The Cost of Being Nonwhite and the Added Cost of Being Female in The South and Southwest

In this paper we use CPS data from 1990 to investigate earnings differences between white males and others in the South and Southwest. Particular emphasis is placed on measuring the added cost of being female-that is, the amount by which earnings differentials for white, black, and Mexican-American females exceed those of black males. We find that the earnings of black males, after adjustment for labor market differences, still lag behind those of white males. We find a substantial extra cost of "femaleness" in that unexplained earnings differentials for females are greater than those for black males. For white females the unexplained differential is 44.9 percent, 89.3 percent, and 51.2 percent greater for white, black, and Mexican-American females than for black males.

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