Unstable Work Schedules and Racial Earnings Disparities Among U.S. Workers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13103196 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yixia Cai (0000-0002-9701-5799, Center for Economic and Policy Research, corresponding author), Marybeth J Mattingly (0000-0003-2210-3695, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 201-223 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | RSF The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2377-8253 • E-ISSN: 2377-8261 |
| Publisher | Russell Sage Foundation (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.7758/rsf.2025.11.1.10 |
| OpenAlex | W4405959929 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 19 |
Research demonstrates large and persistence disparities in earnings by race-ethnicity, with white and Asian families generally faring far better than black and Hispanic families. One emerging but underexplored factor that may contribute to racial earnings disparities is unstable work hours. Wage workers often face earnings consequences when volatility is frequent, involuntary, or unanticipated. Leveraging the panel design of the monthly Current Population Survey, we follow a group of hourly workers across a four-month period to assess whether volatility (both magnitude and direction) in the first three months observed relates to their subsequent earnings in the fourth month of observation. We consider how this unfolds when they remain in the same job and when they switch jobs. Substantial volatility, either when work hours increase or decrease, is associated with lower earnings in the near future, both within- and between-jobs. However, when facing more volatile work schedules and substantial changes in month-to-month hours, black workers earn less than white workers when they remain in the same job. This difference is not observed among job changers
Business · Demographic economics · Earnings · Economics · Labour economics · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology · Finance
Distributional National Accounts
Working 9 to 5? Union Membership and Work Hours and Schedules
Worker Power and Class Polarization in Intra-Year Work Hour Volatility
Investment, Saving, and Borrowing for Children
Intrayear Household Income Dynamics and Adolescent School Behavior
Educational Variations in Cohort Trends in the Black-White Earnings Gap Among Men
An Introduction to Household Economic Instability and Social Policy
Subtle Yet Significant
Passing the buck
Bad Jobs in America
What Explains Racial/Ethnic Inequality in Job Quality in the Service Sector
Occupations and the Structure of Wage Inequality in the United States, 1980s to 2000s
Going Back in Time? Gender Differences in Trends and Sources of the Racial Pay Gap, 1970 to 2010
Consequences of Routine Work-Schedule Instability for Worker Health and Well-Being
Uncertain Time
Powerful Times
The Sociology of Discrimination
Scheduling challenges among workers in low-wage hourly jobs
Varying weekly work hours and earnings instability in the Great Recession
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |