The Impact of Metropolitan Residential Segregation on the Employment Chances of Blacks and Whites in the United States

Studies of residential segregation's role in creating employment inequality between blacks and whites have focused on the characteristics of neighborhoods (e. g., mean SES or distance from job centers). In contrast, this study considers the broader structure of metropolitan segregation in which neighborhoods are situated and its impact on the racial disparity in access to employment opportunities. The study employs multilevel analyses and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to test the effects of metropolitan segregation in 1980 on respondents' probability of being employed by 1990 net of individual and family level characteristics, and to assess the role of segregation in explaining the race gap in employment between blacks and whites. The analyses reveal that residential segregation decreases employment odds for blacks, but not for whites, and explains the residual race gap in the probability of being employed. In addition, the depressive effect of segregation on employment is weaker for black women than it is for black men.