Brief
Low-skilled men, especially minorities, typically work at low levels and provide little support for their children. Conservatives blame this on government willingness to support families, which frees the fathers from responsibility, while liberals say that men are denied work by racial bias or the economy--either a lack of jobs or low wages, which depress the incentive to work. The evidence for all these theories is weak. Thus, changing program benefits or incentives is unlikely to solve the men's work problem. More promising is the idea of linking assistance with administrative requirements…
We study the sources of racial and ethnic disparities in income using de-identified longitudinal data covering nearly the entire U.S. population from 1989-2015. We document three sets of results. First, the intergenerational persistence of disparities varies substantially across racial groups. For example, Hispanic Americans are moving up significantly in the income distribution across generations because they have relatively high rates of intergenerational income mobility. In contrast, black Americans have substantially lower rates of upward mobility and higher rates of downward mobility…
“Ban-the-Box” (BTB) policies restrict employers from asking about applicants’ criminal histories on job applications and are often presented as a means of reducing unemployment among black men, who disproportionately have criminal records. However, withholding information about criminal records could risk encouraging racial discrimination: employers may make assumptions about criminality based on the applicant's race. To investigate BTB’s effects, we sent approximately 15,000 online job applications on behalf of fictitious young male applicants to employers in New Jersey and New York City…
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Journal Article Jobs and employment are central to the history of discrimination and exclusion in the United States. Even in the 21st century, racial and ethnic disparities persist. This report will show that, in the two recessions of this century, African-American men’s employment rates fell farther and recovered more slowly than did other men’s employment. The effects of job loss linger, too, in the anxiety of people who are working. African-American and Hispanic workers, both male and female, feel less secure in their jobs than do non-Hispanic white men and women. (Author abstract)
Launched in 1995, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Jobs Initiative aimed to boost employment options for young Americans living in low-income communities in six cities. This report looks at how the initiative’s participating sites approached hiring and retention inequities related to race and ethnicity. Readers will learn the successes and challenges of their efforts to address cultural competence and what strategies the sites developed to expand opportunities for job seekers and workers of color. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article Father involvement is a salient predictor of children’s cognitive development and recent studies suggest that African American and Hispanic fathers, who are highly involved, have children who enter school more poised to succeed. Little is known, however, about contextual barriers to positive father involvement in ethnic minority families. This study examined prospective relations between fathers’ work characteristics (i.e., total work hours per week, job satisfaction, and work shift) and children’s cognitive development in preschool (i.e., reading and math scores). A total of 2,340 children…
Brief
Employment Pathways for Boys and Young Men of Color: Solutions and Strategies That Can Make a Difference is part of a larger issue brief series aimed at identifying and disseminating best practices that support the well-being and empowerment of boys and young men of color. In particular, this brief discusses promising strategies to improve employment outcomes for young men of color and the role of public policy in dismantling discrimination and promoting pathways to work. (Author abstract)
We Dream A World: The 2025 Vision for Black Men and Boys identifies concrete policy solutions to close educational achievement gaps, ensure workforce success, reduce health disparities, improve conditions for low-income fathers and improve the overall well being of black men, their families and communities. The 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys focuses its work in five key areas: education, fatherhood and families, employment and wealth, health, and criminal justice.We Dream a World is a call to action for America to begin strategically addressing the problems that hinder Black men and…
Brief
This brief discusses ways to leverage policy and practice opportunities to support positive outcomes for young men of color. It offers a set of solution-centered policies and strategies to address barriers to success for them, including education equity, workforce development and training, youth development and wellbeing, and public investment in young people.
Brief
Policies and practices that support young men of color in their teen years can help put them on the path to lead healthy and productive lives. Young men of color face more obstacles in education, employment, and health than their white peers. In order to improve health and success of middle- and high school-aged young men of color, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) launched Forward Promise in 2011.To inform this new initiative and better understand the issues at work, RWJF engaged the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) to conduct roundtable discussions, online surveys, and telephone…
