Why Trends Persist

Why have unemployment rates (both overall and long-term) for African Americans and Hispanics in the United States generally exceeded those of whites for the past 30 years? There are many reasons for these patterns, and I will mention a few—gaps between racial/ethnic groups in educational attainment; lack of access to job acquisition networks; and persistent discrimination in the labor market. These factors have their genesis in the histories of African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos in this country. For Hispanics, for example, seasonal or migrant work makes it difficult if not impossible to acquire education and training to qualify for full-time, year-round employment. Thus, this entry point into the U.S. labor market explains in part why, in 2008, only 61 percent of Hispanic males and 64 percent of Hispanic females 25 years of age and older had completed high school. This contrasts with the 80 percent or more of their white and black counterparts who had completed high school. For African Americans, the
legacy of slavery and the national policy of “separate but equal” have created occupational and industry ghettos from which it is difficult to emerge. For example, because African Americans were excluded from apprenticeships for skilled trades, their proportions in high-paying jobs such as electricians and plumbers are low. This and other forms of labor market discrimination have kept African Americans concentrated in lower-paying jobs (such as laborers and service industry workers) whose growth in the 21st century—even before the recent economic downturn—was projected to be minimal.

In looking for ways to enable African Americans and Hispanics to leave the ranks of the chronically unemployed, effective labor market initiatives need to be informed not only by who these would-be workers are (“people”), but also by where they are (“place”). Job training linked to a guaranteed job for discouraged workers is a promising person-targeted strategy. Incentives to redevelop “forgotten areas” of America’s inner cities and rural areas could help address the needs of places where the chronically unemployed may reside and transform them into places that employ people. I look forward to hearing more about specific programs to help meet the needs of the chronically unemployed during the following panels.