The Changing Cost of Being a Black Woman

Changes in the economic position of black women ages 26 to 64 who work full-time, year-round are compared to white women, utilizing the 1960 and 1970 Public Use Samples. When black women are given the average charactensncs of whites, and when their differential rates of return are compared, the average "cost" of being a black woman has diminished However, the average amount black women lose because they are inequitably distributed on these characteristics has increased Johnson and Sell (1976) found that the cost of being a black male has increased but black men are more equitably distributed on educational, occupational, and regional characteristics These findings suggest that legislation involving equal pav for equal work has improved the economic status of black women, while upward mobility is responsible for the improved status of black men