Income is the personal characteristic most often thought to be associated with differences in knowledge, expectations, and opinions about Social Security and wealth. For example, one would hypothesize that individuals with low incomes would be more likely than those with high incomes to (1) expect Social Security to be their major source of retirement income, (2) be less likely to own stocks or mutual fund shares, and (3) be renters rather than homeowners. Some of these hypotheses are based on income alone, but others are based on the almost axiomatic relationship between education and income i.e., that persons with more education have higher incomes than those with less education. The income-education relationship also supports further speculation, such as the hypothesis that individuals with higher incomes would be more likely than those with lower incomes to know details about Social Security (e.g., eligibility ages for receiving partial and full retirement benefits).

This fact sheet is based on the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies National Opinion Poll of African American Adults About Social Security and Wealth. Conducted in late 2005, the poll surveyed 850 African American adults ages 18 and older. With a sample that includes individuals from a range of income levels, the survey findings support the hypotheses stated above. Although 13 percent of the sample (113 respondents) did not provide their incomes, the remaining 87 percent fall with nearly equal frequency at the upper end of the distribution (13 percent have incomes of more than $90,000) and at the lower end (11 percent have incomes of $15,000 or less). Most respondents were in the middle of the distribution, with about half (47 percent) reporting incomes between $15,001 and $60,000. The income categories of $60,001 to $75,000 and $75,001 to $90,000 each account for eight percent of the sample.

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Date published: June 2006

Joint Center Senior Research Associate Dr. Wilhelmina Leigh and Research Intern Lauren Ross look at the subprime mortgage market collapse, its implications for African Americans and the corrective proposals of the two major candidates for President.

Given the recent national discourse on health care reform, Joint Center Senior Research Associate Wilhelmina Leigh and Research Assistant Anna Wheatley conducted a multi-variable analysis to identify and assess racial/ethnic differences among children on selected health outcomes, specifically, low birthweight, asthma, dental care, ADHD/ADD-LD and activity limitation and by sociodemographic characteristics of their families.

To identify promising practices in asset building for low-income people, the Joint Center analyzed data for two groups of states - those with high CFED asset-outcome rankings and those with low CFED asset-outcome rankings.

Good morning. I, Wilhelmina Leigh, Senior Research Associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, would like to thank Chairwoman Barbara Lee and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II, Chair of the CBC Jobs Taskforce, for inviting me to testify at this hearing. During my brief testimony, I will address the topic of this panel “Who are the chronically unemployed?” in two ways. I will first identify the chronically unemployed via trends in unemployment rates. I will then note some of the factors that explain these trends and, therefore, may suggest the nature of solutions to chronic unemployment.

Unemployment Trends

A clear answer to the question “Who are the chronically unemployed?” is African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos, both males and females of all ages. Why do I say this? I say this because both in good economic times and bad economic times, the unemployment rates of African Americans and Latinos are equal to or greater than the rates of whites. With few exceptions, African American unemployment rates are multiples of white unemployment rates, by factors of nearl y two or three. I would go one step further and call these multiples “mathematical constants” because they have not varied much over the past 30 years.
 
In February 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the unemployment rate for the population 20 and older who were white and male as 9 percent. The comparable rate for black males was nearl y double that, at 17.8 percent. The rate for Hispanic males was 13.5 percent, falling between the rates for whites and blacks. The relationships among unemployment rates for females ages 20 and older were similar, with the rate for white females 7.3 percent, for Hispanic females 11.3 percent, and for black females 12.1 percent.

Unemployment rates for persons ages 16-19 are consistently higher than for persons 20 and older. These rates, however, reflect the racial/ethnic pattern noted among older members of the labor force. In February 2010, unemployment among young white males was 25 percent, versus rates of 36 percent and 45 percent, respectively, for their Hispanic and African American counterparts. Similarly, nearly one of every five (almost 20 percent of) white females ages 16- 19 was unemployed, compared to 26.5 percent of Hispanic females and 39.1 percent of black females.

In addition, in each of the years between January 1980 and January 2010, the unemployment rates for black males and black females were roughly double or triple the rates of their white counterparts both ages 16-19 and 20 years and older (Table 1). Over this same period, in each year, unemployment rates for Hispanic males and Hispanic females ranged from being roughly equal to those of whites, to being double the comparable rates for whites in both age groups (Table 2).

Recurring ratios or mathematical constants also are evident when long-term unemployment rates are examined by race/ethnicity. Long-term unemployment rates indicate the percentage of various groups who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more (i.e., more than half of a year). Between 2000 and 2009, African Americans were more likely than whites to be counted among the long-term unemployed (Table 3). During this period, black long-termunemployment rates for both males and females averaged about one-and-one-half times white rates. Long-term unemployment rates for Hispanic males were roughly equal to or slightly less than these rates for white males, while long-term unemployment rates for Hispanic females generally exceeded those of white females (Table 3). In sum, when compared to whites, African Americans are about one-and-one-half times as likely and Hispanics are roughl y equally likely to report long-term unemployment.

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.

 

FACT SHEETS ON THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

Summary: Both pregnancy and childbirth rates declined dramatically for African American females during the 1990s. Despite these declines, they remain more likely than their white or Latina counterparts to report having been pregnant. However, black female teens were less likely to report childbirth than Latina teens in 2000

Authors
Wilhelmina A. Leigh PhD and
Julia L. Andrews

The Joint Center gratefully acknowledges the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which supported the research for and publication of, this face sheet. We also thank the W.K. Kellog Foundation and our general support donors for helping to make this publication possible

Pregnancy

The late 1990s was a period of record low pregnancy rates for all teens. Teens were less likely to become pregnant in 1997 than at any time since 1976 (when national data about pregnancy rates first became available). Between 1990 (when peak rates were recorded) and 1997, pregnancy rates for African American teens ages 15 to19 declined 23 percent, only slightly less than the 26-percent decline in pregnancy rates for white teens.

Despite these declines, African American teens are more likely than others to report having ever been pregnant. In 2001, African American high school students were about twice as likely as their white or Hispanic counterparts to indicate that they had been pregnant or that they had gotten someone pregnant. (Figures A and B)

If a black teen has a first pregnancy by 19, she is nearly twice as likely as a white teen to carry the pregnancy to term and to have a live birth.

However, not all pregnancies are carried to term. Some are terminated either by abortion or by other forms of fetal loss. In 1997, the pregnancy rate among African American females ages 15 to 19 was 170.4 (per 1,000), and the live birth rate was 88.2. The rate of induced abortions was 62.7 (per 1,000), and the rate of other forms of fetal loss was 16.9. The 1997 pregnancy, live birth, and abortion rates for African American teens were more than double the rates for white teens, although the rates for Hispanic teens (especially for pregnancies and live births) were comparable to the rates among African American teens.

Childbirth

The Joint Center gratefully acknowledges the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which supported the research for and publication of, this face sheet. We also thank the W.K. Kellog Foundation and our general support donors for helping to make this publication possible

Births to teens ages 15 to 19 traditionally have been more common among African Americans than among all other teens. During the late 20th century, birth rates for black teens were at least double the rates for white teens. (Figure C)

After declining from higher rates in the 1970s and early 1980s, births to females ages 15 to19 as a share of all U.S. births increased during the 1990s. In 1990, teen births were less than 13 percent of all U.S. births; in 1998, teen births were nearly 15 percent of all U.S. births. However, black teen births as a share of all black births declined slightly during the 1990s. Teen births were nearly a quarter of all black births in 1990, declining to 21.5 percent of all black births by 1998.

Also during the late 20th century, the proportion of babies born to unmarried adolescents increased. In 1980, of all births to black teens, 86 percent were to unwed mothers, and of all births to white teens, 33 percent were to unwed mothers. By 1999, most births to all teens occurred outside of marriage (79 percent).

However, childbirth rates declined dramatically for black teens between 1991 and 2000. The birth rate declined 40 percent among black teens ages 15 to 17 and 24 percent among black teens ages 18 to 19. (Figure D) Rates of decline were comparable (although smaller) for white and Hispanic teens during this period.

References

1. Ventura, Stephanie J., W.D. Mosher, Sally C. Curtin, Joyce C. Abma, and Stanley Henshaw. 2001. “Trends in Pregnancy Rates for the United States, 1976-97: An Update,” National Vital Statistics Reports Vol. 49, No. 4 (Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics).

2. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 1995. 1996. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC Surveillance Summaries) Vol. 45, No. SS-4 (September 27).

3. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 1997. 1998. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC Surveillance Summaries) Vol. 47, No. SS-3 (August 14).

4. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 1999. 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC Surveillance Summaries) Vol. 49, No. SS-5 (June 9).

5. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2001. 2002. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC Surveillance Summaries) Vol. 51, No. SS-4 (June 28).

6. Hogan, Dennis P., Rongjun Sun, and Gretchen T. Cornwell. 2000. “Sexual and Fertility Behaviors of American Females Aged 15-19 Years: 1985, 1990, and 1995,” American Journal of Public Health Vol. 90, No. 9, pp. 1421-1425.

7. Ventura, Stephanie J., T.J. Mathews, and Brady E. Hamilton. 2001. “Births to Teenagers in the United States, 1940-2000,” National Vital Statistics Reports Vol. 49, No. 10 (Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics).

8. Moore, Kristin A., Margaret C. Simms, and Charles L. Betsey. 1986. Choice and Circumstance: Racial Differences in Adolescent Sexuality and Fertility (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers).

 9. United States Census Bureau. 2000. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2000 (120th edition) (Washington, DC: U.S. Govern- ment Printing Office).

10. Chilman, Catherine S. 1980. “Social and Psychological Research Concerning Adolescent Childbearing: 1970-1980,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, pp. 793-805.

11. Freeman, Ellen W., and Karl Rickels. 1993. Early Childbearing: Perspectives of Black Adolescents on Pregnancy, Abortion, and Contracep- tion Vol. 192, Sage Library of Social Research (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications).

12. Moore, Kristin A., Jennifer Manlove, Elizabeth Terry-Humen, Stephanie Williams, Angela Romano Papillo, and Juliet Scarpa. 2001. CTS Facts at a Glance (Washington, DC: Child Trends, Inc.)

Historically, the focal point of the discourse on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents has been teen pregnancy, and the population of interest has been adolescent females ages 10-14 and ages 15-19. Issues related to the sexual and reproductive health of young males were seldom considered, as reflected in the type of data collected—or not collected—for male and female teens. In the late 1980s, this began to change with an increased emphasis on issues related to male teens, in part due to the spread of infections such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and chlamydia. Our knowledge about the sexual and reproductive health outcomes and behaviors of young men of color (Hispanic or Latino, black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander) is shaped by the methods used to gather and analyze the relevant data. These methods and the resulting data, however, do not always accurately reflect trends for this group. This report traces our knowledge about the sexual and reproductive health of young men of color from outcomes to behaviors, and then discusses some of the complexities associated with studying this population.

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This fact sheet offers data on the use of contraceptives by African American adolescents, particularly when compared to their white counterparts. More on these findings can be found in The Reproductive Health of African American Adolescents: What We Know and What We Don't Know.

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In recent years, as states have faced increasing difficulty balancing their budgets, many have implemented measures to help achieve solvency by limiting spending within their Medicaid programs. Medicaid is the federal/state health insurance program that serves low-income seniors, children, working families, and people with disabilities, more than half of whom are people of color. States’ recent cost containment measures have changed the way Medicaid operates and have altered the access to and the quality of health-care services and treatments received by enrollees. Since the program is funded jointly by the federal and state governments and is administered by states, elected officials at both of these levels of government engage in the program’s rule making.

Family characteristics and intra-familial relationships — for example, family structure, communication within families, and an adolescent’s perception of parental control — are foremost among the factors that influence an adolescent’s sexual behaviors. Some family characteristics influence African American teens differently from the way they do teens of other racial or ethnic groups. In addition, the effects of these characteristics often differ by gender within the African American teen population. Although many family characteristics and their influences cannot be altered, a clear understanding of these influences on adolescent sexual behaviors can inform interventions to meet the needs of African American teens. This issue brief uses findings from research literature published between the late 1970s and the early 21st century to examine the relationship between family influences and the sexual behavior of African American adolescents (Leigh and Andrews 2002).