Supplemental Award: $1,300, June 2009
Project Completed: May 2012
In 2004, women in the United States earned more than half the academic degrees conferred in every category, whether associate, bachelor, master, doctoral, or professional. More than 58 percent of college attendees in 2009 are female. What social changes explain this growing gender gap in educational attainment? Has the higher education and income of the baby boomers made it easier for their daughters to go to school or has the increase of women in the labor force led young women to invest more heavily in their education?
The 1990s were marked by a greater dispersion of immigrants, Latino in particular, to new areas in the United States beyond the traditional gateway cities. North Carolina ranked at the top of states around the nation in the growth of new immigrant population. The influx to North Carolina and other receiving areas is having a profound impact in communities that had little if any previous experience with the foreign-born. For the most part, this migration to new communities took place during a time of expanding labor market opportunities in North Carolina, but this is rapidly changing.
Periods of increased immigration have historically been accompanied by claims that the newcomers disproportionately engage in criminal activity and contribute to decreasing levels of safety and well-being in the communities where they settle. Public anxiety about allegedly crime-prone immigrants and immigrant communities has resulted in the passage of restrictive immigration laws, as well as policies and practices that disadvantage the non-citizen foreign-born, including legal residents.
From 1980 to 2003, the overall U.S. incarceration rate increased from 276 to about 700 per 100,000 people in the population. This unprecedented growth in the incarceration rate has had significantly unequal effects within the population, with prison time becoming pervasive among young unskilled men, especially blacks. Research has shown that it is the shift towards harsher punishments—more than any trends in crime—that is responsible for the growing prison population.
Globalization has dramatically altered the social policies of affluent and developing countries alike. Many EU countries have rethought their welfare systems and labor regulations since the Thatcher era, in order to remain competitive as firms shift to low-wage countries. Meanwhile, Latin America has fluctuated between state-centered and free-market development plans, seeking to attract foreign investment while minimizing social disruptions.
Since the mid-1980s, both immigration and international trade have increased significantly and the debate about how these changes contribute to the declining fortunes of less-skilled U.S. workers has intensified. With an award from the Foundation, economists Jeffrey Grogger and Gordon Hanson will take a new look at the unresolved question of whether or not globalization has negatively affected the wages and employment of U.S. workers.
The Foundation has a longstanding interest in the character and conditions of work in America. In keeping with this tradition of research, economist Richard Freeman will refine and expand the reach of a new interactive online survey tool, worklifewizard.org, that collects data on labor and informs workers about employment issues. The site includes a number of features, including a salary calculator, job profiles, and a section on workers’ rights. Most interesting for social scientists is the survey on work conditions.