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Stevenson, Betsey; Wolfers, Justin
Working Paper
Subjective and objective indicators of racial progress
CESifo Working Paper, No. 4183
Provided in Cooperation with:Ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University ofMunich
Suggested Citation: Stevenson, Betsey; Wolfers, Justin (2013) : Subjective and objectiveindicators of racial progress, CESifo Working Paper, No. 4183, Center for Economic Studiesand Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
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Subjective and Objective Indicators of Racial Progress
Betsey Stevenson Justin Wolfers
CESIFO WORKING PAPER NO. 4183 CATEGORY 4: LABOUR MARKETS
APRIL 2013
An electronic version of the paper may be downloaded • from the SSRN website: www.SSRN.com • from the RePEc website: www.RePEc.org
• from the CESifo website: Twww.CESifo-group.org/wp T
CESifo Working Paper No. 4183
Subjective and Objective Indicators of Racial Progress
Abstract Progress in closing differences in many objective outcomes for blacks relative to whites has slowed, and even worsened, over the past three decades. However, over this period the racial gap in well-being has shrunk. In the early 1970s data revealed much lower levels of subjective well‐being among blacks relative to whites. Investigating various measures of well‐being, we find that the well‐being of blacks has increased both absolutely and relative to that of whites. While a racial gap in well‐being remains, two‐fifths of the gap has closed and these gains have occurred despite little progress in closing other racial gaps such as those in income, employment, and education. Much of the current racial gap in well‐being can be explained by differences in the objective conditions of the lives of black and white Americans. Thus making further progress will likely require progress in closing racial gaps in objective circumstances.
JEL-Code: D600, I320, J100, J700, K100.
Keywords: subjective well-being, life satisfaction, happiness, race.
Betsey Stevenson The Gerald R. Ford School of Public
Policy / University of Michigan USA – Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3091
Justin Wolfers The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
& Department of Economics University of Michigan
USA – Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3091 [email protected]
This draft: March 15, 2013 The authors would like to thank seminar participants at Wharton and participants at the University of Chicago Law and Economics of Race conference, as well as Jonathon Masur for useful discussions. Betsey Stevenson would like to thank Sloan for support through a Work‐Family Early Career Development Grant and the National Institutes of Health‐National Institute on Aging (grant P30 AG12836), the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Security at the University of Pennsylvania, and National Institutes of Health–National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Population Research Infrastructure Program (grant R24 HD‐044964) at the University of Pennsylvania for funding.
I. Introduction
TheCivilRightsMovementrevolutionizedthelivesofblacksintheUnitedStates.Aseriesoflegal
victoriesandpublicpolicychangesinthe1950sand1960soutlaweddejurediscrimination.These
legalandpolicychanges—BrownvBoardofEducation(37U.S.483[1954]),theCivilRightsActof
1964,theVotingRightsActof1965,andtheFairHousingActof1968—openedthedoorstoschools,
jobs,housing,andprivateestablishmentsthatservedthepublic,throughoutthecountry.Sociologists
havearguedthatduringthisperiodblackmenandwomenexperiencedlargeimprovementsin
occupationalstatus,whichledtotheriseoftheblackmiddleclass.1
Theselegalandpolicychangesyieldedimprovementsintheobjectivecircumstancesofthelivesof
blacks,particularlyintheperiodrightafterthelawswerepassed.DonohueandHeckman(1991)
studythetimingofthechangesinthelawsandlabormarketgainsaccruingtoblackmen.They
concludethatthewagegainsexperiencedbyblackmenrelativetowhitemenintheperiodfrom1965
to1975wereduetothereductionindejurediscrimination,particularlyintheSouth.2However,since
then,theearningsgapbyracehaswidenedforbothmenandwomen.AltonjiandBlank(1999,p.
3149)notethat“althoughblackmen'swagesrosefasterthanwhitemen'sinthe1960sandearly
1970s,therehasbeenlittlerelativeimprovement(andevensomedeterioration)inthe25yearssince
then.”Inthedecadesincetheirarticletherehasbeenlittlechangeintheratioofmedianweekly
earningsofblackandwhitemen.3
Atthetimeofthelegalreforms,blacksreportedlevelsofsubjectivewell‐beingthatwerewell
belowthoseofwhites.Sociologistsexaminingdataonsubjectivewell‐beinghavepointedtothislarge
gapandconcludedthatimprovementsinthecivilrightsofblackshavehadlittleimpactontheir
subjectivewell‐beingdespitehavingmadeimprovementsinobjectivemeasures.In1986,Thomasand
HughesevaluateddatafromtheGeneralSocialSurvey(GSS),showingthat“blacksscoreconsistently
lowerthanwhitesonmeasuresofpsychologicalwell‐being.”Further,theyarguedthat“the
differencesbetweenblacksandwhitesremainedconstantbetween1972and1985.”Thisledthemto
concludethatracecontinuestobeanimportantfactordeterminingsubjectivewell‐being,“inspiteof
recentchangesinthesocialandlegalstatusofblackAmericans”(ThomasandHughes1986,p.830).
1Wilson(1980,pp.126‐30);ThomasandHughes(1986)2DonohueandHeckman(1991)pointtotheexperienceofepisodic,ratherthancontinuous,wagegainsasevidencethatthegainsreflectedthelegalreformsinsteadofbeingpartofbroadertrendsininequality.3 Medianusualweeklyearningsofemployedfulltime,wageandsalaryworkers,BlackorAfricanAmerican,menandwhitemen,CurrentPopulationSurvey.
2
In1998,theyre‐visitedthequestionandconcludedthatevenwiththelongerrunofdata,therehad
beennochangeintheself‐reportedhappinessofblacks(HughesandThomas1998).
Yetmorerecentstudieshavefoundthattheblack‐whitewell‐beinggaphasshrunksincethe
1970s.4However,noneofthesestudieshaveinvestigatedtheracialgapinwell‐beingindepth,nor
havetheyattemptedtoconsiderwhatmaybebehindthesedeclines.Weshowinthispaperthatthe
black‐whitewell‐beinggapobservedinthe1970swasthreetimesgreaterthanthatwhichcanbe
explainedbyobjectivedifferencesinthelivesofblacksandwhites.Moreover,differencesinwell‐
beingbyraceweregreaterthandifferencesbetweenothergroups,suchasrichandpoor.Forinstance,
inthe1970s,blacksattheninetiethpercentileoftheblackhouseholdincomedistributionhadasmuch
incomeasawhitepersonattheseventy‐fifthpercentile;however,theiraveragelevelofwell‐being
waslowerthanthatofawhitepersonwithincomeatthetenthpercentile.Thisfindingisconsistent
withhealthstudiesthatfindthatthehealthoutcomesofblacksareworsethanthoseofwhiteseven
whenconditioningonincome(Franks,etal.2006).
Weshowthattherehassincebeensubstantialimprovementinthereportedwell‐beingof
blacksbothabsolutelyandrelativetowhites.Inthe1970s,nearlyaquarterofallblacksintheGSS
reportedbeinginthelowestcategory(“nottoohappy”),comparedtoatenthofwhites.Bythe2000s
roughlyafifthofblacksreportedbeinginthelowestcategory,comparedtoatenthofwhites.Blacks
havemovedoutofthebottomcategoryofhappinessandindoingsohavebecomemorelikelyoverthis
periodtoreportbeinginthetopcategory(“veryhappy”).Incontrast,whiteshavebecomelesslikelyto
reportbeingveryhappy.Whiletheopportunitiesandachievementsofblackshaveimprovedoverthis
period,thehappinessgainsfarexceedthosethatmightbeexpectedonthebasisofthese
improvementsinconventionalobjectivemeasuresofstatus.
Socialchangesthathaveoccurredoverthepastfourdecadeshaveincreasedtheopportunities
availabletoblacks,andastandardeconomicframeworkwouldsuggestthattheseexpanded
opportunitieswouldhaveincreasedtheirwell‐being.However,othershavenotedthatcontinued
discriminationpresentsabarriertorealizingthesebenefits.Andtherehasbeenlittleprogressin
closingracialgapsinmanyobjectivemeasures.Aspreviouslynoted,therehasbeenlittleprogressin
closingtheearningsgapsince1980,theeducationgaphasbeenstubbornlypersistentsince1990,and
4BlanchflowerandOswald(2004)findevidenceofanimprovementinthewell‐beingofblacksovertime.StevensonandWolfers(2008b)findthatinequalityinwell‐beingisdecliningovertime,includingadeclineinthedifferencesinwell‐beingbetweenwhitesandnon‐whites.Yang(2008)alsofindsthatinequalityinhappinessbyraceisdecliningovertime.
3
unemploymentdisparitiesarelittleimproved.5Inaddition,healthdifferences,likehigherinfant
mortalityratesamongblacks,haveprovenpersistent(MacDormanandMathews2011;Kriegeretal.
2008).Ourstudyillustratesthatthefruitsofthecivilrightsmovementmaylieinother,moredifficult
todocument,improvementsinthequalityoflife—improvementsthathaveledtorisinglevelsof
happinessandlifesatisfactionforsomeblacks.Buttheseimprovementshavetakendecadestobe
realized,andevenifcurrentratesofprogresspersist,itwilltakeseveralmoredecadestofullyclose
theblack‐whitewell‐beinggap.
Ourcontributioninthispaperistocarefullydocumenttrends,overseveraldecades,in
subjectivewell‐beingbyraceintheUnitedStates,collectingevidenceacrossawidearrayofdatasets
coveringvariousdemographicgroups,timeperiods,andmeasuresofsubjectivewell‐being.To
previewourfindings,SectionIIshowsthatblacksintheUnitedStatesweremuchlesshappythan
whitesinthe1970’sandthattheracialgapinwell‐beingwasgreaterthanthatwhichwouldbe
predictedbyobjectivedifferencesinlifecircumstances.Wenextshowthatoverrecentdecades,the
well‐beingofblackshasincreased,bothabsolutelyandrelativetowhites.Blackscontinuetoreport
lowerlevelsofwell‐beingcomparedtowhites,butthegaphasbeensystematicallyclosing,andmuch
oftheextantgapisexplainedbyconditioningonobjectivecircumstances.InsectionIIIweshowthat
thisfactisrobusttoaccountingfortrendsinincarceration(potentiallymissingdata)andtoexploring
otherdatasetsandmeasuresofsubjectivewell‐being.InsectionIV,weconsiderwhohasreceivedthe
greatestgainsinwell‐beingamongblacksandhowthathascontributedtotheclosingoftheracialgap.
Wealsoexploretherelationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐beingbyraceandtakealookatother
measuresofwell‐being.
II. Subjective Well‐Being Trends by Race
Webeginbyexaminingsubjectivewell‐beingintheUnitedStatessincethe1970susingdata
fromtheGeneralSocialSurvey(GSS).Thissurveyisanationallyrepresentativesampleofabout1,500
respondentseachyearfrom1972to1993(except1979,1981,and1992)andcontinueswitharound
3,000respondentseverysecondyearfrom1994throughto2004,risingto4,500respondentsin2006
andfallingto3,500respondentsin2008.6Theserepeatedcross‐sectionsaredesignedtotrack
5Krueger,Rothstein,andTurner(2006,p.284)describe“slowandepisodic”improvementsintestscoresbetween1970and1990that“essentiallystoppedaround1990.”6Onlyhalftherespondentswerequeriedabouttheirhappinessin2002and2004,followedbytwo‐thirdsin2006.In2008,therewere2,036newpeoplesurveyedand1,536peoplefromthe2006surveywhowereresurveyed.
4
attitudesandbehaviorsamongtheU.S.populationandcontainawiderangeofdemographicand
attitudinalquestions.Throughoutthispaper,wefocusonthesampleofrespondentswhoidentify
themselvesaseither“white,”or“black”;theresidual“other”categorycompriseslessthan5percentof
allrespondents(andlessthan1percentinthe1970s)andsoyieldstoosmallasampletopermit
meaningfulanalysis.
Subjectivewell‐beingismeasuredusingthequestion:“Takenalltogether,howwouldyousay
thingsarethesedays—wouldyousaythatyouareveryhappy,prettyhappy,ornottoohappy?”In
addition,respondentsareaskedabouttheirsatisfactionwithanumberofaspectsoftheirlife,suchas
theirmarriage,theirhealth,theirfinancialsituation,andtheirjob.ThelongdurationoftheGSSand
theuseofconsistentsurveylanguagetomeasuresubjectivewell‐beingmakeitideallysuitedfor
analyzingtrendsovertime.However,thereareafewchangestothesurveythatcanimpactreported
well‐being.Forexample,ineveryyearbut1972,thequestionabouthappinessfollowedaquestion
aboutmaritalhappiness,andineveryyearexcept1972and1985,thehappinessquestionwas
precededbyafive‐itemsatisfactionscale.Bothofthesechangeshavebeenshowntoimpactreported
happiness(Smith1990).Wecreateaconsistentseriesthataccountsforthesemeasurementchanges
usingthesplit‐ballotexperimentsdonebytheGSSinordertoprovideabridgebetweendifferent
versionsofthesurvey.Wemakeadjustmentstothedatafollowingtheapproachdetailedinappendix
AofStevensonandWolfers(2008b).7Finally,inordertoensurethatthesetimeseriesarenationally
representative,allestimatesareweighted(usingtheproductoftheusualGSSweightWTSSALLand
theweightOVERSAMP,whichallowsustoincludetheblackoversamplesin1982and1987).Inorder
tomaintaincontinuitywithearliersurveyrounds,wealsoexcludethose2006interviewsthat
occurredinSpanishandcouldnothavebeencompletedhadEnglishbeentheonlyoption,asSpanish‐
languagesurveyswerenotofferedinpreviousyears.8
Inordertofacilitatecomparisonswithotherdatasets,weneedtofindawaytostandardizethe
measureofsubjectivewell‐being,sincethesedatalackanaturalscaleandarereporteddifferently
acrossdatasets.Wetreattheseorderedcategories,runningfrom“nottoohappy”to“prettyhappy”
andthen“veryhappy”asscoresof1,2,and3,respectively,sohighernumbersindicategreater
happiness.Inordertomakethescalemeaningful,wethenstandardizethehappinessvariableby
subtractingthemeananddividingbythestandarddeviation.Therefore,thecoefficientsinour
7Whileusingthesplit‐ballotexperimentsallowsacomparisontoincludetheyears1972and1985,italsomeansthatitisnotpossibletosimplydropthese2outlieryears,asresultsfromsubsequentsurveysalsoneedtobeadjustedforthepresenceoftheseexperimentalsplitballots.8ThistreatmentofthedataalsofollowsStevensonandWolfers(2008b).
5
regressionshaveanaturalinterpretation—theycapturetheaveragenumberofstandarddeviation
changesinsubjectivewell‐beingassociatedwitha1unitchangeintheindependentvariable.This
rescalinghasthedisadvantageofassumingthatthedifferencebetweenanytwolevelsofasubjective
well‐beingquestionisequal(thatitisequallyvaluabletomove,forexample,from“nottoohappy”to
“prettyhappy”asitistomovefrom“prettyhappy”to“nottoohappy”).Theresultswepresentare
robusttoalternativemethodsofstandardizingsuchasusinganorderedprobitregressionorsimply
usingtherawscaling.9
Figure1showstheaveragelevelsofwell‐beingforblacksandwhitesineachyearofour
sample;thesolidsquaresalsoshowtheimpliedannualestimatesoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,
andthe95percentconfidenceintervalaroundtheseestimatesareshaded.Inthe1970sthereisa
largegapbetweenthewell‐beingofblacksandwhites.Thewell‐beingindexisstandardized,and
hencethemetricisinterpretable:theblack‐whitewell‐beinggapinthe1970swasequaltonearlyhalf
ofthestandarddeviationofwell‐being.Overtheensuingperiodtheaveragewell‐beinglevelofwhites
declinedslightly,whiletheaveragewell‐beinglevelofblackstrendedupward.Theincreasingwell‐
beingofblacksand,toalesserextent,thedecliningwell‐beingofwhiteshasledtoaclosureoftwo‐
fifthsoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap.
Table1embedsthesefindingsinamoreformalregressionanalysis.Weestimatearegressionof
theform:
, ∗
1972100
∗1972
100 [1]
whereidenotesanindividual,andtdenotestheyearinwhichthatindividualwassurveyedbytheGSS.
Thetimetrendsaremeasuredastimesincethestartofthesamplein1972,dividedby100,which
meansthatβ measurestheblack‐whitehappinessgapin1972,whileβ andβ measurethegrowth
percenturyinwell‐beingforwhitesandblacks,respectively.Thusβ β measureschangesinthe
black‐whitewell‐beinggappercentury,and measuresthefractionofacenturyrequiredtoclose
theinitialblack‐whitewell‐beinggap.Weestimatethisusingordinaryleastsquaresregresson,and
clusterourstandarderrorsattheyearlevel.Theseresultsareshownincolumn1ofTable1.The
regressionrevealsthesamepatternsseeninFigure1,showingbothanincreaseinthewell‐beingof
9Themostimportantdifferencebetweenthestandardizationweemployhereandtheorderedprobitregressionisthatthelatterscalesdifferencesrelativetothestandarddeviationofwell‐beingconditionaloncovariates,whilethesimplernormalizationweemployscalesdifferencesrelativetotheunconditionalstandarddeviationof
6
blacksandadeclineinthewell‐beingofwhites.Whiletheincreaseinblackwell‐beingisnotitself
statisticallysignificant—largelyreflectingthestatisticalimprecisionthatcomesfromthesmallsample
ofblacksintheGSS—thedifferencebetweenthetwotrendsisstatisticallysignificantlydifferentfrom
zeroatthe1percentlevel.Blackwell‐beingincreasedrelativetothatofwhitesatarateof.498ofa
standarddeviationpercentury,whichoverthe36yearsofourdatacumulatestoaclosingof.180ofa
standarddeviation.Takingthepredictedvaluesofthisequationsuggeststhatin1972,blackswereon
average.449ofastandarddeviationlesshappythanwhites,andthatdifferencehadshrunkto.269of
astandarddeviationby2008.
Interpreting the magnitude of the racial well‐being gap
Inordertogetasenseoftherelevantmagnitudes,itisworthcomparingtheracialwell‐being
gapwiththewell‐beinggapbetweenrichandpoor.Figure2showstherelationshipbetweenwell‐
beingandthelogofincome,plottingaveragelevelsofwell‐beingandincomeforeachvigintile(20‐
quantile)oftheincomedistribution.(Tobeclear,ourincomemeasureisrealfamilyincomeper
householdequivalent.)10Noticethatthehorizontalaxisisalogscale,andsothelinearpattern
suggestsalinearrelationshipbetweenmeasuredwell‐beingandlogincome(thus,subjectivewell‐
beingrisesatadecreasingrateasincomeincreases).Asshowninpreviousstudies,therelationship
betweensubjectivewell‐beingandincomeisbestdescribedasalevel‐logrelationship,withwell‐being
increasinglinearlyasthelogofincomerises.11Onesimplecomparisoncontraststhewell‐beingofthe
poor(roughlythebottomquartileofthefamilyincomedistribution—thosewithincomeslessthan
$15,000peryearperequivalenthousehold),andtherich(thetopquartile,withhousehold‐equivalent
incomesofmorethan$40,000peryear).Thisyieldsarich‐poorwell‐beinggapof0.441.Thatis,the
well‐being.FormoreinformationoncardinalizinghappinessvariablesseevanPraagandFerrer‐i‐Carbonell(2004)andappendixAinStevensonandWolfers(2008a).10TheGeneralSocialSurvey(GSS)measuresnominalfamilyincomeinvariouscategories.Wetransformtheseintopointestimatesbyusingintervalregression,assumingthatincomeislognormallydistributedineachyear,anddeflatebytheconsumerpriceindexresearchseriesusingcurrentmethods(CPI—RS)sothatthisismeasuredin2005dollars.WeusethemodifiedOrganisationforEconomicCo‐operationandDevelopment(OECD)equivalencescaletotakeaccountofeconomiesofscaleinhouseholdsize(thefirstadultiscountedasoneperson,subsequentadultscountas.5,andchildrencountas.3).Thus,ourincomeconceptisrealfamilyincomeperequivalent.11StevensonandWolfers(2008a)andDeaton(2008)explorethefunctionalformthatbestfitsthedata.Whilethelevel‐logrelationshipappearstobethebestfit,analysisoftherelationshipofwell‐beingwithboththelevelandthelogofincomeshowasimilarfinding,whichisthatsubjectivewell‐beingrisesatadecreasingrateasincomeincreases,withnoevidencethatthedecreasingrateslowsovertime.Infact,estimatessuggestthat,ifanything,thedecreaseinthemarginalincreaseinsubjectivewell‐beingfromeachadditionaldollarmaybegintoslowathighlevelsofincome.
7
magnitudeoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapinthe1970swasroughlyequaltothewell‐beinggap
betweenpeopleinthetopandbottomquartilesoftheincomedistribution.Thislargewell‐beinggap
occurreddespitethefactthattheblack‐whiteincomegapwasmuchsmallerthantherich‐poorincome
gap—indeed,intheGSS,theaverageincomeofblacksinthe1970swas$16,500,comparedwith
$26,800forwhites.
Inordertobemoreformalaboutthis,wecancompareourestimatesoftheblack‐whitewell‐
beinggapwiththecoefficientonincomeinastandardwell‐beingequation.Thus,weestimatea
simpleregressionofourstandardizedwell‐beingmeasureonlogincome,controllingforafullsetof
age race genderfixedeffectsandyearfixedeffects.Thisyieldsawell‐being‐incomegradientof
0.186,withastandarderrorof0.006,whichisconsistentwithpreviousestimates;thisestimated
regressionlineisillustratedinFigure2.12Inthe1970stheaverageoflogincomeforblackswas0.56
logpointlessthanthatforwhites.Thisincomegapwouldbeexpectedtocreateawell‐beinggapof
0.186 0.56=0.10.Thus,theblack‐whitewell‐beinggapin1972wasroughlyfourtimeslargerthan
mightbeexpectedonthebasisoftheincomegap.AsFigure1shows,overtheensuingfourdecades,
two‐fifthsoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapcloseddespitelittleclosureintheincomegap.Yetthere
remainsaracialwell‐beinggapthatislargerthanmightbeexpectedsimplyonthebasisofincome
differences.
The conditional racial well‐being gap
Toassesstheracialwell‐beinggap,whileholdingincomedifferencesconstant,theregression
inthesecondcolumnofTable1controlsflexiblyforincome,addingaquarticinlogfamilyincomeper
equivalent(usingtheOrganisationforEconomicCo‐operationandDevelopment’smodified
equivalencescale)plusadummyvariableforthosewithmissingdata.Inthisspecificationweseethat
the1972racialgapinwell‐being,conditionalonrealfamilyincomein1972,fellfrom.449to.354.This
simplyrepeatsthefindingabove:lessthanone‐quarteroftheinitialracialwell‐beinggapcanbe
explainedbyincomedifferences.By2008theracialgapinwell‐beinghadfallenbyasimilaramount
whetherornotweholddifferencesinhouseholdincomeconstant.Incolumn1,weseethattheracial
gapinwell‐beingfellby.18ofastandarddeviation,andaddingcontrolsforincomeyieldsafallof.17
ofastandarddeviation.
Thus,littleofthechangeovertimeintheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapisexplainedbychangesin
income.Thisispartiallyduesimplytothefactthattheblack‐whiteincomegaphasnotclosedmuch
8
sincethe1970s.Table2reportsthemedianwagesofmenandwomeninconstantdollarsinthe1970s
andinthe2000s.Earningsofthemedianblackmanare60percentofthoseofthemedianwhiteman
inthe1970sandhavegrownto72percentbythe2000s,closingonly20percentoftheearningsgap.
Incomegapsbetweenwomenaremuchsmaller,withthemedianwhitewomanearningaround10
percentmorethanthemedianblackwomaninthe1970sand4percentmoreinthe2000s.Turning
tofamilyincomeweseethattheaveragefamilyincomeforblackshaslargelyparalleledrisesinwhite
incomes,andhencetherehasbeenverylittlenarrowingoftheblack‐whiteincomegap.Inthe1970s,
medianblackfamilyincomewas58percentofthatofwhites,andinthe200sithadrisenonlyto64
percent.Finally,theblackpovertyratehasdeclinedsomewhat,yetblackfamiliesarestillaboutthree
timesaslikelyaswhitefamiliestobelivinginpoverty.Thus,theblack‐whitewell‐beinggaphas
narroweddespiteslowprogressinthenarrowingoftheblack‐whiteincomegap.
Thereare,ofcourse,manyotherdifferencesbetweenblackandwhitefamiliesthatmightaffect
thesubjectivewell‐beingofeach.Table2providesasummaryofchangesinthelivesofblacksand
whitesfromthe1970stothe2000s.Overthisperiodthepercentageofblacksdroppingoutofhigh
schoolfellbothabsolutelyandrelativetowhites,whilethepercentageenrolledincollegeandthe
proportionwithabachelor’sdegreerose.Howeveralargeracialdisparityineducationremains.
Similarly,weseethatwhilethelifeexpectancyofblacksincreasedoverthisperiod,italsoincreased
amongwhites,andalargeracialgapinlifeexpectancypersists.Inthe1970swhiteslivedanaverage
of6.8yearslongerthanblacks,andthatgaphadshrunkto5.3bythe2000s.Finally,theracialgapin
incarcerationoverthisperiodhasgrownforbothmenandwomen,somethingwewillinvestigate
furtherinsection3.
Thus,therehavebeensomeimportantchangesintheobjectiveindicatorsofblackwell‐being,
andsoitisimportanttoassesshowcontrollingforthesechangesimpactstheestimatedtrendsinthe
racialgapinwell‐being.Inotherwords,wewanttoassessifblacksandwhiteshavebecomemore
similarintermsofreportedsubjectivewell‐beingsimplybecausethecircumstancesoftheirliveshave
becomemoresimilar.InthethirdcolumnofTable1,weaddcontrolsforownandparents’education,
religion,employmentstatus,maritalbehavior,children,region,age,andsexinadditiontocontrolling
forincome.13Totheextentthatthesecharacteristicsareassociatedwithsubjectivewell‐beingand
12StevensonandWolfers(2008a)findthatthecross‐sectionalgradientoftherelationshipbetweenhappinessandlogincomeisaround.3inmostdatasetsandis.2intheGSS.13Oursocioeconomiccontrolsincludeindicatorvariablesforgender,age(bydecade),employmentstatus(full‐andpart‐time,temporaryillness/vacation/strike,unemployed,retired,inschool,keepinghouse,orother),maritalstatus(married,widowed,divorced,separated,ornevermarried),highestdegreeearnedbythe
9
differintheirprevalenceacrossthepopulationbyrace,theymayaccountforsomeoftheestimated
differenceinsubjectivewell‐beingbetweenblacksandwhites.However,whilemanyofthesecontrols
arehighlycorrelatedwithwell‐being,inmanycasesthissimplyreflectstheunderlyingwell‐beingof
thepeoplechoosingaparticularlifecircumstance.Forexample,whilemarriedpeoplearetypically
happierthanthosewhoarenotmarried,muchofthisrelationshipisduetohappierpeoplebeingmore
likelytomarry(StevensonandWolfers2007).Further,therehasbeenchangingselectionthrough
timeintoemployment,education,andmarriage.Thus,whileblackshavebecomelesslikelytomarry
overthisperiod(bothabsolutelyandrelativetomaritalbehaviorbywhites),itisdifficulttoknowif
(orbyhowmuch)thismayhavechangedtheirsubjectivewell‐being(IsenandStevenson2010).
Inthefourthcolumnweallowtherelationshipbetweenthecontrolsandwell‐beingtovaryby
race,andthusweinteractallofthecontrolswithrace.Thisspecificationyieldssimilarresultstothose
seenincolumn3wherecontrolsarenotallowedtovarybyrace.Thereare,however,important
differencesintherelationshipbetweenwell‐beingandmanyofthesecontrolsbyrace.Wewillreturn
todiscussingtheseinsectionIVasweexploretrendsseparatelybydemographicgroups.
Incolumn5,wealsoallowfordifferentwell‐beingtrendsbasedoneachofthese
characteristics,byalsointeractingeachofourcontrolswithtimetrends.Whiletherearesome
importanttimetrendsthatdifferbygroup—suchasthedeclineinwomen’swell‐beingrelativeto
men’soverthisperiod,asnotedbyStevensonandWolfers(2009),andawideningofeducation
differentialsdocumentedinStevensonandWolfers(2008b)—accountingforthesetrendsdoesnot
muchchangeourconclusions.
Comparingthesevariousestimates,wefindthatcontrollingformeasurabledifferencesinthe
livesofblacksandwhitesexplainsaboutone‐thirdoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapinthe1970s,and
muchofthisisduetothedifferencesinincomebetweenblacksandwhites.Turningtothetrendsover
timeweseethatlittleofthechangeovertimeisexplainedbythecontrols.Inallspecificationsthe
black‐whitewell‐beinggap—measuredrelativetothestandarddeviationofwell‐being—isclosingata
rateofabout0.5percentury.However,thisrelativechangeiscomposedofbothadecreaseinthe
well‐beingofwhitesandanincreaseinthewell‐beingofblacks.Thedecreaseinthewell‐beingof
respondentandhisorherparents(lessthanhighschool,highschool,associatesdegreeorjuniorcollege,bachelorsdegree,orgraduatedegree),religion(Protestant,Catholic,Jewish,other,ornone),andninecensusregions.
10
whitesislargeroncecontrolsforobjectiveindicatorsaretakenintoaccount.14Finally,whiletheracial
gapinwell‐beingremainslarge,aroundtwo‐thirdsofthegapin2008canbeexplainedbydifferences
inobservablecharacteristics,comparedtoonlyone‐thirdin1972.Thissuggeststhattherehavebeen
improvementsinsubjectivewell‐beingforblacksovertimethataredistinctfromchangesintheir
objectivecircumstances.
III. Robustness
Beforeweturntoamoregranularanalysisofthetrendsinwell‐beingacrossdifferentgroups
byrace,itisworthcheckingtoseewhethertheobservedracialdifferencesholdacrossalternative
measuresofwell‐being,potentialsampleselectionproblems,andotherdatasets.
Examining the distribution of well‐being
Thefirstalternativemeasureofwell‐beingsimplyconsidersthoseinthetopandbottomofthe
well‐beingdistributionintheGSSseparately.Columns6and7ofTable1turntoprobitregressions
analyzingindicatorsforwhethertherespondentis“veryhappy”or“nottoohappy,”respectively.In
ordertoretaincomparabilitywiththeearlierregressions,wereportrawprobitcoefficients,which
describethechangesinastandardizedlatentwell‐beingvariable.
Column6showsthatwhiteshavebecomelesslikelytoreportbeingveryhappyovertime,
whileblackshavebecomemorelikelytodoso(albeitnotstatisticallysignificantlyso).Overtimethis
hasledtoastatisticallysignificantclosureoftheracialgapinself‐reportingasbeingveryhappy,and
thedifferenceintheestimatedtimetrendssuggeststhatthiswell‐beinggapisdecliningby0.6ofa
standarddeviationper100years,amagnitudethatissimilartoearlierregressionsthatexaminedthe
completesetofresponsecategories.Thesecoefficientsimplythatin1972,blackswere16percentage
pointslesslikelythanwhitestoreportbeingveryhappy,andby2008,thisgaphadhalved,withblacks
8percentagepointslesslikelytoreportbeingveryhappy.
Turningtothebottomofthescale,weseethatblackshavebecomelesslikelyovertimeto
reportbeingnottoohappy,whiletherehasbeenlittlechangeinthelikelihoodthatwhitesreport
beinginthiscategory.Thesecoefficientsimplythatin1972,blackswere12.5percentagepointsmore
likelythanwhitestoreportbeingnottoohappyandthisdifferenceshrinksbyaboutathirdto8.7
14ManyscholarsnotethattheUnitedStateshasnothadthehappinessgainsthatwouldbeexpectedgivenincreasesinincome(see,forexample,StevensonandWolfers2008b;BlanchflowerandOswald2004;Easterlin1995).
11
percentagepoints,in2008.Theracialgapinreportingbeing“nottoohappy”isclosingby0.3ofa
standarddeviationper100years,amagnitudethatissmallerthanthatseenforthe“veryhappy”
category,butstatisticallyindistinguishablefromouroverallestimatesandstillsuggestiveofarolefor
improvementsatthebottomaswellasthetopofthedistributioninthenarrowingoftheracialgapin
well‐being.
The impact of incarceration
TheGSSstrivestoincludearepresentativesampleoftheadulthouseholdpopulationeachyear,
butbyfocusingonhouseholds,thesamplemissesthoselivingingroupquarters,includinginstitutions.
Theperiodweareexaminingcoincideswithalarge,andraciallyunbalanced,increaseinincarceration.
Inturn,thismeansthattheGSSsamplingframemayhavebecomeincreasinglyunrepresentativeofthe
aggregateU.S.blackpopulation.Togaugetheseriousnessofthisconcern,wecollecteddataonblack
andwhiteincarcerationandinstitutionalizationratessincethe1970s;thesedataareshowninFigure
3.DuringtheGSSsampleperiod(1972‐2008)theproportionoftheadultpopulationthatwas
incarceratedroseamongwhitesfrom0.2percentto0.4percent,whileahigherrateamongblacksof
1.0percentofthepopulationmorethantripledto3.4percent.Incarcerationratesaremuchhigherfor
certainsubgroupsofthepopulation—particularlyformenrelativetowomenandfortheyoung
relativetotheold.
Ourconcernisthatthosewhoareatriskforincarcerationmaybetheleasthappymembersof
societyandthereforeasincarcerationratesrose,alargerproportionofunhappypeople(and
particularly,unhappyblacks)mayhavebeenremovedfromthesamplingframe,mechanicallyraising
theaveragelevelsofwell‐beingamongthoseblackswhoweresurveyed.Toboundthemaximum
extentofthiseffectweaddbacktotheGSSsampletheproportionofbothblacksandwhiteswhoare
missingbecauseofincarceration,andassignallofthesepeopleahappinessscoreof“nottoohappy”—
thelowesthappinesscategory.15Figure4reportstheresultsofthisexercise,showingboththealready
15Estimatesoftheincarceratedpopulationineachyeararecollectedfromseveralsources,asthereisnosingledataseriesthatmeasurestheincarceratedovertime.Westartwiththe1970and1980censusesofpopulation,fromwhichweestimatethesizeoftheinstitutionalizedadultpopulationincorrectionalfacilitiesandthendividebytherelevantadultpopulation,linearlyinterpolatingtoobtainannualestimatesfor1970to1979.From1980to2008,werelyonWesternandPetit(2009)whoconstructannualestimatesforblacksandwhitesofthenumberofpeopleages18‐64whoarecurrentlyincarcerated.TheirdataarebuiltfromBureauofJusticeStatisticsestimatesofthepenalpopulationsacrosslocaljailsandstateandfederalcorrectionalfacilities,aswellassurveysoftheinmatepopulations.(WhileWesternandPettitmeasureonlytheincarceratedpopulationunder65yearsofage,Sabol,WestandCooper[2009]estimatethatin2008onlyaround1percentofallprisonersunderstateorfederaljurisdictionwere65orolder.)Inordertoestimateincarcerationrates,wesimplydivideWesternandPettit’sincarcerationnumbersbyestimatesofthetotaladultpopulationbyrace,
12
reportedhappinesslevelsofblacksandwhites,andjustbeloweachline,ourestimatesofthelower
boundthatresultsfromaddingbackintheincarceratedpopulation.Forwhites,thetwolinesare
imperceptiblydifferent(reflectingthelowincarcerationrate),whileforblacks,awedgeemerges
throughtime.Takingaccountofthepossibleeffectsofrisingincarcerationresultsinaslightlysmaller
closingofthewell‐beinggap—itclosesby0.4percenturyratherthan0.5.Thus,thenotionthat
growingincarcerationratesmayexplainuptoafifthoftheclosingofthewell‐beinggaprepresentsan
upperboundontheextentofthiseffect.16Thisexercise,however,doesnotconsiderhowhighratesof
incarcerationmaybeimpactingthewell‐beingofthosenotincarcerated,andwewillreturntothis
questionwhenweexaminewell‐beingbyraceamongvarioussocioeconomicandagecategories.
Alternative datasets
Inourfinalsetofrobustnesschecks,weturntoconsideringalternativedatasetswithvarying
measuresofsubjectivewell‐beinganddifferentsurveymodes.AsHerbst(2012)describes,theDDB
NeedhamLifeStylesurveys—whichareconductedbymail—provideausefulalternativeindicatorof
subjectivewell‐beingformuchofthisperiod.Thissurveybeganin1975andhassincerunannually
witharound3,500respondentseachyear.However,before1985thesampleconsistedonlyof
marriedhouseholds.From1985onwardthesampleisarepresentativesampleofallU.S.households
andincludesalifesatisfactionquestionaskingona6‐pointscalehowmuchrespondentsagreeor
disagreewiththestatement“Iamverysatisfiedwiththewaythingsaregoinginmylifethesedays.”17
Figure5summarizesthesedata,illustratingverysimilarpatternstothoseseenwiththeGSS.Inthe
mid‐1980s,therewasalargeblack‐whitesubjectivewell‐beinggap,equaltoabout0.4ofastandard
deviation;subsequentlythesatisfactionofwhiteshasfallenslightly,whilethesubjectivewell‐beingof
blackshasrisenstrongly,closingmuchoftheblack‐whitesatisfactiongap.Becauseofthelater
startingdateofthissurvey,theabsoluteclosingofthewell‐beinggapoverthedurationofthesurveyis
somewhatlessthanthatseenintheGSS,butthepointestimateoftherateofchangeismorerapid.
Finally,toinvestigatethemostrecentdata,weturntotheBehavioralRiskFactorSurveillance
System(BRFSS),whichhasasked1.9millionpeopleabouttheirlifesatisfactionsince2005.The
BRFSSasks“Ingeneral,howsatisfiedareyouwithyourlife?”withpossibleresponsesof:very
satisfied,satisfied,dissatisfied,orverydissatisfied.Thesedatasuggestthatrecentyearshaveseena
whichwegeneratebyinterpolatingdecadalpopulationestimatesaggregatedfromthe1980‐2000IntegratedPublicUseMicrodataSeries,andthenthe2001‐8AmericanCommunitySurvey.16Assumingthatallthoseleftoutwereveryhappywouldestablishtheupperboundofourestimate.17Thesurveybeganincludingthelifesatisfactionquestionin1983.Sincethereareonly2years,1983and1984,inwhichsatisfactiondatawerecollectedforthemarriedonlysample,wesimplybeginouranalysiswiththefullpopulationin1985.
13
continuationofthelonger‐runtrendsevidentinearlierfigures.Aswithourothersamples,the
estimatedblack‐whitewell‐beinggapoverthisperiodisaroundone‐fifthtoone‐quarterofastandard
deviation.Moreover,thesedataalsosuggestthattheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapcontinuedtoclose
between2005and2010—ouranalysisshowsaclosingoftheracialgapoverthisperiodof.29ofa
standarddeviationpercentury.However,theshorttimeperiodmakesitdifficulttoestimatethiswith
anyprecisionandthestandarderroronthatestimateis.17.18Thisricherrecentsampledoes,
however,stronglysuggestthattherecentdownwardblipinmeasuredblackwell‐beingseenintheGSS
dataislikelyduetosimplesamplingerror.
Wenowturntobreakingthesetrendsapartbyvariousdemographicandsocioeconomic
groupstoinvestigatefurtherwhichgroupsexperiencedthelargestgainsinwell‐beingforblacksand
themostclosureoftheracialwell‐beinggap.
IV. Who Gained?
Inordertoconsiderhowwell‐beinghaschangedamongvariousgroups,takingaccountofthe
manychangesinthelifecircumstancesofAmericans,weturntowardestimatingaregressionthat
disaggregatesourmainfindingsfromtheGSSandsimultaneouslytakesaccountofhowwell‐beinghas
changedfordifferentsub‐groupsofblacksandwhites.Thus,were‐estimateequation[1]butinteract
eachofthetermswithafamilyofdummyvariablesindicatingwhethertherespondentisamemberof
variousage,gender,region,urban,education,income,employmentandmaritalstatusgroups:
18Figureanddataanalysisareavailablefromtheauthors.
14
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[2]
Weareparticularlyinterestedinevaluatingthedifferentialblack‐whitetrendswithineach
group,andthisapproachallowsustodothiswhilecontrollingforthedifferentialtrendsaffecting
blacksandwhitesinothergroups,too.Itcanbedifficulttodirectlyinterpretanyregressioninvolving
somanyinteractionterms.Forinstance,predictedgrowthinwell‐beingforablackwomandepends
notonlyon butalsoonherassumedothercharacteristics,eachmultipliedbytherelevant s
Webeginbyreportingtheimpliedblack‐whitewell‐beinggapsatboththebeginningandendofour
sampleforsomeonewithsampleaveragecharacteristics(apartfromraceandtime).Usingthewhole‐
sampleaverage—ratherthandifferentaveragesforblacksandwhites—ensuresthatourresultsare
notaffectedbythedifferentcompositionoftheblackandwhitepopulations.Theimpliedracialgapin
well‐beingfor1972isreportedinthefirstcolumnofTable3,andthegapin2008isreportedinthe
secondcolumn.Wereportthedifferencebetweenthetwo,whichistheamountthattheracialgap
closedovertheperiod,inthethirdcolumn.
Butnoneofthistellsuswhetherchangesinthegapweredrivenbychangesinthewell‐beingof
blacks,whites,oracombinationofboth.Forthis,weevaluate and for
someonewiththesampleaveragecharacteristics.Theserace‐specifictimetrendsarereportedinthe
15
fourthandfifthcolumnsandshowstandarddeviationchangesinwell‐beingpercentury.Thus,the
trendinthechangeintheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,percentury,isthedifferencebetweenthetwo
columns,reportedinthesixthcolumn.Notethatthethirdcolumnissimplythesixthcolumndivided
by100(toconvertitintoperyearchanges)andmultipliedbythenumberofyearsthathavepassed
(36).
In1972,theracialgapinwell‐beingwaslargestamongwomen,theyoung,thoselivinginthe
South,collegegraduates,thoseinthetophalfoftheincomedistribution,thenon‐employed,andthe
married.By2008,somethingsremainedthesame—thosewithmoreeducationandincomestillfaced
largewell‐beinggaps.However,theracialgapinwell‐beingamongwomenwaseliminated,whilehalf
oftheracialgapamongmenremained.Whiletheearlyperiodexperiencedlargeracialgapsinwell‐
beingamongpeopleofallages,differencesintheracialgapacrosspeopleofvariousagesemergedby
2008,withalargewell‐beinggappersistingfortheyoung(ages18‐29).Thelargestgainsinwell‐
beingwereintheSouth,erasingthelargeracialgapinwell‐beingthatwaspresentin1972.
Letusturntoconsideringthesechangesinmoredetail.Focusingonwomen,weseethata
racialwell‐beinggapof.4ofastandarddeviationwasnearlyerasedoverthedecades.Thisoccurred
bothbecauseblackwomenbecamehappier—byaround.2ofastandarddeviationoverthe36year
period(.006ayear)—andbecausewhitewomenbecamelesshappybyaround.15ofastandard
deviation(‐.004ayear).19Alargerwell‐beinggapremainsamongmen,bothbecauseblackmales’
well‐beingroseslightlyless—by.13ofastandarddeviation—andbecausetherewasnodeclineinthe
well‐beingofwhitemen.Insum,subjectivewell‐beingappearstohaverisenmorestronglyforblack
womenthanblackmen,anoutcomethatisconsistentwithotherindicatorsofeconomicandsocial
progress.
Turningtothetrendsbyageweseethatthoseages18‐29andthoseages30‐44hadthe
largestracialgapsinwell‐being:withineachgroupblackswereabout.4ofastandarddeviationless
happythanwhites.Blacksinthesetwoagegroupsalsohadthelargestabsolutewell‐beinggains,with
thewell‐beingofblacksages18‐29increasingby.3ofastandarddeviationovertheperiod.However,
thewell‐beingofyoungwhitesalsoroseand,assuch,thewell‐beinggapclosedbyonly.18ofa
standarddeviation.
19StevensonandWolfers(2009)discusstrendsinwomen’shappinessindetailanddocumenttheseracialdifferencesinthetrendsinwomen’shappiness.
16
Thatyoungblackshadthelargestgainsinwell‐beingisperhapssomewhatsurprisinggiventhe
highratesofincarcerationamongthisagegroupandraisessuspicionsaboutthefactthatthose
incarceratedarenotinoursample.However,recallsectionIIthataccountingforthemissing
incarceratedindividualshadlittleimpactonourresults.Moreover,thesearechangesbyage
conditionalonchangesbyeducationandincome,amongotherthings.Whenwelookattheraw
trendsand,mostimportant,whenwebreaktheagetrendsdownbygender,weseethattheproblems
facingyoungblackmenareindeedimpactingtheirwell‐being.Figure6showsthatamongblacks,
youngmenhavebecomelesshappyoverthisperiodandaretheonlyagegrouptofacesubstantial
well‐beinglossesandforwhichtheracialgapinwell‐beingactuallygrew.
Figure6pointstolargewell‐beinggainsamongyoungandprimeageblackwomenandgains
formenages30‐44.Returningtotheregressionresults,weseethatclosingoftheracialgapinwell‐
beingforthoseages30‐44occurredbothbecauseblacksbecamehappierandbecausewhitesofthat
agegroupbecamelesshappy.Amongthoseages45‐59,theracialgapinwell‐beingclosedeven
thoughblacksinthisagegroupbecamelesshappy,becausetheirwell‐beinglossesweresmallerthan
thoseexperiencedbywhites.ThisresultisseenequallyformenandwomeninFigure6.Turningto
thoseover60,weseearacialgapinwell‐beingin2008inwhichblackswerestatisticallysignificantly
happierthanwhites.Thisreversaloccurredbecauseblacksinthisagegroupbecamehappier,while
whitesinthisagegroupbecamelesshappy.Thesedivergenttrendsbroughtaboutthelargestchange
intheracialwell‐beinggap,withaclosureinthegapofnearly.5ofastandarddeviation.Itshouldbe
notedthatwhilethisisnotacohortassessment,examiningthoseover60in2008showsthattheracial
gapinwell‐beinghasbeeneliminatedamongthosewholivedthroughthecivilrightsstruggles.
Wenotedatthestartofthissectionthatwell‐beinggapswerelargestforthosewiththemost
educationandincomein1972.20Yetthiswaslargelytrueattheendofthesampleaswell.Butthisis
notbecausetherewasnochange.Overtheensuingdecadesthewell‐beinggainswerelargestamong
collegeeducatedblacks,withlittlechangeinthewell‐beingofcollege‐educatedwhites.However,by
2008theracialwell‐beinggapwasstilllargestamongthosewithacollegedegreeormore,sincethat
gapbeganasthelargest.Moreover,asmallergaininwell‐beingamongblackswithonlyahighschool
20Recallthatwearemeasuringfamilyincomeconvertedto2005dollars.Thedollaramountsareperhouseholdequivalent,wherethefirstadultcountsforone,additionaladultscountfor.5,andchildrencountfor.3.Thisisdonetoadjustforanyrolethatchangeinfamilysizemayhaveoninterpretingfamilyincomeovertime.Theincomebreaksweuseareselectedtoroughlydividethesampleintoquartiles.
17
educationwascombinedwithdecliningwell‐beingamongwhiteswithonlyahighschooleducation,
resultinginaclosingoftheracialgapinwell‐beingamonghighschoolgraduates.
Turningtoincome,weseethatthewell‐beinggainswerelargestforthoseinthethirdincome
quintile.Blacksinthisincomecategoryhadlargewell‐beinggains,whichcombinedwithwell‐being
lossesamongwhitestocompletelyeliminatetheracialgapinwell‐beingofnearlyhalfastandard
deviation.Theracialgapinwell‐beingremainslargestamongthosewiththemostincome.While
blacksinthetopincomecategorybecamehappierovertime,sodidthosewithlessincome.Thosein
thebottomtwoquartilesandthetopquartileallexperiencedadeclineinthewell‐beinggapof.18ofa
standarddeviation.Sincethewell‐beinggapwaslargestforthosewiththemostincomein1972,it
wasalsolargestforthisgroupin2008.
Figure7furtherillustratestherelationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐being.Itshowsthe
relationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐being,notconditionalonotherfactorssuchaseducationand
age,bothofwhichareimportantinputsintoincome.Whilebothblacksandwhiteswithmoreincome
arehappierthanthosewithless,well‐beinglevelsrosemoresteeplywithincomeamongwhitesinthe
1970s.Asaresult,theracialgapinwell‐beinggrewwithincome.Itispossiblethatdiscriminatory
barriersinspendingmoney—beingexcludedfromrestaurants,hotels,orsocialclubsforthewell‐to‐
do—reducedtheabilityofextraincometogeneratefurthergainsforblacks.Overtheensuing
decades,however,thegapclosedandtheunconditionalrelationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐being
steepenedforblackssuchthatbythe2000s,theunconditionalmappingofincomeandwell‐beingwas
thesameforblacksandwhites,althoughwhitesremainedslightlyhappierateachlevelofincome.
Ifexclusionfromplacesofbusinessisplayingaroleforthewell‐to‐do,exclusionand
discriminationingeneralmightbeimpactingallblacksmostnotablyintheSouth.Arguablythe
antidiscriminationmeasuresusheredinduringthecivilrightserahadtheirlargestimpactinthe
South.DonohueandHeckman(1991)arguetheSouthwastheareathatbothresistedandwas
affectedthemostbythefederalactivitysurroundingthecivilrightsmovement.21Indeed,weseethat
inthe1970stheracialgapinwell‐beingwaslargestintheSouth.BlacksintheSouthwerenearlya
halfofastandarddeviationlesshappythanwhites,comparedtodifferencesofbetween.2and.3ofa
standarddeviationinotherregions.
21DonohueandHeckman(1991,p.1605)arguethat“federalactivitywasimposedontheSouthandhaditsgreatestapparenteffectintheregionthatresisteditthemost.”
18
Overthe36yearsofthesampleperiod,thewell‐beinggainsamongblacksweregreatestinthe
Southwithblacksbecominghappieratarateof.009ofastandarddeviationperyear,foratotalgainof
athirdofastandarddeviationinwell‐being.IncontrastwhitesintheSouthbecamesomewhatless
happy.By2008,therewasanegligiblegapof.01ofastandarddeviationgapinblack‐whitewell‐
being.
Itmaybethatmoresubtleformsofracialdiscriminationtookdecadestoplayoutfollowingthe
legislationusheredinbythecivilrightsmovement.WeexamineddataonracialattitudesfromtheGSS
andfoundthatmeasuresofprejudicesuchasnotbeingwillingtovoteforablackpresident,favoring
lawsagainstinter‐racialmarriage,andsupportingsegregatedneighborhoodsweremuchhigherinthe
Souththanintherestofthecountry.Figure8showsthatintheearly1970smorethanhalfof
Southernerssupportedtherightsofwhitestohavesegregatedneighborhoodsandfavoredlaws
againstracialintermarriage.Almosthalfsaidthattheywouldnotvoteforablackpresident.In
contrast,10‐20percentinotherregionssaidthattheywouldnotvoteforablackpresident,and20‐40
percentfavoredlawsagainstracialintermarriageandsupportedtherighttosegregated
neighborhoods.Overtimethesemeasuresofprejudicehavedeclinedthroughoutthecountry.
However,thedeclineshavebeengreatestintheSouth.Thegraphsshowthatwhileformallaws
reducingdiscriminationtookeffectatapointintime,ithastakendecadesforracialattitudesto
change.Whiletheselawsmayhavebeenthecatalystfordeclinesinprejudice,timewasanecessary
ingredienttocompletethechange.
DonohueandHeckman(1991)pointtotheimportanceofnorthernmigrationofblacksoutof
theSouthinimprovementsforblacksuntilthemid‐1960s,butarguethatsuchmigrationaccountsfor
littleofthepost‐1964change.Changesinthemigrationpatternsareperhapsthemostconvincing
evidencethattheclosingoftheracialgapinsubjectivewell‐beingindicatesthatlifeforblacksinthe
Southisnowonparwiththatofwhitesofsimilarbackgrounds.Forthe35yearspriortothelate
1990s,themigrationflowwasanetoutflowofblacksfromtheSouth.Thatpatternreversedinthelate
1990s,andtheSouthbegantoexperienceanetinflowofblacks(Frey2004).
Thelastthingthatweconsiderarechangesinwell‐beingbymaritalstatus.Weincludethis
discussionbecausemarriagepatternsofblacksandwhiteshavedivergedsubstantiallyoverthepast4
decades.Blacksarenowmuchlesslikelythanwhitestomarry,and,iftheydomarryanddivorce,they
arelesslikelytoremarry.Theyalsohavechildrenatyoungeragesandmoreoftenoutofwedlock
(IsenandStevenson2010).However,itshouldbenotedthatsubjectivewell‐beingisbothafunction
oftheindividual’spersonalityandhisorherreactiontolifeevents.Assuch,correlationsbetweenlife
19
outcomesandwell‐beingmaynotbecausal.Forexample,onereasonthatmarriedpeoplereport
substantiallygreaterwell‐beingthanunmarriedpeopleinacrosssectionisbecausehappypeopleare
morelikelythanunhappypeopletomarry(StevensonandWolfers2007).Itmaybethattherehave
beenimportantchangesintheunderlyingwell‐beingofblackswhochoosetomarrycomparedto
blackswhodonotmarry.Thesecompositionchangescouldpotentiallyexplainallofthedifferences
thatweseebymaritalstatus.Thusanalyzingtrendsbymaritalstatusmaynotbeinformativeabout
theroleofchangingmaritalbehaviorinchangesinreportedsubjectivewell‐being.Withthatcaveat
weexaminedifferencesinthewell‐beingtrendsbymaritalstatusandfindthattheracialgapinwell‐
beingwaslargestamongmarriedindividualsin1972(seeTable3).Wealsoseethatmarriedblacks
havehadthelargestgainsinwell‐beingandthis,combinedwithasmalldeclineinthewell‐beingof
marriedwhites,hasledtoaneliminationoftheracialgapinwell‐beingamongthemarried.Thewell‐
beinggapisnowlargestforthosewhoarewidowed,atone‐thirdofastandarddeviation.Bothblacks
andwhiteswhonevermarriedbecamelesshappyoverthedecadesandtherewaslittlechangeinthe
racialgapinwell‐beingamongthem.
Weconcludeourinvestigationbyconsideringracialgapsinvariousdomainsofwell‐being.
TheGSSassessespeople’ssatisfactionwiththeirfamily,friends,job,finances,city,andhealth.Looking
attheracialgaps,wefindlittlechangeovertimeinsatisfactionwithfamily,despitethechangesin
familypatternsbyrace.Similarly,weseelittlechangeintheracialgapinsatisfactionwithpeople’sjob
orfinances.Theonedomaininwhichthereisaclearclosingoftheracialgapishealthsatisfaction.
Blacks’subjectivelyassessedhealthimprovedthroughouttheperiod,asdidtheirsatisfactionwith
theirhealth.Ashealthscholarshavenotedthereisstillagapinhealthoutcomesbyrace,butequally
important,thegainsoverthisperiodwerelarge.
V. Conclusion
Wehaveshownthattheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapdeclinedfrom1972to2008byanamount
thatisbothstatisticallysignificantandeconomicallymeaningful.Inthe1970sblackswerenearlyhalf
ofastandarddeviationlesshappythanwhites,andtwo‐thirdsofthisgapcannotbeexplainedby
conditioningondifferencesinthemeasuredlivesofblacksandwhites.Whileeconomistshave
lamentedthelargedifferencesinhouseholdincomebyrace,scientistsinotherfieldshavenotedthat
socioeconomicdifferencesalonecannotexplaintheoftenlargeracialdifferencesinwell‐being.Blacks
haveworsephysicalandmentalhealthalonganumberofdimensionsthancanbeexplainedby
20
differencesinobjectivemeasuressuchasincomeoreducation.22Forexample,Franksetal.(2006)
findthatsocioeconomicdifferencesbetweenblacksandwhitesexplainonlyhalfoftheracial
differenceinmortality.Pamuketal(1998)findresidualdifferencesinself‐ratedhealth,hypertension,
obesity,andinfantmortalityafterconditioningonsocioeconomicstatus.
Thisresearchcontributestothesefindingsbyhighlightingthelargedifferencesinsubjective
well‐beingbyrace.Consistentwiththehealthliterature,wealsofindalargeunexplainedracial
differenceinsatisfactionwithhealth,butfind,similartoourfindingsonoverallwell‐being,thatthis
unexplainedracialdifferencehasdeclinedoverthepast35years.Whilethereremainsalargeracial
gapinwell‐being,muchofthepresentgapcanbeexplainedbydifferencesintheobjectiveconditions
ofthelivesofblackandwhiteAmericans.
Somerecentscholarshavepointedtothesuccessesofthecivilrightsagendainreducinghealth
disparities,whilenotingthat“unfinishedpartsofthecivilrights–eraagenda,thepersistenceofmore
subtleformsofsegregation,andthefailuretoassurenondiscriminatorytreatmentposemajor
challengestocurrenteffortstoeliminatehealthcaredisparities”(Smith2005,p.317).Wehaveshown
thattherehavebeenlargedeclinesinprejudicialattitudesovertimeandthesedeclinesappeartobe
associatedwithimprovementsinthesubjectivewell‐beingofblacks.Howeverthereremains
prejudicetodayand,alongwithit,aracialgapinwell‐being,someofwhich,aswithhealthdisparities,
mayhaveitsexplanationintheunfinishedpartsofthecivil‐rightseraagenda.
However,therearesomeimportantcaveatstoconsider.Recallthatsomeoftherelative
changeintheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapisdrivenbyadecreaseinthewell‐beingofwhites,
particularlywhenwecontrolforobjectiveindicators.Thisraisesaquestionastowhywhiteshave
becomelesshappyandwhethertheconditionsthathaveledtotheirdecliningsubjectivewell‐being
shouldhavehadthesameeffectonblacks.Inotherwords,havetherebeenimprovementsinthe
welfareofblacksthathaveprotectedthemagainstgeneralsocietaltrendsthathavereducedwell‐
being?Orhaveblacksbeenunaffectedbythesocietaltrendsthathaveharmedthewell‐beingof
whites?
InourpreviousresearchwehaveshownthatthedeclineinAmericanwell‐beingamongwhites
isconcentratedamongwhitewomen(StevensonandWolfers2009).Incontrast,Americanwhitemen
havehadlittlechangeintheirreportedwell‐beingoverthepast35years.Inthatresearchwenote
22WilliamsandMohammed(2009)presentameta‐analysisoftheliteraturefromthemid‐2000sexaminingracialdiscriminationandhealthoutcomes.
21
thatthesetrendsmayreflectsocietaltrendsthathaveimpactedwomendifferentlyfrommen.
Similarly,thesetrendsmayhaveimpactedwhitewomendifferentlyfromblacks.Alternatively,these
trendsmayreflectbroadsocialtrendsthatshifthowweshouldinterpretpeople’sanswersto
subjectivewell‐beingquestions.Forinstance,satisfactionathomemayhavebeenamoreimportant
componentoflifesatisfactionforwomeninthepast.Aswomen’sliveshavechanged,somayhave
theirinterpretationoftheirwell‐being.Again,thereisaparallelpossibilitytoconsiderininterpreting
ourresultshere:thatthemeaningofwell‐beinghasshiftedforblacksalongwiththeirchangingsocial
situation.If,forexample,risingexpectationsareplayingaroleindampeningwell‐beingforblacks,
thenthiswouldimplythatthetrueincreaseinsubjectivewell‐beingforblacksisevenlargerthanwe
havemeasured.Finally,itissimplypossiblethatourresultscapturethepartialimprovement,beyond
objectivemeasures,inthelivesofblacksintheUnitedStatesoverthepast35years.
22
VI. References
Altonji,JosephG.,andRebeccaM.Blank.1999.RaceandGenderintheLaborMarket.HandbookofLaborEconomics,3(3),3143‐3259.
Blanchflower,DavidG.,andAndrewJ.Oswald.2004.Well‐BeingOverTimeinBritainandtheUSA.JournalofPublicEconomics,88(7‐8),1359‐1386.
Deaton,Angus.2008."Income,HealthandWellbeingAroundtheWorld:EvidencefromtheGallupWorldPoll"JournalofEconomicPrespectives,Spring,vol.22,iss.2,53‐72.
Donohue,JohnJ.,III,andHamesHeckman.1991.ContinuousversusEpisodicChange:TheImpactofCivilRightsPolicyontheEconomicStatusofBlacks.JournalofEconomicLiterature,29(4),1603‐1643.
Easterlin,Richard.1995."WillRaisingtheIncomesofAllIncreasetheHappinessofAll?"JournalofEconomicBehaviorandOrganization,27:1(June),35‐48.
Franks,Peter,PeterMuennig,EricaLubetkin,andHaomiaoJia.2006.TheburdenofdiseaseassociatedwithbeingAfrican‐AmericanintheUnitedStatesandtheContributionofSocioeconomicStatus.SocialScience&Medicine,62(10),2469‐2478.
Frey,WilliamH.2004.TheNewGreatMigration:BlackAmericans'ReturntotheSouth,1965‐2000.TheLivingCitiesCensusSeries.Washington,D.C.:TheBrookingsInstitution.
Herbst,ChrisM.2012.FootlooseandFancyFree?TwoDecadesofSingleMothers'SubjectiveWell‐Being.SocialServiceReview86:189‐222.
Hughes,MichaelandMelvinE.Thomas.1998.“TheContinuingSignificanceofRaceRevisited:AStudyofRace,Class,andQualityofLifeinAmerica,1972to1996.”AmericanJournalofSociology63:785–95.
Isen,Adam,andBetseyStevenson.2010.Women'sEducationandFamilyBehavior:TrendsinMarriage,DivorceandFertility.WorkingPaperNo.15725.NationalBureauofEconomicResearch,Cambridge,Mass.
KriegerNancy,DavidH.Rehkopf,JarisT.Chen,PamelaD.Waterman,EnricoMarcelli,andMalindaKennedy.2008."ThefallandriseofUSinequitiesinprematuremortality:1960–2002".PLOSMed5(2):e46.
Krueger,Alan,JesseRothstein,andSarahTurner.2006.Race,Income,andCollegein25Years:EvaluatingJusticeO'Connor'sConjecture.AmericanLawandEconomicsReview,8(2),282‐311.
MacDormanMarianF.,&MathewsTJ.UnderstandingracialandethnicdisparitiesinU.S.infantmortalityrates.NCHSdatabrief,no74.Hyattsville,MD:NationalCenterforHealthStatistics.2011
23
Pamuk,E.,D.Makuc,K.Heck,C.Reuben,andK.Lochner.1998.Socioeconomicstatusandhealthchartbook.Health,UnitedStates.
Sabol,WilliamJ.,HeatherC.West,MatthewCooper.2009.Prisonersin2008.NCJ228417.Washington,D.C.:U.S.DepartmentofJustice,BureauofJusticeStatistics.
Smith,DavidBarton.2005.RacialAndEthnicHealthDisparitiesAndTheUnfinishedCivilRightsAgenda.HealthAffairs,24(2),317‐324.
Smith,TomW.1990.TimelyArtifacts:AReviewofMeasurementVariationinthe1972‐1989GSS.NORC,UniversityofChicago.
Stevenson,Betsey,andJustinWolfers.2007.MarriageandDivorce:ChangesandTheirDrivingForces.JournalofEconomicPerspectives,27‐52.
Stevenson,Betsey,andJustinWolfers.2008a.EconomicGrowthandHappiness:ReassessingtheEasterlinParadox.BrookingsPapersonEconomicActivity,1‐87.
Stevenson,Betsey,andJustinWolfers.2008b.HappinessInequalityintheUnited.JournalofLegalStudies,37(S2),S33‐S79.
Stevenson,Betsey,andJustinWolfers.2009.TheParadoxofDecliningFemaleHappiness.AmericanEconomicJournal:EconomicPolicy,1(2),190‐225.
Thomas,MelvinE.,andMichaelHughes.1986.Thecontinuingsignificanceofrace:Astudyofrace,classandqualityoflifeinAmerica1972‐1985.AmericanSociologicalReview,51(6),830‐841.
U.S.CensusBureau.(2007).HistoricalTables,TableA‐5a.ThePopulation14to24YearsOldbyHighSchoolGraduateStatus,CollegeEnrollment,Attainment,Sex,RaceandHIspanicOrigin:October1976to0205.RetrievedSeptember9,2007,fromSchoolEnrollment:http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html
vanPraag,Bernard,andAdaFerrer‐i‐Carbonell.2004.HappinessQuantified:ASatisfactionCalculusApproach.OxfordUniversityPress.
Western,B.,andB.Pettit.2009.TechnicalReportonRevisedPopulationEstimatesandNLSY79AnalysisTablesforthePewPublicSafetyandMobilityProject.mimeo,HarvardUniversity,DepartmentofSociology,Cambridge,Mass.
Williams,DavidR.,andSalinaA.Mohammed.2009.Discriminationandracialdisparitiesinhealth:evidenceandneededresearch.JournalofBehavioralMedicine,32(1),20‐47.
Wilson,WilliamJulius.1980.TheDecliningSignificanceofRace:BlacksandChangingAmericanInstitutions.Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress.
Yang,Yang.2008.SocialinequalitiesinhappinessintheUnitedStates,1972‐2004:Anage‐period‐cohortanalysis.AmericanSociologicalReview,73(2),204‐226.
Figures—1
Figure1:SubjectiveWell‐beingintheUnitedStatesbyRace,1972‐2008
Data:GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.Notes:Orderedhappinesscategories(3=“Veryhappy”,2=“prettyhappy”and1=“nottoohappy”aretreatedascardinalvalues,andthenstandardizedtohaveawhole‐samplemeanofzero,andastandarddeviationofone.Figureshowsaveragevaluesineachsurveyround,forblacksandwhites,aswellastheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,andthetrendinthatgap.
-.449
-.269
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6St
anda
rdiz
ed h
appi
ness
inde
x
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Average: Blacks Average: WhitesBlack-white happiness gap 95% confidence interval
Taken all together, how would you say things are these days,would you say that you are: very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?
Trend in black-white happiness gap: 0.498 per century [se=0.198]
Figures—2
Figure2:SubjectiveWell‐BeingandIncome
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Notes:Wegroupthedatainto20equally‐spacedbins,basedonannualrealfamilyincomeperequivalenthousehold,andthedotsshowtheaveragewell‐beingandincome,foreachofthesegroups.Theregressionlineisfitfromaregressiononallindividuals,regressingwell‐beingonlogofthisincomevariable,controllingforafullsetofdummyvariablesforage,sexandrace,andtheirsecondandthird‐levelinteractions.
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Stan
dard
ized
hap
pine
ss in
dex
$2k $4k $8k $16k $32k $64k $128kAnnual family income per equivalent household ($2005; Log Scale)
Average happiness and incomefor each 5% of income distributionRegression line:Happiness = 0.186 * log(Family Income)Controlling for age*sex*race interactions
Figures—3
Figure3:IncarcerationandInstitutionalizationRates,byRace
Data:Incarcerationandinstitutionalizationratesarecalculatedbytheauthorsusingdatafromthe1970‐2000Census;2006‐2008ACS;BJStabulationscalculatedbyWesternandPettit2009.
Notes:Seefootnote15forconstructionoftheseseries.
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
Shar
e of
adu
lt po
pula
tion
curr
ently
inst
itutio
naliz
ed
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Total institutionalized population: Whites BlacksInstitutionalized in correctional facility: Whites BlacksIncarceration rate (Western and Pettit): Whites BlacksSpliced incarceration rate: Whites Blacks
Figures—4
Figure4:BoundingtheImpactofIncarcerationonSubjectiveWell‐being
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Notes:Foreachwell‐beingseries,twolinesareshown.Theupper(thicker)lineisthemeasuredwell‐beingdataplottedinFigure1;thelower(thinner)linealsoincludesallincarceratedpeople,assumingthattheyareinthelowestcategory,“nottoohappy.”
-.449
-.269
-.459
-.326
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
Stan
dard
ized
hap
pine
ss in
dex
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Blacks WhitesBlack-white happiness gap 95% confidence interval
Thin lines show averages if all prisoners are in the least happy category
Trend in black-white happiness gapRaw data: 0.498 per century [se=0.198]
Lower bound, including incarcerated: 0.371 per century [se=0.189]
Figures—5
Figure5:AnAlternativeDataset:LifeSatisfactionintheUnitedStatesbyRace,1985‐2005
Data:DDB‐NeedhamLifeStyleStudy,1985‐2005.
Notes:Orderedlifesatisfactioncategories(6=“Definitelyagree”;5=“Generallyagree”;4=“Moderatelyagree”;3=“Moderatelydisagree”;2=“Generallydisagree”;and1=“Definitelydisagree”aretreatedascardinalvalues,andthenstandardizedtohaveawhole‐samplemeanofzero,andastandarddeviationofone.Figureshowsaveragevaluesineachsurveyround,forblacksandwhites,aswellastheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,andthetrendinthatgap.
-.431
-.267
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
Stan
dard
ized
life
satis
fact
ion
inde
x
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Average: Blacks Average: WhitesBlack-white happiness gap 95% confidence interval
I am very satisfied with the way things are going in my life these days(6-point response scale; standardized)
Trend in black-white happiness gap: 0.819 per century [se=0.248]
Figures—6
Figure6:SubjectiveWell‐beingbyAgeandRaceintheUnitedStates,1972‐2008
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
-0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
Tren
d in
stan
dard
ized
hap
pine
ss in
dex
Ann
ual r
ate,
mul
tiple
d by
100
Men: 1
8-29 y
rs
Wom
en: 1
8-29 y
rs
Men: 3
0-44 y
rs
Wom
en: 3
0-44 y
rs
Men: 4
5-59 y
rs
Wom
en: 4
5-59 y
rs
Men: 6
0+ yr
s
Wom
en: 6
0+ yr
s
p-values denote whether there are statistically significant divergences across categories
Black happiness trend. (p=0.175)
White happiness trend (p=0.003)
Trend in black-white happiness gap: (p=0.177)
Figures—7
Figure7:Well‐beingandIncome,byRace
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Whites
Blacks
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
P10 P25 P50 P75 P90P10 P25 P50 P75 P90
$4k $8k $16k $32k $64k $128k
1970sWhites
Blacks
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
P10 P25 P50 P75 P90P10 P25 P50 P75 P90$4k $8k $16k $32k $64k $128k
1980s
Whites
Blacks
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
P10 P25 P50 P75 P90P10 P25 P50 P75 P90
$4k $8k $16k $32k $64k $128k
1990sWhites
Blacks
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
P10 P25 P50 P75 P90P10 P25 P50 P75 P90
$4k $8k $16k $32k $64k $128k
2000s
Hap
pine
ss (S
tand
ardi
zed
scal
e)
Annual equivalized family income ($2005)* Lines are local linear regressions of happiness on log(income) shown between the 10th and 90th percentiles of the income distribution. Shaded areas show 95% confidence intervals. Estimated using Epanechnikov kernel and rule-of-thumb bandwidth. P10, P25, P50, P75 and P90 denote the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of the respective income distributions.
Figures—8
Figure8:TrendsinPrejudice,byRegion
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
0.00.10.20.30.40.5
0.00.10.20.30.40.5
1970 1980 1990 2000 1970 1980 1990 2000
Northeast Midwest
South West
Would not vote for black president
Favor law against racial intermarriage
Object to sending child to school that is half black
Whites have the right to seg. neighborhood; Y/N
Prop
ortio
n of
whi
tes h
oldi
ng e
ach
view
Year
Graphs by Region
Tables—1
Table1:SubjectiveWell‐beingTrendsintheU.S.byRace,GeneralSocialSurvey(GSS)Data
, ∗ ∗ ,
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Dependent variable:(a) Standardized happiness scores Very happy Not too happy
: White Time Trend ‐0.161**
(0.060)
‐0.363***
(0.058)
‐0.256***
(0.065)
‐0.254***
(0.067)
n.a. ‐0.335***
(0.072)
‐0.140
(0.141)
: Black Time Trend 0.337
(0.231)
0.093
(0.221)
0.338
(0.221)
0.315
(0.247)
0.557**
(0.240)
0.259
(0.227)
‐0.463
(0.336)
: Black Dummy ‐0.449***
(0.037)
‐0.354***
(0.035)
‐0.304***
(0.033)
n.a. n.a. ‐0.456***
(0.044)
0.531***
(0.041)
Implied Trends in Racial Well‐being Gap (Black‐White)(b)
Difference in Time Trends 0.498**
(0.198)
0.456**
(0.187)
0.594***
(0.180)
0.569**
(0.213)
0.557**
(0.240)
0.594***
(0.198)
‐0.323
(0.243)
Racial well‐being gap in 1972 ‐0.449 ‐0.354 ‐0.304 ‐0.295 ‐0.291 ‐0.456
[‐15.7%‐pts]
0.531
[+12.5%‐pts]
Racial well‐being gap in 2008 ‐0.269 ‐0.190 ‐0.090 ‐0.091 ‐0.091 ‐0.309
[‐8.3%‐pts]
0.415
[+8.7%‐pts]
Control Variables(c)
Income (c)
Socioeconomic controls (d)
Socioeconomic controls * race (d)
Socioeconomic controls * time(d)
Notes: ***,**,and*denotestatisticallysignificantcoefficientsat1%,5%and10%,respectively.(Robuststandarderrorsinparentheses;clusteredbyyear)Sample:n=47,593blackorwhiterespondentsfromtheGeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.(a)Thedependentvariablerecordsresponsestothequestion:Takenalltogether,howwouldyousaythingsarethesedays.Wouldyousaythatyouare:;[3]Veryhappy;[2]Prettyhappy;[1]Nottoohappy.”Columns1‐5reportOLSregressions,wherethedependentvariableisthestandardizedresponse( 0; 1);columns6‐7reportprobitestimatesofthelikelihoodofrespondingthemostandleasthappycategories.Thecoefficientsonthewhiteandblacktimetrendsreportthechangeinwell‐beingper100years,whiletheblackdummyreportstheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapin1972.(b)Theracialwell‐beinggapin1972,2008areprojectionsbasedonreportedcoefficients,evaluatedatsamplemeans.(c)Incomeisaquarticinlogrealfamilyincomeperequivalent(usingtheOECDmodifiedequivalencescale,householdequivalents=1+0.5(otheradults)+0.3kids),andadummyforthe10%ofrespondentswithoutvalidincomedata.(d)Socioeconomiccontrolsincludeindicatorvariablesforgender;age(bydecade);employmentstatus(fullandpart‐time,temporaryillness/vacation/strike,unemployed,retired,inschool,keepinghouse,andother);maritalstatus(married,widowed,divorced,separatedandnevermarried);educationvariablescodethehighestdegreeearnedbytherespondent,therespondent’sfatherandmother(<highschool,highschool,associates/juniorcollege,bachelor’s,orgraduatedegrees);religion(protestant,catholic,jewish,other,ornone),and9censusregions.Separatedummyvariablesarealsoincludedformissingvaluesofeachcontrolvariable.(e)Incolumns4and5allcontrolsareinteractedwithracetoallowtheirassociationwithwell‐beingtodifferforblacksandwhites;andincolumn5,allcontrolsareinteractedwithtime,toallowfordifferentwell‐beingtrendsacrosssocioeconomicgroups.
Tables—2
Table2:ObjectiveIndicators
Blacks Whites 1970s 2000s 1970s 2000s
Median Wages of Men in Constant Dollars $20,958 $26,002 $34,749 $36,149
Median Wages of Women in Constant Dollars $11,020 $19,937 $12,177 $20,660
Median Household Income $26,319 $34,514 $45,733 $54,230
Percent of Families in Poverty 28.080% 21.600% 7.200% 7.900%
Percent of Young Men Incarcerated (18‐29) 2.193% 5.51% 0.354% 1.12%
Percent of Young Women Incarcerated (18‐29) 0.077% 0.213% 0.009% 0.074%
Percent of Children (under 18) in Single Parent
Homes 33.100% 46.229% 10.300% 18.211%
Life Expectancy at Birth 66.270 72.420 73.040 77.725
Percent Male High School Dropouts (18‐24 year olds) 28.100% 14.667% 14.680% 12.956%
Percent Female High School Dropouts (18‐24 year
olds)
25.230% 12.400% 14.750% 9.711%
Percent Young Men Enrolled in College (18‐24 year
olds)
19.654% 27.444% 29.838% 34.544%
Percent Young Women Enrolled in College (18‐24
year olds)
18.484% 35.611% 23.030% 41.067%
Notes:MedianwageswerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheUSCensusBureau.(2008).HistoricalTables.TableP‐5.RegionsofBlack[White]PeoplebyMedianIncomeandSex:1953to2008.RetrievedJune23,2010,fromPoverty:http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/index.htmlMedianhouseholdincomedatawereobtainedfromannualstatisticsprovidedbytheUSCensusBureau.(2008).Income,Poverty,andHealthInsuranceCoverageintheUnitedStates:2007.TableA‐1.HouseholdsbyTotalMoneyIncome,Race,andHispanicOriginofHouseholder:1967to2007.AveragesoffamiliesinpovertywerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheUSCensusBureau.(2008).HistoricalTables.Table4.PovertyStatus,byTypeofFamily,PresenceofRelatedChildren,RaceandHispanicOrigin.RetrievedJune23,2010,fromPoverty:http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/index.html.IncarcerationpercentageswerecalculatedbydividingthenumberofprisonersinFederalandStateprisonsbythetotalpopulationforthatdemographic.For1970,decennialcensusdatafromtheUSCensusBureauprovidedthedataforboththenumberofimprisonedandthetotalpopulation.Forthe2000s,annualdatafromtheBureauofJusticeStatisticsprovidedprisonercountsanddatafromtheAmericanCommunitySurveyprovidedthetotalpopulationestimates.PersonsinInstitutionsandOtherGroupQuarters.(1970).Table3.AgeofPersonsUnderCustodyinCorrectionalInstitutionsbyTypeofControlofInstitution,Sex,Race,andSpanishOrigin:1970.http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/42045398v2p4d4ech5.pdf.GeneralPopulationCharacteristics:UnitedStatesSummary.(1970).Table50.SingleYearsofAgebyRaceandSex.http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_us1‐07.pdf.Prisonersin2008.AppendixTable13.Estimatednumberofsentencedprisonersunderstateorfederaljurisdiction,bygender,race,Hispanicorigin,andage,December31,2008.http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p08.pdf.AmericanCommunitySurvey.TableB01001.SexByAge.Percentagesofchildreninsingleparenthomesfor1970swerecalculatedusingdecennialdatafromthe1970U.S.Census.(1970).PersonsbyFamilyCharacteristics.Table1.FamilyStatusofPersonsUnder18YearsOldbePresenceandMaritalStatusofParents,Age,andRace:1970.RetrievedJune28,2010fromSubjectReports:
Tables—3
http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/42045395v2p4a4cch05.pdf.Percentagesfor2000swerecalculatedbydividingthenumberofunder‐18childreninsingleparenthomesbythetotalnumberofunder‐18childrenforeachdemographicgroup.Eachmeasurewascalculatedusingdecennialdatafromthe2000U.S.Census.(2000).DetailedTables.PCT29.OwnChildrenUnder18YearsbyFamilyTypeandAge.Totalpopulationfiguresineachdemographicgroupwerecalculatedusingdecennialdatafromthe2000U.S.Census.(2000).DetailedTables.P12B.SexbyAge.RetrievedJune28,2010fromAmericanFactFinder.Lifeexpectancyaveragesforthe1970sand2000swerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheU.SNationalCenterforHealthStatistics.(2004).U.S.LifeTables,Table12.EstimatedLifeExpectancyatbirthinyears,byraceandsex,1900‐2000.RetrievedJune23,2010,FastStats:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/lifexpec.htmAveragesofhighschooldropoutsandcollegeenrollmentforthe1970sand2000swerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheU.S.CensusBureau.(2007).HistoricalTables,TableA‐5a.ThePopulation14to24YearsOldbyHighSchoolGraduateStatus,CollegeEnrollment,Attainment,Sex,RaceandHispanicOrigin:October1967to2008.RetrievedJune23,2010,fromSchoolEnrollment:http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html
Tables—4
Table3:TrendsinSubjectiveWell‐BeingbyU.S.DemographicGroup,GeneralSocialSurveyData,1972‐2008
Black‐white gap in 1972
Black‐white gap in 2008
Difference Trend for Blacks
Trend for Whites
Difference in the trends
Male
‐0.231***(0.089)
‐0.112*(0.069)
0.119
0.346(0.432)
0.015(0.096)
0.331(0.401)
Female
‐0.392***(0.083)
‐0.034(0.075)
0.358
0.587(0.430)
‐0.408***
(0.080)0.995(0.395)
18‐29
‐0.412***
(0.089)‐0.232**
(0.094) 0.1810.838*
(0.473)0.336**
(0.146)0.502(0.431)
30‐44
‐0.394***
(0.068)‐0.085
(0.072) 0.3090.724**
(0.367)‐0.135(0.103)
0.858(0.350)
45‐59
‐0.142
(0.102)‐0.089
(0.079) 0.054‐0.312(0.419)
‐0.461***(0.111)
0.149(0.455)
60+
‐0.312***
(0.098)0.152**
(0.064) 0.4640.631(0.501)
‐0.657***
(0.154)1.288(0.398)
Northeast
‐0.300***
(0.101)‐0.088
(0.065) 0.2120.473(0.412)
‐0.116(0.113)
0.590(0.373)
Midwest
‐0.200**
(0.101)‐0.149*
(0.081) 0.052‐0.049(0.430)
‐0.192*
(0.108)0.143(0.443)
South
‐0.444***
(0.068)‐0.014
(0.063) 0.4300.923***
(0.324)‐0.272***
(0.086)1.195(0.327)
West
‐0.275**
(0.141)‐0.040
(0.134) 0.2350.399(0.810)
‐0.254*
(0.147)0.653(0.690)
Suburban
and rural
‐0.326***
(0.096)
‐0.059
(0.081) 0.266
0.510(0.479)
‐0.229***
(0.072)
0.740(0.445)
Urban
‐0.305***
(0.052)
‐0.091*
(0.050) 0.213
0.406(0.264)
‐0.186*
(0.108)
0.592(0.237)
<High
School
‐0.233**
(0.102)
‐0.085
(0.107) 0.148
0.321(0.482)
‐0.090
(0.126)
0.411(0.498)
High School
‐0.327***
(0.065)
‐0.051
(0.072) 0.276
0.448(0.369)
‐0.319***
(0.076)
0.767(0.341)
Bachelors
and beyond ‐0.385***
(0.133)
‐0.106
(0.096) 0.279
0.739(0.675)
‐0.036
(0.159)
0.775(0.572)
<$15,000 ‐0.232***
(0.076)
‐0.055
(0.045) 0.176
0.270(0.346)
‐0.220*
(0.125)
0.490(0.313)
$15,000‐
<$25,000
‐0.263***
(0.102)
‐0.086
(0.119) 0.177
0.166(0.615)
‐0.325***
(0.117)
0.491(0.566)
$25,000‐
<$40,000
‐0.418***
(0.067)
0.040
(0.078) 0.459
0.948***
(0.311)‐0.326***
(0.078)
1.274(0.324)
>$40,000 ‐0.360**
(0.163)
‐0.173*
(0.099) 0.187
0.338(0.654)
‐0.182*
(0.101)
0.520(0.647)
Not
employed
‐0.405***
(0.109)
‐0.121
(0.104) 0.284
0.594(0.515)
‐0.195**
(0.082)
0.789(0.538)
Tables—5
Employed ‐0.265***
(0.064)
‐0.037
(0.048) 0.228
0.405(0.347)
‐0.228**
(0.114)
0.633(0.278)
Married ‐0.393***
(0.079)
‐0.003
(0.065) 0.390
0.896**
(0.389)‐0.187*
(0.100)
1.083(0.352)
Widowed 0.019
(0.126)
‐0.333***
(0.103) ‐0.352
‐0.824(0.644)
0.154
(0.260)
‐0.978(0.567)
Divorced /
Separated
‐0.347***
(0.107)
‐0.111
(0.100) 0.236
0.650(0.550)
‐0.006
(0.127)
0.656(0.526)
Never
married
‐0.179*
(0.096)
‐0.170*
(0.097) 0.009
‐0.534(0.523)
‐0.560***
(0.189)
0.025(0.489)
Data:GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.Notes:***,**,and*denotestatisticallysignificantcoefficientsat1%,5%and10%,respectively.(Robuststandarderrorsinparentheses;clusteredbyyear)
