Three essays on women, work and welfare in the United States.

This dissertation is comprised of three distinct essays related to gender stratification. Each essay addresses topics concerning gender inequality in the United States but also analyzes theoretical issues concerning women's participation in the labor market. The essays explore: (1) how physical and mental health affect the likelihood of exiting from welfare, (2) the extent to which racial variation existed in levels of occupational sex-segregation in 1990, and (3) the extent to which levels of occupational sex-segregation declined from 1980 to 1990 for eight racial and ethnic group. In Chapter 2, I focused on the individual characteristics of women that are associated with successful transitions from welfare-to-work. This chapter applies multinomial logistic regression techniques to a longitudinal survey of barriers to employment among a random sample of welfare recipients in an urban Michigan county. I compare correlates associated with three exit routes off welfare with those of staying on welfare. In addition to demographic and human capital characteristics, I analyze the role physical health, mental health, domestic violence and transportation problems may play in welfare dynamics. I find that mother's physical health, experiences of post-traumatic stress disorder, and access to transportation are associated with the likelihood of leaving welfare through different exit routes. These findings suggest that future research should investigate the role that psycho-social constraints play in women's transition from welfare-to-work. In Chapter 3, I investigate how levels of sex-segregation in 1990 vary across 47 occupational categories among new entrants to the labor market, age 25 to 34, for Whites, African-Americans, Native Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Other Asians, Mexicans, and Other Hispanics who are U.S. citizens. I review standard supply-side and demand-side theoretical explanations for occupational sex-segregation and conclude that racial differences in sex-role socialization and employer demand may result in varying levels of sex-segregation. Using log-multiplicative methods, I find that Whites have the highest levels of occupational sex-segregation among the eight groups analyzed. Mexicans and Native Americans also experience high levels of sex-segregation. Japanese, Other Asians, and Other Hispanics have moderate levels of sex-segregation; and Chinese have low levels. Further analysis examines the extent that compositional differences in education levels and family structure account for some of the racial differences in the female concentration in the occupation. I find that education level and family structure are strongly associated with the concentration of female workers in the occupation. Chapter 4 extends the analysis of the previous chapter and asks: did occupational sex-segregation decline for each racial and ethnic group from 1980 to 1990. I examine supply-side and demand-side explanations for changes in occupational sex-segregation and consider how the strength of these mechanisms may have weakened over time. Using log-multiplicative methods and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, I find that levels of occupational sex-segregation declined somewhat for each racial and ethnic group.Ph.D.DemographyEthnic studiesLabor relationsPublic policySocial SciencesWomen's studiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/123191/2/3068882.pd