Literacy Skills and Earnings

Race and Gender Differences

Bibliographic Data

ID10430442
AuthorsRoberto M De Anda (Chicano/Latino Studies, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751, USA, corresponding author), Pedro M Hernandez (Children and Family Research Center, School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA)
Year2007
Volume34
Issue3-4
Pages231-243
Publication date2007-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Black Political Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6446 • E-ISSN: 1936-4814
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1007/s12114-008-9014-2
OpenAlexW2004869226
LanguageEN
References cited22

This study examines differences in returns to literacy skills on earnings of black and white men and women. Literacy skill is a composite measure of three scales: reading comprehension, document literacy (the ability to locate and use information in, say, tables and graphs), and mathematics proficiency. Using data from the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), we estimate earnings determination models separately for each racial/gender group. Our findings show that the effect of literacy on earnings varies by race and gender. Literacy skills favorably rewarded black men relative to black women and white men and women, net of education and other relevant variables. More importantly, literacy completely explained the effect of a high school diploma and some college on earnings of black men. We conclude that the economic importance of literacy skills is particularly salient for less-educated black men

Demographic economics · Earnings · Economics · Literacy · Pedagogy · Political science · Race (biology · Reading (process · Reading comprehension · Sociology · White (mutation · Accounting · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Gender Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology · School Choice and Performance

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