) and F (y) are respec tively the 

proportions of blacks and whites ~ith incomes below income 

level y (for example, $10,000 per year), and Fb .(y) and F i(y) 

are respectively the black and white proportioh~ in cate;dry i 

with incomes below y, then: 

Xi hi = };iwi = 1, 

Fb(y) = Xi biFb,i(y) for all incomes y, and 

Fw(Y) = Xi wiFw,i(Y) for all incomes y. 

71 
Incomes at any given quantile of the population are given by the 

inverse of the income distribution functions, so black income 

at quantile x is Fb(x). The ratio of black-to-white median 

(x = 0.5) incomes, for example, is given by F'b(0.5)/F' (0.5). 

The adjusted black income distribution F (y) is given by w 

F (y) = ~ w.Fb i(y) for all incomes~. The adjusted blackt~-white in~ome ratios are then given by F' (x) IF' (x) for 

all quantiles x (x ranges between a and 1). a w 

72 
APPENDIX B. TABLES OF OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF BLACKS 

AND OF THE TOTAL POPULATION OVER MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL 

GROUPS IN 1969 

This appendix contains data from 1969 on the distributions 

of blacks and of the total population over the major occupational 

categories by age, sex, and years of school. Tables B-1 through' 

B-3 show the distributions for males; Tables B-4 through B-6 

show the distributions for females. 

The source for the tables is U. S. Bureau of the Census, 

1970 Census of Population, subject report on Occupational Characteristics, final report PC(2)-7A (1973), Tables 8 and 9. 

73 
TABLE B-1. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBTUTION OF MALE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES FOR THE TOTAL 

POPULATION AND BLACKS OVER MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, BY AGE, 1969 

20-24 Years Old 25-29 Years Old 30-34 Years Old 

Occupational Group Total Black Total Black Total . Black 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 6.3 3.8 7.5 3.7 8.0 4.4 

Managers and Administrators 4.2 1.7 7.4 2.5 1.0 3.5 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 1.1 0.2 1.8 0.2 2.5 0.2 

Clerical Workers 11.2 13.6 9.0 11. 7 8.3 11. 7 

Sales Workers 5.1 2.5 6.1 2.6 6.3 2.5 

Craftsmen 24.9 14.8 28.7 18.0 29.6 18.5 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 29.0 35.9 25.8 37.7 23.0 35.2 

Service Workers 7.0 12.2 7.1 12.1 7.0 13.0 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 1.6 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.8 

Laborers (except 

Farm) 9.5 ~ ~ 4.4 ~ 

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Number 2,142,922 225,165 2,293,350 210,609 1,905,496 157,673 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 55-64 Years Old 

Occupational Group Total Black Total Black Total Black 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 8.3 5.0 8.0 4.2 7.7 4.4 

Managers and Administrators 13.2 3.7 15.9 5.1 17.9 5.4 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 3.5 0.2 3.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 

Clerical Workers 9.0 12.0 10.1 14.1 10.4 11.0 

Sales Workers 7.3 2.8 8.5 2.1 10.1 2.4 

Craftsmen 29.3 20.1 27.6 19.3 23.4 16.4 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 18.1 30.7 15.9 26.7 14.3 23.8 

Service Workers 7.0 14.6 6.7 16.9 7.8 23.8 

Farm Laborers and 

SuperVisors 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.9 

Laborers (except Farm) 10.1 -1..:.1. 10.3 3.3 11.0 

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Number 3,332,822 218,209 3,130,331 134,977 1,580,244 52,505 

74 
TABLE B-2. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH ONE TO THREE YEARS OF COLLEGE 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND BLACKS OVER MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, 

BY AGE, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

20-24 Years Old 

Total Black 

18.3 

6.2 

0.7 

17.1 

9.6 

12.2 

14.7 

11.3 

1.5 

8.4 

100.0 

16.0 

3.4 

0.2 

22.7 

5.4 

9.8 

19.9 

13.0 

0.6 

8.8 

100.0 

25-29 Years Old 

Total 

23.8 

13.4 

1.2 

12.9 

11.5 

16.8 

10.4 

6.5 

0.6 

2.9 

100.0 

Black 

17.8 

6.0 

o 

20.4 

5.5 

13.0 

21.6 

10.3 

0.2 

5.8 

100.0 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

24.2 

18.2 

1.4 

10.4 

12.2 

16.4 

8.8 

6.0 

0.4 

~ 

100.0 

17.4 

7.6 

0.1 

17.7 

5.2 

15.5 

19.9 

11.1 

0.2 

5.4 

100.0 

1,419,575 75,707 956,356 58,745 695,761 42,247 

35-44 Years Old 

Total Black 

22.9 

22.2 

1.6 

10.0 

12.6 

16.1 

7.5 

5.2 

0.2 

1.6 

100.0 

16.5 

8.1 

0.2 

19.2 

4.2 

15.5 

17.9 

12.6 

0.3 

5.4 

100.0 

45-54 Years Old 

Total Black 

20.2 

25.4 

2.1 

10.4 

13.7 

15.4 

6.8 

4.2 

0.3 

1.5 

100.0 

12.3 

9.4 

0.3 

18.6 

3.9 

17.1 

17.4 

14.9 

0.6 

---..hi 

100.0 

1,215,427 66,546 1,088,684 44,448 

75 

55-64 Years Old 

Total Black 

19.5 

26.1 

2.7 

10. 7 

14.0 

13.8 

6.5 

4.8 

0.4 

--.hl 

100.0 

629,858 

12.8 

8.9 

0.8 

16.9 

4.5 

15.8 

13.9 

18.5 

1.0 

6.4 

100.0 

18,625 
TABLE B-3. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALE COLLEGE GRADUATES FOR THE TOTAL 

POPULATION AND BLACKS OVER MAJOR OCCUPATIONAl, GROUPS, BY AGE, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales l~orkers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

20-24 Years Old 

Total Black 

61.5 

7.9 

0.5 

8.7 

7.8 

3.6 

3.6 

3.7 

0.6 

~ 

100.0 

59.8 

5.7 

0.1 

12.8 

4.1 

4.3 

4.3 

4.0 

0.8 

3.9 

100.0 

25-29 Years Old 

Total Black 

65.0 

12.3 

0.6 

5.6 

9.1 

3.3 

1.5 

1.6 

0.2 

--.Q.:l. 

100.0 

64.7 

9.2 

0.1 

7.1 

5.3 

4.5 

4.3 

3.1 

0.1 

1.6 

100.0 

538,033 14,722 1,138,685 33,460 

35-44 Years Old 

Total Black 

57.8 

23.3 

0.6 

4.0 

8.6 

3.2 

1.0 

1.0 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

61.3 

14.4 

0.3 

7.5 

2.5 

5.3 

3.2 

3.8 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

45-54 Years Old 

Total 

54.8 

25.4 

0.8 

4.4 

8.3 

3.4 

1.2 

1.2 

0.1 

100.0 

Black 

54.5 

16.3 

0.2 

9.3 

2.8 

5.3 

4.4 

5.4 

0.1 

1.6 

100.0 

1,888,935 54,934 1,340,170 34,193 

76 

30-34 Years Old 

Total 

63.7 

17.5 

0.7 

4.2 

8.5 

2.9 

1.1 

1.1 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

996,850 

Black 

67.7 

11.2 

0.1 

6.2 

3.5 

4.0 

3.5 

2.6 

31,444 

55-64 Years Old 

Total Black 

54.0 

24.3 

1.3 

5.4 

7.7 

3.8 

1.7 

1.3 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

715,108 

53.5 

16.8 

0.2 

9.0 

2.2 

5.8 

4.4 

5.0 

0.5 

--.b2 

100.0 

17,121 
TABLE B-4. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES FOR THE 

TOTAL POPULATION AND BLACKS OVER MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, 

BY AGE, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craft and Kindred 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers (excluding 

Private Household) 

Private Household Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Horkers 

Craft and Kindred 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers (excluding 

Private Household) 

Private Household Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

20-24 Years Old 

Total 

5.7 

1.4 

0.1 

56.8 

5.0 

1.4 

12.5 

14.8 

1.2 

0.2 

100.0 

Black 

5.2 

0.5 

0.1 

43.9 

3.3 

1.5 

20.7 

18.7 

3.9 

0.5 

100.0 

25-29 Years Old 

Total Black 

7.6 

2.3 

0.1 

50.4 

5.3 

1.8 

14.6 

15.1 

1.5 

0.3 

100.0 

6.3 

1.0 

0.1 

35.7 

2.8 

1.7 

23.0 

22.9 

4.9 

0.4 

-Ll. 

100.0 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

8.0 

3.1 

0.2 

48.7 

6.5 

1.8 

13.8 

14.6 

1.7 

8.0 

1.5 

o 

31.3 

3.3 

1.8 

20.2 

25.7 

6.3 

o 

-L.i 

100.0 

2,209,148 263,308 1,347,450 188,880 1,191,406 154,408 

35-44 Years Old 

Total Black 

7.9 

4.2 

0.2 

47.9 

8.1 

1.9 

12.5 

14.1 

1.5 

0.4 

100.0 

8.8 

1.9 

0.1 

27.2 

3.6 

1.8 

17.6 

27.9 

8.9 

0.1 

100.0 

45-54 Years Old 

Total Black 

7.8 

5.7 

0.2 

46.7 

1.0 

2.0 

11.2 

13.5 

1.5 

0.3 

-2.:l. 

100.0 

8.9 

2.2 

0.1 

24.6 

3.6 

2.2 

14.3 

29.8 

12.4 

0.3 

1.3 

100.0 

55-64 Years Old 

Total Black 

9.5 

6.8 

0.3 

43.2 

11.6 

1.9 

8.7 

14.0 

2.7 

0.3 

~ 

100. a 

8.6 

2.4 

0.2 

17 .6 

3.7 

2.2 

12.9 

31.1 

19.2 

0.5 

~ 

100.0 

2,609,820 236,803 2,550,875 134,721 1,185,302 51,738 

77 
TABLE B-S. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALES WITH ONE TO THREE YEARS OF 

COLLEGE FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND BLACKS OVER HAJOR 

OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, BY AGE, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and Technical 

Workers 

Hanagers and 

Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Hanagers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craft and Kindred 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers (excluding 

Private Household) 

Private Household Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

20-24 Years Old 

Total 

18.0 

1.7 

o 

54.8 

6.7 

0.8 

2.8 

13.6 

0.8 

0.1 

100.0 

Black 

14.3 

1.1 

o 

60.1 

4.9 

0.8 

6.5 

10.7 

0.8 

0.1 

100.0 

Total Number 1,208,298 91,170 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and 

Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Hanagers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales \~orkers 

Craft and Kindred 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers (excluding 

Private Household) 

Private Household Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

35-44 Years Old 

Total Black 

27.8 

5.9 

0.2 

44.2 

6.7 

1.4 

3.8 

8.3 

0.7 

0.3 

0.3 

100.0 

659,731 

25.8 

3.9 

0.1 

35.7 

2.8 

1.6 

8.0 

18.1 

3.0 

0.2 

100.0 

66,965 

78 

2S-29 Years Old 

Total Black 

26.3 

3.4 

0.1 

50.5 

4.3 

1.3 

3.5 

9.3 

0.7 

467,012 

20.2 

1.3 

o 

51.6 

2.6 

1.5 

8.6 

12.1 

.t.2 

0.2 

100.0 

52,674 

45-54 Years Old 

Total Bla,ck 

24.7 

7.S 

0.3 

46.9 

7.5 

1.2 

3.2 

7.2 

0.7 

0.2 

100.0 

2S.0 

4.4 

0.1 

34.6 

3.9 

1.4 

6.9 

18.6 

4.4 

0.1 

-.!hZ. 

100.0 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

29.4 

4.6 

0.1 

44.7 

5.6 

1.2 

3.9 

8.8 

0.9 

0.2 

~ 

,100.0 

312,130 

23.0 

2.9 

0.1 

41.6 

3.5 

1.2 

8.6 

15.8 

2.0 

0.3 

0.9 

100.0 

39,212 

55-64 Years Old 

Total Black 

28.7 

8.5 

0.5 

39.3 

8.6 

1.2 

3.4 

7.6 

1.5 

0.3 

--.!hl 

100.0 

25.8 

4.6 

o 

28.2 

4.6 

1.0 

6.0 

19.2 

9.2 

0.3 

-.!hZ. 

100.0 

670,377 36,350 427,668 17,953 
TABLE B-6. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALE COLLEGE GRADUATES FOR THE TOTAL 

POPULATION AND BLACKS OVER MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, BY AGE, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and 

Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craft and Kindred 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers (excluding 

Private Household) 

Private Household Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and 

Administrators 

Farmers and Farm 

Managers 

Clerical Workers 

Sales Workers 

Craft and Kindred 

Operatives (including 

Transport) 

Service Workers (excluding 

Private Household) 

Private Household Workers 

Farm Laborers and 

Supervisors 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Total 

Total Number 

20-24 Years Old 

Total 

75.4 

2.3 

15.5 

2.6 

0.3 

0.7 

2.8 

0.1 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

578,847 

Black 

13.8 

2.2 

17.9 

1.6 

0.1 

1.2 

2.4 

0.1 

0.2 

0.2 

100.0 

28,301 

35-44 Years Old 

Total Black 

78.3 

5.1 

0.1 

11.0 

2.2 

0.4 

0.8 

1.5 

0.2 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

83.0 

4.0 

0.1 

7.7 

0.6 

0.4 

1.4 

1.9 

0.4 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

628,388 65,998 

79 

81.0 

2.9 

11.3 

1.7 

0.3 

0.5 

1.9 

0.2 

100.0 

82.2 

2.4 

0.1 

10.5 

1.2 

0.2 

0.9 

2.0 

0.5 

100.0 

582,778 43,333 

74.6 

6.7 

0.1 

12.6 

2.7 

0.5 

0.8 

1.4 

0.3 

0.1 

100.0 

78.8 

5.3 

8.0 

0.9 

0.6 

1.3 

2.8 

1.0 

0.1 

100.0 

566,553 41,815 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

81.3 

3.6 

0.1 

10.1 

1.9 

0.4 

0.7 

1.5 

0.2 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

334,102 

84.5 

2.2 

00 

8.9 

0.5 

0.3 

1.1 

1.8 

0.4 

0.2 

~ 

100.0 

32,337 

55-64 Years Old 

Total 

74.7 

7.2 

0.2 

11.9 

2.5 

0.5 

0.7 

1.6 

0.4 

~ 

100.0 

427,303 

Black 

81.8 

5.3 

6.3 

0.6 

0.3 

0.8 

2.1 

2.3 

0.1 

~ 

100.0 

23,677 

APPENDIX C. TABLES ON DISTRIBUTIONS OF BLACKS AND OF THE 

TOTAL POPULATION OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SELECTED 

MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS IN 1969 

This appendix contains data from 1969 on the distributions 

of blacks and of the total population over the subcategories 

within several of the broad occupational groups by sex, age, 

and years of school. Tables C-1 through C-8 show selected distributions for males; Tables C-9 through C-12 show distributions 

for females. Distributions among subcategories of professional 

and technical workers, sales workers, and service workers are 

given for both males and females; distributions among subcategories of managers and administrators are given only for males. 

The age and schooling groups included in. the tables vary, depending on the major occupational group. 

The source for the tables is U.S. Bureau of the Census, 

1970 Census of Population, subject report on Occupational Characteristics, final report PC(2)-7A (1973), Tables 8 and 9. 

81 

99-780 0 - 77 - 8 
TABLE G-l. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH ONE TO THREE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL 

AND TECHNICAL WORKERS FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND 

FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Accountants 

Engineers 

Teachers 

Religious Workers 

Technicians (except Health, 

Engineering, and Science) 

Engineering and 

Science Technicians 

Social and Recreation 

Workers 

Total Number 

Subcategory 

Accountants 

Engineers 

Teachers 

Religious Workers 

Technicians (except Health, 

Engineering, and Science) 

Engineering and 

Science Technicians 

Social and Recreation 

Workers 

Total Number 

25-29 Years Old 

Total Black 

9.7 

15.2 

4.1 

1.2 

3.8 

25.5 

1.4 

7.1 

6.7 

5.8 

0.8 

1.3 

19.7 

10.9 

227,866 10,141 

35-44 Years Old 

Total 

10.2 

26.9 

3.4 

2.4 

3.8 

17.3 

1.0 

Black 

6.0 

8.2 

7.9 

4.3 

1.9 

13.6 

5.6 

278,438 10,965 

82 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

9.4 

20.6 

3.5 

1.8 

4.5 

21.8 

0.9 

168,430 

3.1 

7.2 

5.6 

1.6 

2.4 

18.1 

4.5 

7,366 

45-54 Years Old 

Total Black 

13.9 

27.5 

3.5 

2.4 

4.5 

12.6 

1.1 

220,001 

3.7 

7.2 

8.5 

7.4 

1.5 

10.7 

7.2 

5,456 
TABLE C-2. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH FOUR OR MORE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL 

AND TECHNICAL WORKERS FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND 

FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Accountants 

Engineers 

Teachers 

Religious Workers 

Technicians (except Health, 

Engineering, and Science) 

Engineering and 

Science Technicians 

Physicians, Dentists, and 

Related Practitioners 

Social and Recreation 

Workers 

Total Number 

25-29 Years Old 

Total Black 

8.2 

15.6 

31.2 

2.2 

0.7 

2.2 

6.7 

2.1 

4.9 

7.0 

45.2 

1.2 

0.3 

3.2 

4.2 

5.1 

740,59221,634 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

6.1 

18.8 

27.0 

3.4 

1.0 

1.6 

9.2 

1.8 

634,556 

2.7 

7.4 

46.0 

3.0 

0.2 

2.4 

4.0 

6.3 

21,295 

------------~--------------------------------------------------

Subcategory 

Accountants 

Engineers 

Teachers 

Religious Workers 

Technicians (except Health, 

Engineering, and Science) 

Engineering and 

Science Technicians 

Physicians, Dentists, and 

Related Practitioners 

Social and Recreation 

Workers 

35-44 Years Old 

Total 

6.5 

20.2 

23.7 

4.4 

0.5 

1.5 

11.9 

1.5 

Black 

3.6 

5.9 

43.8 

2.8 

0.3 

1.4 

8.4 

6.2 

Total Number l,09l~680 33,677 

83 

45-54 Years Old 

Total 

7.3 

20.9 

20.1 

5.0 

0.5 

1.7 

14.7 

1.4 

734.793 

Black 

3.3 

5.9 

37.5 

7.5 

. 0.5 

1.9 

11.7 

6.9 

18,638 
TABLE C-3. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH FOUR YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL OVER 

SUBCATEGORIES OF MANAGERS AND ADMINISTRATORS FOR THE TOTAL 

POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Buyers, Purchasing Agents, 

and Sales Managers 

School Administrators 

Specified Managers, Public 

Administration 

Managers and Administrators, 

Salaried 

Manufacturing 

Transporation and 

Communications 

Wholesale and Retail 

Finance and Insurance 

Managers and Administrators, 

Self-employed 

Total Number 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

14.9 11.7 

0.2 

3.6 8.4 

47.8 43.9 

9.6 6.0 

4.3 2.4 

21.2 24.4 

2.1 2.9 

13.5 9.9 

35-44 Years Old 

Total Black 

14.0 10.3 

0.3 1.4 

5.9 12.5 

46.7 36.5 

10.8 4.8 

5.4 3.5 

17.4 16.1 

1.7 1.1 

15.6 14.7 

90,776 5,526 439,398 8,062 

84 

13.2 2.8 

0.3 0.9 

9.4 21. 9 

43.6 31.9 

11.4 3.0 

5.2 3.6 

15.5 10.6 

1.7 4.1 

16.4 16.9 

498,615 6,851 
TABLE G-4. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH ONE TO THREE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF MANAGERS AND 

ADMINISTRATOR$ FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR 

BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

25-29 Years Old 30-34 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black 

Buyers, Purchasing Agents, 

and Sales Managers 16.9 10.8 18.0 11.6 

School Administrators 0.5 2.1 0.4 2.4 

Specified Managers, Public 

Administration 3.1 12.2 3.6 8.1 

Managers and Administrators, Salaried 43.0 35.5 45.7 35.9 

Manufacturing 9.2 6.5 11.9 2.7 

Transportation and 

Communications 3.6 4.9 4.2 2.9 

Wholesale and Retail 18.0 14.8 16.1 14.4 

Finance and Insurance 2.7 1.7 2.9 1.2 

Managers and Administrators, Se If-emp loyed 7.0 6.1 8.1 8.5 

Total Number 128,164 3,503 126,945 3,196 

35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black 

Buyers, Purchasing Agents, 

and Sales Managers 16.7 7.9 15.6 4.9 

School Administrators 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.7 

Specified Managers, Public 

Administration 5.7 20.1 8.8 20.8 

Managers and Administrators, Salaried 46.0 36.8 44.1 26.1 

Manufacturing 13.4 7.2 14.0 2.9 

Transportation and 

Communications 4.7 2.9 4.5 2.4 

Wholesale and Retail 14.4 10.3 13.1 5.5 

Finance and Insurance 2.9 3.8 2.5 3.0 

Managers and Administrators, Se If-emp loyed 10.5 36.8 44.1 26.1 

---------------------------------------------------------------- Total Number 269,564 5,401 276,667 4,158 

85 
TABLE C-S. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH FOUR OR MORE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF MANAGERS 

AND ADMINISTRATORS FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR 

BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Buyers, Purchasing Agents, 

and Sales Managers 

School Administrators 

Specified Managers, Public 

Administration 

Managers and Administrators, Salaried 

Manufacturing 

Transportation and 

Communications 

Wholesale and Retail 

Finance and Insurance 

Managers and Administrators, Self-employed 

Total Number 

Subcate.gory 

Buyers, Purchasing Agents, 

and Sales Managers 

School Administrators 

Specified Managers, Public 

Administration 

Managers and Administrators, Salaried 

Manufacturing 

Transportation and 

Communications 

Wholesale and Retail 

Finance and Insurance 

Managers and Administrators, Self-employed 

Total Number 

25-29 Years Old 

Total 

16.4 

5.3 

6.0 

41.9 

13.1 

3.6 

10.6 

4.2 

2.9 

128,164 

Black 

9.5 

8.8 

9.7 

36.6 

9.2 

2.6 

5.1 

2.3 

1.4 

3,503 

35-44 Years Old 

Total 

14.2 

11.9 

5.3 

46.3 

18.0 

3.2 

8.8 

4.6 

5.0 

440,147 

86 

Black 

3.4 

37.4 

13.4 

25.6 

4.8 

1.0 

3.1 

2.1 

5.2 

7,915 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

15.8 

9.5 

6.1 

43.8 

15.4 

2.9 

9.0 

4.2 

3.7 

126,945 

5.1 

20.0 

15.2 

35.6 

7.9 

2.1 

5.4 

2.2 

35.6 

3,196 

45-54 Years Old 

Total 

12.0 

11.6 

7.3 

47.1 

19.4 

3.4 

8.6 

3.7 

6.5 

340,939 

Black 

3.9 

40.2 

15.7 

18.2 

2.2 

1.8 

1.4 

1.7 

6.7 

5,559 
TABLE C-6. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH ONE TO THREE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SALES WORKERS 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Insurance Agents, Brokers, 

and Underwriters 

Real Estate Agents 

and Brokers 

Sales Representatives, 

Manufacturing 

Sales Representatives, 

Wholesale 

Sales Clerks, Retail 

Salesmen, Retail 

Salesmen of Services 

and Construction 

Total Number 

Subcategory 

Insurance Agents, Brokers, 

and Underwriters 

Real Estate Agents 

and Brokers 

Sales Representatives, 

Manufacturing 

Sales Representatives, 

Wholesale 

Sales Clerks, Retail 

Salesmen, Retail 

Salesmen of Services 

and Construction 

Total Number 

25-29 Years Old 

Total 

15.3 

3.5 

15.6 

21.2 

17 .5 

10.6 

6.1 

109,710 

Black 

26.7 

0.6 

4.9 

12.5 

29.9 

6.4 

5.4 

3,219 

35-44 Years Old 

Total 

16.7 

6.2 

16.5 

22.3 

12.6 

11.1 

6.5 

153,195 

87 

Black 

17 .4 

6.7 

6.3 

15.7 

29.4 

9.7 

5.6 

2,790 

30-34 Years Old 

Total 

15.9 

5.1 

16.6 

22.8 

14.2 

9.6 

6.1 

85,052 

Black 

22.1 

3.5 

9.1 

8.3 

30.9 

12.3 

2.8 

2,196 

45-54 Years Old 

Total 

15.9 

9.0 

14.6 

20.9 

14.1 

11.9 

5.4 

148,915 

Black 

22.0 

14.8 

3.5 

8.5 

22.7 

8.1 

3.5 

1,748 
TABLE 0-7. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH FOUR YEARS OF 

HIGH SCHOOL OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SERVICE WORKERS 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS. BY AGE, 1969 

20-24 Years Old 25-29 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service Workers 24.8 35.1 16.2 28.8 

Food Service Workers 19.6 17 .5 l3.4 16.91 

Health Service Workers 8.2 11. 7 4.4 10.4 

Personal Service Workers 10.1 5.6 12.8 7.8 

Firemen 5.1 1.4 11.5 2.9 

Guards and Watchmen 6.0 5.4 6.5 7.4 

Policemen and Detectives 14.9 5.6 27.1 12.7 

Total Number al 152.303 27.722 163,110 25,788 

30-34 Years Old 35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service 

Workers 17.6 35.1 18.5 35.0 28.3 42.5 

Food Service Workers l3.5 15.3 14.5 17 .0 16.0 14.7 

Health Service 

Workers 3.5 8.7 3.2 7.8 3.5 7.7 

Personal Service 

Workers 13.7 11.1 12.1 10.2 10.3 9.7 

Firemen 14.0 2.0 l3.5 1.8 9.1 1.4 

Guards and Watchmen 6.4 6.9 8.8 8.7 12.3 8.5 

Policemen and 

Detectives 24.0 9.7 21.8 8.3 13.1 5.4 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Number 2.1 134,525 20,726 235,175 32.306 210,397 23,092 

2.1 Total number includes private household workers. 

88 
TABLE G-8. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF MALES WITH ONE TO THREE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SERVICE WORKERS 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

20-24 Years Old 25-29 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service Workers 23.1 31.8 12.2 15.3 

Food Service Workers 36.3 18.6 15.8 14.61 

Health Service Workers 7.7 11.1 5.6 11.3 

Personal Service Workers 11.6 11.1 10.5 8.7 

Firemen 1.2 0.4 9.6 3.2 

Guards and Watchmen 4.8 4.2 6.6 9.9 

Policemen and Detectives 7.7 8.2 32.7 25.4 

Total Number !!!! 161,355 9,903 62,218 6,069 

30-34 Years Old 35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 

Subcategory ,Total Black Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service 

Workers 10.6 24.3 12.7 23.6 19.7 33.1 

Food Service Workers 11.5 9.2 14.5 10.9 16.8 17 .4 

Health Service 

Workers 3.6 11.5 4.0 12.2 4.1 7.6 

Personal Service 

Workers 11.2 7.6 11.4 10.1 11.8 14.0 

Firemen 13.1 1.9 11.9 3.4 8.4 1.4 

Guards and Watchmen 5.9 12.8 7.6 9.9 11.4 8.8 

Policemen and 

Detectives 36.9 22.6 30.4 20.2 19.8 9.0 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Number !!!! 41,721 4,695 63,540 8,466 45.562 6,687 

!!!I Total number includes private household workers. 

89 
TABLE C-9. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALES WITH FOUR OR MORE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL 

AND TECHNICAL WORKERS FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR 

BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Accountants 

Lawyers and Judges 

Registered Nurses, Dieticians, 

and Therapists 

Registered Nurses 

Teachers 

Elementary and 

Prekindergarten 

Secondary 

Social and Recreation 

Workers 

Health Technologists 

and Technicians 

Physicians, Dentists, and 

Related Practitioners 

Total Number 

Subcategory 

Accountants 

Lawyers and Judges 

Registered Nurses, Dieticians, 

and Therapists 

Registered Nurses 

Teachers 

Elementary and 

Prekindergarten 

Secondary 

Social and Recreation 

Workers 

Health Technologists 

and Technicians 

PhysiCians, Dentists, and 

Related Practitioners 

Total Number 

25-29 Years Old 

Total 

1.0 

0.4 

6.9 

4.8 

65.8 

39.3 

19.6 

4.8 

2.6 

1.3 

Black 

0.7 

0.1 

4.1 

2.9 

71.1 

46.3 

21.1 

7.1 

1.5 

0.5 

471,865 35,610 

35-44 Years Old 

Total 

0.8 

0.4 

7.6 

5.9 

69.1 

44.7 

16.7 

3.1 

1.6 

1.7 

Black 

0.3 

0.1 

5.5 

4.7 

76.9 

57.0 

16.4 

4.6 

0.5 

0.4 

492,065 54,800 

90 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

0.8 

0.3 

7.7 

5.9 

67.5 

41.1. 

17 .8 

2.9 

1.9 

1.7 

271,534 

0.5 

0.1 

6.2 

4.6 

74.5 

51.3 

19.1. 

5.2 

0.9 

0.7 

27,319 

45-54 Years 01.d 

Total Black 

1.2 

0.5 

7.6 

6.0 

68.2 

43.5 

18.0 

3.9 

1.4 

1.4 

422,722 

0.3 

0.1 

4.0 

3.6 

76.0 

55.9 

16.4 

5.5 

0.8 

0.4 

33,389 
TABLE G-10. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALES WITH FOUR YEARS 

OF HIGH SCHOOL OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SERVICE WORKERS 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

20-24 Years Old 25-29 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service Workers 3.8 8.3 5.1 9.6 

Food Service Workers 23.8 21.0 28.1 18.4 

Health Service Workers 28.4 35.4 25.4 37.1 

Personal Service Workers 28.8 6.7 23.1 7.7 

Private Household 

Workers 7.5 17 .3 9.1 17 .5 

Total Number 2;.1 353,093 59,447 228,737 52,342 

30-34 Years Old 35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service 

Workers 6.3 11.0 7.4 12.4 8.5 14.4 

Food Service Workers 32.5 18.0 37.3 18.0 36.7 15.3 

Health Service 

Workers 24.0 34.4 21.8 28.2 20.0 21.4 

Personal Service 

Workers 17 .3 8.9 15.3 10.1 16.8 11.6 

Private Household 

Workers 10.3 19.6 9.6 24.2 10.0 29.4 

Total Number 2.1 194,263 49,459 407,030 87,191 382,722 56,826 

2.1 Total number includes private household workers. 

91 
TABLE C-ll. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALES WITH ONE TO THREE 

YEARS OF COLLEGE OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SERVICE WORKERS 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

20-24 Years Old 25-29 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service Workers 2.8 6.2 2.6 3.6 

Food Service Workers 31.8 16.0 18.6 13.8 

Health Service Workers 32.0 44.0 36.3 49.8 

Personal Service Workers 21.6 15.9 28.4 15.1 

Private Household 

Workers 5.4 7.2 7.0 8.8 

Total Number 2./ 173,949 10,479 46,782 70,018 

30-34 Years Old 35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 

Subcategory Total Black Total Black Total Black 

Cleaning Service 

Workers 3.7 5.9 4.7 8.6 6.4 10.8 

Food Service Workers 23.2 13.6 23.6 13.7 24.9 14.3 

Health Service 

Workers 36.2 51.6 36.3 42.9 30.7 33.5 

Personal Service 

Workers 20.7 9.0 20.3 13.5 21.8 17 .6 

Private Household 

Workers 8.9 11.3 7.7 14.3 817 19.1 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Number 2.1 30,104 7,007 59,226 14,170 52,637 8,341 

2./ Total number includes private household workers. 

92 
TABLE C-12. PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALES WITH FOUR YEARS 

OF HIGH SCHOOL OVER SUBCATEGORIES OF SALES WORKERS 

FOR THE TOTAL POPULATION AND FOR BLACKS, BY AGE, 1969 

Subcategory 

Demonstrators, Hucksters, 

Peddlers 

Insurance, Real Estate 

Agents, Brokers 

Sales Clerks, Retail 

Saleswomen, Retail 

Other 

Total Number 

Subcategory 

Demonstrators, Hucksters, Peddlers 

Insurance, Real 

Estate Agents, 

Brokers 

Sales Clerks, Retail 

Saleswomen, Retail 

Other 

Total Number 

20-24 Years Old 

Total Black 

7.3 1.3 

5.2 4.1 

65.7 73.8 

2.2 1.8 

19.5 19.1 

109,937 8,780 

25-29 Years Old 

Total Black 

15.0 3.0 

6.6 4.9 

54.2 73.0 

2.7 3.4 

21.5 15.6 

72,851 5,291 

30-34 Years Old 

Total Black 

35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 

Total Black Total Black 

15.0 2.8 8.2 2.4 4.9 6.0 

7.6 7.3 8.5 8.4 8.2 5.5 

56.4 75.8 65.8 65.9 71.3 75.7 

2.5 1.3 2.8 1.4 3.1 1.2 

18.5 12.7 14.7 21.8 12.5 11.6 

77,908 5,022 211,195 8,461 255,527 4,822 

93 

APPENDIX D. TABLES COMPARING OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND 

MEDIAN EARNINGS FOR WHITE AND BLACK MALES BY AGE, 

REGION, AND YEARS OF SCHOOL IN 1969 

This appendix contains tables that compare occupational 

distributions and median earnings for white and black males in 

1969, for two age groups (25 to 34 years and 35 to 54 years), 

four educational groups (high school graduates, one to three 

years of college completed, college graduates, and five or more 

years of college completed), and for two regional groups (North 

and West, and South). 

The source for the tables is U.S. Bureau of the Census, 

1910 Census of Population, subject report on Earnings by Occupations and Education, final report PC(2)-8B (1913), Tables 3 

and 4. 

95 
TABLE D-1. COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE 

MALES 25 TO 34 YEARS OLD WITH FOUR YEARS OF HIGH 

SCHOOL BY REGION, 1969 

North and West 

White Black 

Median Percent- Median PercentEarnings age D1s- Earnings age DisOccupational Group (Dollars) tribution (Dollars) tribution 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 9,266 8.0 7,660 4.5 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 9,559 8.7 8,154 3.3 

Sales Workers 8,780 6.2 7,025 3.0 

Clerical Workers 8,086 8.2 6,834 12.8 

Craftsmen 9,128 30.0 7,738 18.5 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 8,216 16.8 7,305 27.0 

Laborers (except Farm) 7,417 5.0 6,643 8.2 

Farmers and Farm Managers 6,012 2.5 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 4,998 0.8 3,982 0.3 

Service Workers 8,083 6.8 6,432 12.4 

Transport Operators 8,417 7.1 7,501 9.9 

Total Median Earnings 8,605 7,189 

Ratio of 

Blackto-White 

0.827 

0.853 

0.800 

0.845 

0.848 

0.889 

0.896 

0.797 

0.796 

0.891 

0.835 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 2,762,865 100.0 212,382 100.0 

96 
TABLE D-l. (Continued) 

White 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

8,598 

8,663 

8,033 

7,398 

8,038 

7,333 

6,132 

5,461 

4,904 

6,869 

7,346 

7,759 

Percentage Distribution 

8.5 

10.6 

7.8 

8.9 

31.0 

15.5 

3.6 

1.7 

0.7 

5.5 

6.4 

South 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

6,826 

6,476 

5,741 

6,104 

5,639 

5,449 

4,912 

2,166 

2,597 

4,783 

5,568 

5,452 

Percentage Distribution 

3.2 

2.5 

1.9 

10.3 

18.0 

23.6 

13.4 

0.3 

1.3 

12.3 

12.9 

Ratio of 

Blackto-White 

0.794 

0.748 

0.715 

0.825 

0.702 

0.743 

0.801 

0.397 

0.530 

0.696 

0.758 

0.703 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 1,003,915 100.0 150.277 100.0 

97 

99.790 0 • 77 - 9 
TABLE D-2. COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALES 35 TO 54 

YEARS OLD WITH FOUR YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL BY REGION, 1969 

North and West 

White Black 

Median Percent- Median Percent- Ratio of 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings age Dis- BlackOccupational Group (Dollars) tribution (Dollars) tribution to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 11,489 8.1 8,576 4.9 0.746 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 11,937 14.4 8,828 4.6 0.740 

Sales Workers 10.257 7.8 7,527 2.8 0.734 

Clerical Workers 8,815 9.2 7,853 13.3 0.891 

Craftsmen 10,102 29.2 8,345 20.0 0.826 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 8,670 11.6 7,710 19.7 0.889 

Laborers (except Farm) 7,845 3.3 7,130 9.2 0.909 

Farmers and Farm Managers 6,664 4.0 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 5,438 0.5 

Se rvice Workers 8,365 6.6 6,515 15.2 0.779 

Transport Operators 8,939 5.4 7,860 10.0 0.879 

Total Median Earnin&s 9.600 7,742 0.806 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 4,668,172 100.0 228,467 100.0 

98 
TABLE D-2. (Continued) 

South 

White Black 

Median Percent- Median 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings 

(Dollars) tribution (Dollars) 

10,441 9.2 7,915 

10,632 17.9 7,143 

9,249 9.6 5,587 

8,393 9.5 7,001 

8,864 28.5 6,158 

7,987 9.8 5,510 

6,546 2.2 5,018 

5,658 3.0 2,696 

4,910 0.5 2,991 

7,100 5.2 4,853 

7,630 4.5 5,712 

8,801 5,759 

Percent- Ratio of 

age Dis- Blacktribution to-White 

4.4 0.758 

3.6 0.672 

2.0 0.604 

12.1 0.834 

19.8 0.695 

15.9 0.690 

11.9 0.767 

0.7 0.476 

1.4 0.609 

15.6 0.684 

12.2 0.749 

0.654 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 1,343,140 100.0 119,484 100.0 

99 
TABLE D-3. COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALES 25 TO 

34 YEARS OLD WITH ONE TO THREE YEARS OF COLLEGE BY REGION, 1969 

North and West 

White Black 

Median Percent- Median Percent- Ratio of 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings age Dis- B1ackOccupation~l Group (Dollars) tribution (Dollars) tribution to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 9,371 24.7 8,221 19.4 0.877 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 10,019 15.6 8,678 6.9 0.866 

Sales Workers 9,350 11.9 7,233 6.2 0.774 

Clerical Workers 8,102 11.0 6,951 18.8 0.858 

Craftsmen 9,295 16.9 8,342 13.6 0.897 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 8,107 6.3 7,760 13.5 0.957 

Laborers (except Farm) 6,830 2.4 6,871 4.7 1.006 

Farmers and Farm Managers 6,238 1.4 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 4,984 0.5 

Service Workers 8,278 6.4 7,713 10.7 0.932 

Transport Operators 8,039 2.9 7,900 6.2 0.983 

Total Median Earnings 8,995 7,795 0.867 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 1,126,674 100.0 66,257 100.0 

100 
TABLE D-3. (Continued) 

White 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

8,786 

9,188 

8,702 

7,603 

8,332 

7,658 

6,216 

6,549 

5,500 

7,074 

7,106 

8,347 

Percentage Distribution 

23.5 

17 .6 

13.6 

12.1 

16.6 

6.4 

1.9 

1.2 

0.6 

4.5 

2.0 

South 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

6,686 

6,515 

7,078 

6,581 

6,145 

5,957 

5,531 

4,933 

5,750 

6,125 

Percentage Distribution 

13.0 

6.0 

3.8 

20.1 

15.0 

16.8 

7.5 

10.4 

6.9 

Ratio of 

Blackto-White 

0.761 

0.709 

0.813 

0.866 

0.738 

0.778 

0.890 

0.697 

0.809 

0.734 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 391,898 100.0 33,266 100.0 

101 
TABLE D-4. COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALES 35 TO 54 

YEARS OLD WITH ONE TO THREE YEARS OF COLLEGE BY REGION, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 

Sales Workers 

Clerical Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 

Laborers (except Farm) 

Farmers and Farm Managers 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 

Service Workers 

Transport Operators 

Total Median Earnings 

North and West 

White 

Median PercentEarnings age Dis-

(Dollars) tribution 

12,160 22.3 

13,427 24.0 

12,059 13.4 

9,355 9.5 

10,880 15.8 

8,909 4.7 

7,888 1.4 

7,602 1.9 

5,771 0.2 

9,205 4.6 

9,067 2.2 

9,067 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

9,090 

9,640 

8,448 

8,337 

8,672 

8,097 

7,742 

7,629 

8,011 

8,441 

Percentage Distribution 

16.5 

9.0 

4.8 

19.0 

16.0 

11.6 

4.4 

12.9 

5.5 

Ratio of 

Blackto-White 

0.748 

0.718 

0.701 

0.891 

0.797 

0.909 

0.981 

0.829 

0.884 

0.741 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 1,593,433 100.0 72,483 100.0 

102 
TABLE D-4. (Continued) 

White 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

11,519 

12,440 

10,447 

8,930 

9,379 

8,279 

6,685 

6,620 

4.832 

7.827 

7,868 

10.271 

Percentage Distribution 

20.9 

26.3 

14.4 

10.2 

15.7 

4.3 

1.1 

1.9 

0.2 

3.2 

1.8 

South 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

8,113 

7,943 

5,958 

7.877 

6.350 

6,222 

5,485 

5,261 

5,537 

6.570 

Percentage Distribution 

11.4 

8.0 

2.8 

19.3 

16.2 

11. 7 

7.4 

14.5 

7.2 

Ratio of 

Blackto-White 

0.704 

0.639 

0.570 

0.882 

0.677 

0.752 

0.820 

0.672 

0.704 

0.640 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 562,901 100.0 36.894 100.0 

103 
TABLE D-5. COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALES 25 TO 34 

YEARS OLD WITH FOUR YEARS OF COLLEGE BY REGION, 1969 

North and West 

White Black 

Uedian Percent- Median Percent- Ratio of 

I!:arnings age Dis- Earnings age Dis- BlackOccupational Group (Dollars) tribution (Dollars) tribution to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 10,332 51.4 9,385 59.0 0.908 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 12,014 19.2 9,929 10.7 0.826 

Sales Workers 11,106 13.6 8,756 6.2 0.788 

Clerical Workers 8,866 6.3 8,057 9.3 0.909 

Craftsmen 10,199 4.3 9,280 6.2 0.910 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 8,085 1.1 8,228 2.9 1.018 

Laborers (except Farm) 6,824 0.6 

Farmers and Farm Managers 8,310 1.0 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 5,946 0.2 

Service Workers 8,032 1.7 7,588 2.9 0.945 

Transport Operators 6,899 0.5 

Total Median Earnings 10,480 9,103 0.869 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 716,407 100.0 19,990 100.0 

104 
TABLE D-5. (Continued) 

South 

White Black 

Median Percent- Median 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings 

(Dollars) tribution (Dollars) 

9,839 50.2 6,904 

11,307 19.5 7,622 

10,492 13.9 7,510 

8,703 6.8 6,806 

9,713 4.7 6,248 

7,865 1.1 7,351 

6,726 0.6 

7,730 1.3 

7,602 0.3 

7,768 13.0 5,398 

6,966 0.4 

9,938 6,832 

Percent- Ratio of 

age Dis- Blacktribution to-White 

63.6 0.702 

9.5 0.674 

4.3 0.716 

7.5 0.782 

4.2 0.643 

3.9 0.935 

3.8 0.695 

0.687 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 287,174 100.0 19,180 100.0 

105 
TABLE D-6. CO}~ARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE }~LES 35 TO 54 

YEARS OLD WITH FOUR YEARS OF COLLEGE BY REGION, 1969 

Occupational Group 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 

Sales Workers 

Clerical Workers 

Craftsmen 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 

Laborers J except Farm) 

Farmers and Farm Managers 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 

Service Workers 

Transport Operators 

Total Median Earnings 

North and West 

White 

Median PercentEarnings age Dis-

(Dollars) tribution 

14,257 

17,674 

14,598 

11,612 

12,654 

9,887 

8,101 

8,158 

8,635 

10,394 

9,297 

14,482 

42.4 

29.8 

13.4 

5.5 

4.6 

1.1 

0.4 

1.0 

0.1 

1.3 

0.4 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

11,146 

11,627 

9,536 

8,722 

9,309 

7,818 

7,712 

8,201 

7,887 

9,934 

Total Number Employed 1,113,904 100.0 22,244 

106 

Percentage Distribution 

47.7 

13.2 

4.1 

12.4 

7.4 

4.3 

2.0 

6.2 

100.0 

Ratio of 

Blackto-White 

0.782 

0.658 

0.653 

0.751 

0.736 

0.791 

0.953 

0.789 

0.848 

0.686 
TABLE D-6. (Continued) 

White 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

13,667 

15,560 

13,420 

10,840 

12,150 

8,874 

6,438 

8,525 

7,900 

10,284 

7,321 

13,626 

Percentage Distribution 

41. 9 

29.5 

13.1 

6.0 

5.0 

1.1 

0.3 

1.4 

0.2 

1.1 

0.4 

South 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

8,271 

7,996 

9,095 

8,234 

6,840 

6,495 

6,329 

5,908 

7,842 

Percentage Distribution 

53.2 

8.3 

2.5 

12.0 

9.0 

2.8 

7.3 

2.3 

Ratio of 

B1ackto-White 

0.605 

0.514 

0.678 

0.760 

0.563 

0.732 

0.615 

0.807 

0.576 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 429,658 100.0 19,753 100.0 

107 
TABLE D-7. COMPARISON OF MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALES 25 TO 34 

YEARS OLD WITH FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF COLLEGE BY REGION, 1969 

North and West 

White 

Median Percent- Median Percent- Ratio of 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings age Dis- BlackOccupational Group (Dollars) tribution (Dollars) tribution to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 10,547 77 .2 9,990 73.0 0.947 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 12,610 10.9 11,534 12.1 0.915 

Sales Workers 11,516 4.5 8.860 4.1 0.769 

Clerical Workers 8.599 3.1 6.907 3.2 0.803 

Craftsmen 10.037 1.8 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 7.279 0.6 

Laborers (except Farm) 6,062 0.4 

Farmers and Farm Managers 5,486 0.2 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 6.049 0.1 

Service Workers 6.850 1.0 

Transport Operators 6,333 0.2 

Total Median Earnings 10,671 9,829 0.921 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 765,321 100.0 15,421 100.0 

108 
TABLE D-7. (Continued) 

South 

White Black 

Median Perce,nt- Median 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings 

(Dollars) tribution (Dollars) 

10 ,268 77 .1 8,302 

11,568 11.2 9,385 

10 ,659 4.5 

8,249 3.4 5,774 

9,482 1.7 

7,175 0.5 

4,311 0.2 

8,434 0.4 

0.1 

6.182 0.7 

0.2 

10,257 8,086 

Percent- Ratio of 

age Di5- Blacktribution to-White 

75.0 0.809 

7.8 0.915 

1.7 0.769 

5.2 0.803 

2.7 

2.1 

1.3 

0.2 

3.0 

0.9 

0.921 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 765,321 100.0 15,421 100.0 

109 
TABLE D-8. COMPARISON OF ~lliDIAN EARNINGS AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION 

OVER OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALES 35 TO 54 

YEARS OLD WITH FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF COLL~E BY REGION, 1969 

North and West 

White Black 

Median Percent- Median Percent- Ratio of 

Earnings age Dis- Earnings age Dis- B1ackOccupational Group (Dollars) tribution (Dollars) tribution to-White 

Professional and 

Technical Workers 15,395 70.7 13,252 67.9 0.861 

Managers and Administrators (except Farm) 18,251 19.5 14,471 17.1 0.793 

Sales Workers 14,885 4.1 12,919 2.3 0.868 

Clerical Workers 12,162 2.3 9,092 4.9 0.748 

Craftsmen 13,139 1.6 8,894 2.6 0.677 

Operatives (except 

Transport) 9,498 0.4 

Laborers (except Farm) 6,894 0.2 

Farmers and Farm Managers 7,806 0.3 

Farm Laborers and 

Foremen 

Service Workers 10,922 0.7 9,483 2.3 0.868 

Transport Operators 8,565 0.1 

Total Median Earnings 15,716 13,010 0.828 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Number Employed 1,156,178 100.0 252,249 100.0 

110 
TABLE D-8. (Continued) 

White 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

15,545 

15,710 

l3,992 

11,811 

l3,162 

9,343 

5,759 

6,738 

11,483 

6,349 

15,079 

Percentage Distribution 

69.9 

19.7 

4.2 

2.8 

1.8 

0.4 

0.2 

0.3 

0.5 

0.2 

South 

Black 

Median 

Earnings 

(Dollars) 

9,931 

11,553 

8,739 

6,293 

7,188 

9,852 

Percentage Distribution 

65.6 

21.3 

3.8 

2.7 

2.1 

Ratio of 

B1ackto-White 

0.639 

0.735 

0.740 

0.478 

0.626 

0.653 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 380,909 100.0 21,129 100.0 

111 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1977 0 - 99-780 


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