Search Results

Author: O'Neill, June E.
Resulting in 22 citations.
1. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
A Dynamic Model of Women's Work
Working Paper, Center for the Study of Business and Government, Baruch College, New York NY, 1989
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: City University of New York
Keyword(s): Education; Fertility; Life Cycle Research; Marital Status; Women; Work Attachment; Work Histories

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This analysis uses data from the NLS of Young Women to examine changes in life-cycle work patterns across cohorts of women born between 1944 and 1954. The authors examine intercohort changes in schooling, births, marital status and ask how the timing and duration of spells in and out of the labor force have changed across cohorts. Multiple spell hazard rate modelling and rich longitudinal data allowed the authors to distinguish among secular, cohort, and duration effects on labor force behavior.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "A Dynamic Model of Women's Work." Working Paper, Center for the Study of Business and Government, Baruch College, New York NY, 1989.
2. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
A Study of Intercohort Change in Women's Work patterns and Earning
NLS Discussion Paper No. 92-10, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington DC, December 1990.
Also: http://stats.bls.gov/ore/abstract/nl/nl900040.htm
Cohort(s): Mature Women, NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Divorce; Labor Force Participation; Life Cycle Research; Marriage; Schooling; Skills; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap; Wages, Men; Wages, Women; Work Experience; Work Reentry

After remaining virtually constant during the poet-World War II period, the ratio of women's earnings to men'a increased sharply during the 1980'a, rising from 59.7 percent in 1979 to 68.5 percent in 1989. The failure of the overall wage gap to narrow during the 1950-1980 period has been something of a puzzle. This research utilizes data from the three continuing panels of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) -- the mature women, the young women' and the youth cohort -- to measure accumulated years of work experience and to examine changes in life-cycle work patterns across successive cohorts of women born between 1923 and 1964. This study has investigated how these successive cohorts of women have changed with respect to their accumulation of work-related skills, in terms of level of schooling, career orientation, and attachment to the labor force. We consider how the nature of entry into and exit from the labor force changed across cohorts and how the response of women's labor force participation decisions to life-cycle events (e.g., marriage, the birth of a child, divorce) may have changed. Intercohort changes in women' a returns to work experience, schooling, and other human capital investments are also considered. This research has yielded important insights into the nature and determinants of the work patterns and earnings of American women.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "A Study of Intercohort Change in Women's Work patterns and Earning." NLS Discussion Paper No. 92-10, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington DC, December 1990.
3. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
Family Endowments and the Achievement of Young Children with Special Reference to the Underclass
Journal of Human Resources 29,4 (Autumn 1994): 1064-1100.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/146134
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Educational Attainment; Family Resources; Grandmothers; Income; Income Level; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers, Education; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Underclass; Welfare; Work Hours/Schedule

A study investigates the factors underlying cognitive achievement among young children using a Becker-Tomes model of intergenerational transmission adapted to incorporate transmission of a family's cultural orientation toward achievement. The model relates the child's achievement to parental income and cognitive skills as well as to grandparent's income and education. Using data on Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) scores for children born to women in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth, large and significant positive effects are found for the mother's Armed Forces Qualification Test score, her schooling, and the grandparents' schooling. It is found that increases in the mother's hours at work bear significant negative effects on her child's achievement. The effect is only partially compensated for by higher money income among these young children. The mother's welfare dependence is associated with a reduction in the child's PPVT score, an effect that is not explained by poverty persistence. (ABI/Inform)
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "Family Endowments and the Achievement of Young Children with Special Reference to the Underclass." Journal of Human Resources 29,4 (Autumn 1994): 1064-1100.
4. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
Intercohort Change in Women's Labor Market Status
Final Report, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 1991
Cohort(s): Mature Women, NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Earnings; Fertility; Labor Force Participation; Life Cycle Research; Marital Status; Schooling; Wage Gap; Women; Work Attachment; Work Experience

This research utilizes data from the three continuing panels of the NLS--the Mature Women, the Young Women, and the NLSY--to measure accumulated years of work experience and to examine changes in life-cycle work patterns across successive cohorts of women born between 1923 and 1964. This study first investigated how these successive cohorts of women have changed with respect to their accumulation of work-related skills, in terms of level of schooling, career orientation, and attachment to the labor force. The authors considered how the nature of entry into and exit from the labor force changed across cohorts and how the response of women's labor force participation decisions to life-cycle events (e.g., marriage, the birth of a child, divorce) may have change Intercohort changes in women's returns to work experience, schooling, and other human ca also considered. Increases and declines of labor force participation is measured for black and white women.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "Intercohort Change in Women's Labor Market Status." Final Report, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 1991.
5. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
Intergenerational Transmission of Achievement, with Special Reference to the Underclass
Progress Report to NICHD, Center for the Study of Business and Government, Baruch College, CUNY, July 1991
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: City University of New York
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Behavior; Behavioral Problems; Census of Population; General Assessment; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Modeling; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Neighborhood Effects; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Public Housing; Underclass

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study explores the extent to which a child's own and maternal family backgrounds exert an effect on the child cognitive achievement and social development and further tries to identify the effects of underclass neighborhood characteristics and resources provided by the community. The research utilizes a large national sample of children merged with: (a) extensive data on their mothers and grandparents (the NLSY 1979-1988) and (b) information on the social and economic characteristics of their neighborhoods drawn from the 1980 Census ZIP Code files. The first model relates the child's scores on various assessments conducted in 1986 and 1988 to the child's own family structure a well as the mother's schooling and cognitive skills, the extent of her underclass behavior and residence in an underclass neighborhood. This model yields disturbing results. The second model is intergenerational and relates child's scores to a limited set of child characteristics and an extensive set of variables describing the mother's family (family structure, family income, family welfare receipt in 1979) and her 1979 residence (public housing, underclass neighborhood, region, and SMSA size). These empirical results are equally provocative. Other child out measures examined include assessments of motor development, behavior problems, and math skills.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "Intergenerational Transmission of Achievement, with Special Reference to the Underclass." Progress Report to NICHD, Center for the Study of Business and Government, Baruch College, CUNY, July 1991.
6. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
The Transmission of Cognitive Achievement Across Three Generations
Working Paper, New York: Queens College and Center for Business and Government, Baruch College, City University of New York, June 1993
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: City University of New York
Keyword(s): Achievement; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Cognitive Ability; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Neighborhood Effects; Parental Influences; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Transfers, Family; Underclass

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The concern of this paper is with the determinants of cognitive skills. Of particular interest are the extent to which low levels of achievement are transferred from generation to generation and the role played by such factors as the absence of the father, parental welfare dependence, and residence in an underclass neighborhood. To examine the intergenerational persistence of various parental and environmental influences we first relate children's achievement (generation 3) to the characteristics of their grandparents (generation 1) and compare these results with a similar analysis of the effect of the same grandparent characteristics on their own daughter's achievement (generation 2, mothers of the young children). The mothers of the young children are women from the National Longitudinal Survey Youth (NLSY). Information on generation 1 (i.e., the grandparents) is also provided in the NLSY. We then proceed to analyze in greater detail the cognitive outcomes of the young children (generation 3) relating them to the endowment and behaviors of their immediate parents.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "The Transmission of Cognitive Achievement Across Three Generations." Working Paper, New York: Queens College and Center for Business and Government, Baruch College, City University of New York, June 1993.
7. Hill, M. Anne
O'Neill, June E.
Underclass Behaviors in the United States: Measurement and Analysis of Determinants
Working Paper, Baruch College/City University of New York, 1990
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: City University of New York
Keyword(s): Behavior; Childbearing; Educational Attainment; Illegal Activities; Labor Force Participation; Underclass; Welfare; Work Attachment

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study utilizes the NLSY and the 1980 Census Zip Code File to develop measures of the incidence of underclass behaviors and to examine how this incidence varies by race, ethnicity, geographic area, and whether or not the individual came from an underclass background. The underclass behaviors to be studied include low labor force attachment, welfare dependence, out- of-wedlock child-bearing, criminal involvement, and low educational attainment.
Bibliography Citation
Hill, M. Anne and June E. O'Neill. "Underclass Behaviors in the United States: Measurement and Analysis of Determinants." Working Paper, Baruch College/City University of New York, 1990.
8. Kaestner, Robert
Korenman, Sanders D.
O'Neill, June E.
Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 22,2 (Spring 2003): 225-248.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.10115/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Behavior; Family Background and Culture; Fertility; Welfare; Well-Being

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts were used to compare welfare use, fertility, educational attainment, and marriage among teenage women in the years before and immediately following welfare reform. The first objective was to document differences between these cohorts in welfare use and outcomes and behavior correlated with entry into welfare and with future economic and social well-being. The second objective was to investigate the causal role of welfare reform in behavioral change. Significant differences were found between cohorts in welfare use and in outcomes related to welfare use. Furthermore, difference-in-differences estimates suggest that welfare reform has been associated with reduced welfare receipt, reduced fertility, and reduced marriage among young women who, because of a disadvantaged family background, are at high risk of welfare receipt. Finally, in the post-welfare reform era, teenage mothers are less likely to receive welfare and are more likely to live with at least one parent than in the pre-reform era. Establishing more definitively that welfare reform is responsible for these changes will require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright: 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Bibliography Citation
Kaestner, Robert, Sanders D. Korenman and June E. O'Neill. "Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?" Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 22,2 (Spring 2003): 225-248.
9. Kaestner, Robert
O'Neill, June E.
Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?
NBER Working Paper No. 8932, National Bureau of Economic Research, May 2002.
Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w8932
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Educational Attainment; Marital Status; Program Participation/Evaluation; Welfare

We use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts to compare welfare use, fertility rates, educational attainment, and marriage rates among teenage women in the years before and the years immediately following welfare reform. Our first objective is to document differences between these cohorts in welfare use and outcomes and behaviors correlated with 'entry' into welfare, and with future economic and social well-being. Our second objective is to investigate the causal role of welfare reform in behavioral change. We find significant differences between cohorts in welfare use and in outcomes related to welfare use. Further, difference-in-differences estimates suggest that welfare reform has been associated with reduced welfare receipt, reduced fertility, reduced marriage, and lower school drop-out among young women who, because of a disadvantaged family background, are at high risk of welfare receipt (relative to those at lower risk). Finally, in the post-welfare reform era, teenage mothers are less likely to receive welfare and are more likely to live with a spouse or to live with at least one parent than in the pre-reform era. Establishing definitively that welfare reform is responsible for these changes among teenagers will require further investigation.
Bibliography Citation
Kaestner, Robert and June E. O'Neill. "Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?" NBER Working Paper No. 8932, National Bureau of Economic Research, May 2002.
10. O'Neill, Dave M.
O'Neill, June E.
Lessons for Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the AFDC Caseload and Past Welfare-to-Work Programs
Kalamazoo, MI: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1997
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Benefits; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Earnings; Income; Labor Force Participation; Welfare; Work Experience

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using CPS and NLSY data, O'Neill and O'Neill explore patterns of welfare use, and focus on the duration of welfare participation both in single episode and multiple spells. Here they also examine correlates of short-term and long-term participation. Using personal characteristics as their criteria, the authors identify the population groups most likely to encounter problems with the newly-imposed time limits on benefits. They also identify factors associated with work experience, earnings and incomes of those who exited welfare, and potential market earnings of those who remain on welfare.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, Dave M. and June E. O'Neill. Lessons for Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the AFDC Caseload and Past Welfare-to-Work Programs. Kalamazoo, MI: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1997.
11. O'Neill, June E.
Catching Up: The Gender Gap in Wages, Circa 2000
Presented: Washington, DC, Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, January 2003
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Employment; Gender Differences; Wage Gap; Wages, Women; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The transition of women in to the U.S. labor market was surely one of the most profound economic and social changes of the 20th century. In 1900 about 20 percent of women were in the labor force. This percentage rose to about 34 in 1950 and reached 61 percent in 2000; not far below the 75-percent participation rate of men. A key element in this change was the dramatic rise in market work among married women with children under the age of 18, whose labor-force participation increased from a rate of 18 percent in 1950 to 71 percent in 2000. However, for much of the last 50 years the rise in women's labor-force activity and its growing convergence with that of men, did not appear to be matched by a narrowing of the gender gap in pay...Through the years the gender gap in wages frequently has been a source of public concern and a puzzle to researchers. In this paper, I examine evidence from the Current Population Survey and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) on recent trends and current sources of the gender gap.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "Catching Up: The Gender Gap in Wages, Circa 2000." Presented: Washington, DC, Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, January 2003.
12. O'Neill, June E.
Determinants and Wage Effects of Occupational Segregation
Report, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Research and Evaluation, U.S.Department of Labor, (Washington DC: The Urban Institute), 1983
Cohort(s): Young Men, Young Women
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Earnings; Occupational Segregation; Occupations, Female

This study analyzes data from the March 1980 Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Young Men and Young Women panels of the NLS (aged 24 to 34 in 1976 and 1978 respectively). The study examined the following two issues: (1) what underlying factors can explain the difference in male and female occupational distributions and (2) what is the net effect on earnings of being in a disproportionately female occupation, i.e., controlling for other factors known to affect earnings. [NTIS PB83-220665]
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "Determinants and Wage Effects of Occupational Segregation." Report, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Research and Evaluation, U.S.Department of Labor, (Washington DC: The Urban Institute), 1983.
13. O'Neill, June E.
Gender Gap in Wages, circa 2000
American Economic Review 93,2 (May 2003): 309-315.
Also: http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10016000&db=buh
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Gender Differences; Modeling; Skills; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Examines evidence from the Current Population Survey and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on trends and sources of the gender gap in wages in the United States in 2000. Factors underlying gender differences in skills; Major changes that have occurred in the gender differential in earnings-related characteristics in the 1979-2001 period; Highlights of the model specifications.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "Gender Gap in Wages, circa 2000." American Economic Review 93,2 (May 2003): 309-315.
14. O'Neill, June E.
Recent Trends and Current Sources of the Gender Wage Gap in the U.S.
Presented: Buch, Germany, IZA/SOLE Transatlantic Meeting of Labor Economists, June 2003.
Also: http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/events/transatlantic/papers_2003/oneil.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Gender Differences; Wage Gap

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Between 1983 and 2001 the female to male hourly wage ratio increased from 70% to 80%. I use the Current Population Survey (CPS) outgoing rotation groups, merged with data on occupational characteristics, to identify basic sources of that trend and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 cohort (NLSY79) to analyze in more depth the gender gap for workers ages 35-43 in 2000. The CPS analysis indicates that gender differences in basic demographic variables accounted for a larger share of the unadjusted wage gap in the 1980s than in the 1990s, primarily because of convergence in schooling. Years of work experience are not measured in the CPS. However, I infer that the gender gap in actual work experience is likely to have continued to narrow in the 1990s (it is known to have narrowed in the 80's) because women's returns to potential experience continued to increase relative to men's; and this was a significant factor in narrowing the unadjusted wage gap. (My inference is based on the presumption that the return to potential experience in part reflects the ratio of actual to potential experience.) However, women and men continue to be employed in quite different occupations. As other factors have converged, occupational characteristics, reflecting features that are compatible with women's dual home/market roles, account for a larger component of the wage gap. Adjusted for male-female differences in demographic, workplace and occupational characteristics, the female/male wage ratio rose from 84% in 1983 to 90% in 2001.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "Recent Trends and Current Sources of the Gender Wage Gap in the U.S." Presented: Buch, Germany, IZA/SOLE Transatlantic Meeting of Labor Economists, June 2003.
15. O'Neill, June E.
Review of the National Longitudinal Surveys
Prepared for the Office of Research and Evaluation, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 1982
Cohort(s): NLS General
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Attrition; Behavioral Problems; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Labor Market Outcomes; Longitudinal Data Sets; NLS Description

This paper, prepared in 1982 for the Department of Labor's Office of Research and Evaluation, Employment and Training Administration, reviews policy uses, both past and planned, of data from the five cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS). It notes that the NLS had already produced a large volume of useful information, that this information would not have been available from other sources, and that a wide variety of users in federal and state government rely on data from the NLS in formulating policy. Ten policy areas are discussed: (1) unemployment and related labor market issues; (2) the DOL's employment and training programs; (3) women's labor force participation and male-female earnings differentials; (4) aging and retirement; (5) education and labor market outcomes; (6) health, disability and mortality; (7) alcohol use and delinquent behavior among young people; (8) fertility among the general population and teenagers; (9) military manpower issues; and (10) validation and supplementation of national statistics. The paper concludes with a discussion of attrition including a copy of a Census Bureau report evaluating the continued representativeness of the four original NLS cohorts after ten years of interviews. Statements from various departments within the DOL, i.e., the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Employment Standards Administration, the Employment and Training Administration, etc., on the continued interest of these agencies in utilizing NLS data and a partial bibliography of research generated from the NLS are provided within appendices to this report.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "Review of the National Longitudinal Surveys." Prepared for the Office of Research and Evaluation, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 1982.
16. O'Neill, June E.
Some Relevant Policy Uses of the NLS
Social Indicators Newsletter 18 (September 1983): 1-10
Cohort(s): NLS General
Publisher: Social Science Research Council
Keyword(s): Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Longitudinal Data Sets; Mortality; NLS Description

This paper presents an overview of the NLS and reviews some of its uses which relate to specific broad areas of social policy in the United States. Based upon a longer report prepared for the Office of Research and Evaluation, Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, it surveys NLS findings that have been used for guiding policies as well as issues that members of the policy community have expressed an interest in addressing in the future. Information on the use of the NLS was gathered from a variety of sources--staff of federal and state government agencies and congressional committees, researchers, published articles and testimony. This brief review indicates that the NLS already have produced much useful information that would not have been available from other sources, and that a wide variety of users in federal and state government rely on the NLS in formulating policy. Special attention is given to studies on unemployment and related labor market issues; women's labor force participation and male-female earnings differentials; and aging and retirement. Other uses of the NLS which are discussed at some length in the full report concern the issues of health, education, disability and mortality, alcohol use and delinquency in youth, fertility, military manpower and the evaluation of Department of Labor training and employment programs.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "Some Relevant Policy Uses of the NLS." Social Indicators Newsletter 18 (September 1983): 1-10.
17. O'Neill, June E.
The Role of Human Capital in Earnings Differences Between Black and White Men
Journal of Economic Perspectives 4,4 (Autumn 1990): 25-45.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1942720
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Census of Population; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Human Capital Theory; Racial Differences; Tests and Testing

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper examines some of the factors behind the continuing earnings differentials for black and white men. After tracing some of the historical factors impacting blacks' acquisition of human capital, specifically schooling, from the late 1800s through the 1980s, the author details the earnings disparities that persisted, regardless of educational attainment or region, for black men during the period 1940-1980. Two factors that are thought to have impacted on the rise in relative earnings of black men during these forty years, improvements in the quality of schooling and a decline in labor market discrimination against blacks, are discussed. Utilizing data from the NLSY on respondents' AFQT scores, school records and earnings, the author examines whether the continuing differences in educational achievement as measured by the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) which have persisted for blacks regardless of the number of years of schooling completed explain the earnings disparity between blacks and whites. It was found that: (1) scores on the AFQT showed a positive correlation with wages, holding schooling constant; (2) the effect of AFQT scores was larger for blacks than for whites; and (3) the standard measures of schooling quality studied had no effect on the wages of the young men studied.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "The Role of Human Capital in Earnings Differences Between Black and White Men." Journal of Economic Perspectives 4,4 (Autumn 1990): 25-45.
18. O'Neill, June E.
The Trend in the Male-Female Wage Gap in the United States
Journal of Labor Economics 3,1 (January 1985): S91-S116.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2534999
Cohort(s): Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Gender Differences; Labor Force Participation; Skills; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap; Wages, Men; Wages, Women; Women; Work Experience

This paper examines the extent to which changes in the characteristics of men and women in the labor force account for the continuing sex differential in wages. Utilizing data from the NLS of Young Women and Mature Women, it was found that: (1) changes in skill level (measured by a decline in women's average years of schooling) and an increase in both job tenure and overall work experience underlie observed patterns of change in the pay gap; (2) high levels of unemployment coupled with the depression of wages of less experienced workers work to widen the hourly pay gap; and (3) changes over time in the wage gap differ by age and race.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. "The Trend in the Male-Female Wage Gap in the United States." Journal of Labor Economics 3,1 (January 1985): S91-S116.
19. O'Neill, June E.
Bassi, Laurie
Wolf, Douglas
The Duration of Welfare Spells
Review of Economics and Statistics 69,2 (May 1987): 241-248.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1927231
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Welfare; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Probability distributions for the duration of welfare spells are estimated utilizing data from the NLS of Young Women. The principle guiding the work is that a recipient won't exit from welfare if the expected utility on welfare exceeds the expected utility off welfare. Our analysis indicates that while the majority of welfare spells are of short duration, a non-trivial minority of spells are quite long. Those recipients with long spells are found to differ in predictable ways from those experiencing brief spells. This suggests that strategies to move women off welfare are necessary in many cases, and should be targeted on those most likely to be long-term recipients.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E., Laurie Bassi and Douglas Wolf. "The Duration of Welfare Spells." Review of Economics and Statistics 69,2 (May 1987): 241-248.
20. O'Neill, June E.
Hill, M. Anne
Gaining Ground, Moving Up: The Change in the Economic Status of Single Mothers Under Welfare Reform
Civic Report 35, Center for Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, March 2003.
Also: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_35.htm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Manhatten Institute
Keyword(s): Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Ethnic Differences; Fertility; Maternal Employment; Minimum Wage; Parents, Single; Poverty; Racial Differences; Welfare

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In Section I, we examine poverty rates for single mothers and their families, before and after welfare reform. We find that poverty declined to record lows in the post-welfare reform period for all groups of single mothers, including those from racial and ethnic minorities and those with limited education who had sharply reduced their welfare participation from relatively high levels. Using panel data restricted to welfare leavers, we also find that poverty declined among single mothers who left welfare after welfare reform, and that a woman?s likelihood of being poor continued to decline with the passage of time. In short, the poverty data show that single mothers substantially increased their incomes by leaving welfare and going to work.

In Section II, we detail changes in the work participation of single mothers and find that both the percentage employed and the intensity of employment increased dramatically in the post-reform period. We update and expand our earlier analysis of the determinants of work participation to include additional variables (such as the Earned Income Tax Credit) and again find that welfare reform was the most important factor explaining the rise in employment in the post-reform years, accounting for more than 40% of the employment gains.

In Section III, we examine the annual and hourly earnings of all single mothers as well as those who left welfare. We find that single mothers, on average, earned $11.60 per hour in 2001, considerably more than the minimum wage. In fact, only 4% of working single mothers earned at or below the minimum; and even among those who are high school dropouts, only 8% were at or below the minimum. More importantly, we find that mothers who leave welfare, like workers generally, earn more per hour for each year they remain at work, and their hourly pay is further enhanced for each year they stay with the same employer.

Finally, in Section IV, we examine inflation-adjusted changes in total income and its components for single mother households from 1993?2000. We find that the gain from increased earnings far outweighed the loss in welfare benefits, resulting in a 29% rise in single mothers? own cash income between 1993 and 2000, even after averaging in those reporting zero cash income. Similar gains were experienced by single mothers at all levels, even those who had dropped out of high school.

Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. and M. Anne Hill. "Gaining Ground, Moving Up: The Change in the Economic Status of Single Mothers Under Welfare Reform." Civic Report 35, Center for Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, March 2003.
21. O'Neill, June E.
O'Neill, Dave M.
The Declining Importance of Race and Gender in the Labor Market: The Role of Employment Discrimination Policies
Washington, DC: AEI Press, 2012
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Keyword(s): Discrimination; Discrimination, Employer; Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Discrimination, Sex; Gender Attitudes/Roles; Labor Force Participation; Legislation; Racial Differences; Racial Equality/Inequality; Wage Gap

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The Declining Importance of Race and Gender in the Labor Market provides historical background on employment discrimination and wage discrepancies in the United States and on government efforts to address employment discrimination. It examines the two federal institutions tasked with enforcing Title VII and the 1964 Civil Rights Act: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). It also provides a quantitative analysis of racial and gender wage gaps and seeks to determine what role, if any, the EEOC and the OFCCP had in narrowing these gaps over time and analyzes the data to determine the extent of employment discrimination today.
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E. and Dave M. O'Neill. The Declining Importance of Race and Gender in the Labor Market: The Role of Employment Discrimination Policies. Washington, DC: AEI Press, 2012.
22. O'Neill, June E.
Wolf, Douglas
Bassi, Laurie
Hannan, Michael
An Analysis of Time on Welfare
Report, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 1984
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Urban Institute
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Attitudes; Longitudinal Data Sets; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Welfare

This project identified the factors that lead to long-term welfare dependency and determined the effect of long- term dependency on a person's attitudes and life outlook. The study consisted of two major tasks. The first task was an empirical analysis of welfare dependency. This included using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Survey to estimate the duration of AFDC spells, analyze the correlates of welfare dependency, and analyze the effect of welfare duration on psychological traits. The second task evaluated the potential usefulness of a new survey. The second report discusses a possible survey design and implementation plan, and presents a research design for analyzing new data. [NTIS PB84-225713]
Bibliography Citation
O'Neill, June E., Douglas Wolf, Laurie Bassi and Michael Hannan. "An Analysis of Time on Welfare." Report, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 1984.