Polarization Rates, Distributional Shifts, and
the Economic Cycle
This section looks at the basic distributions of male and female workers
across earnings intervals, how these have changed over the 1982-96 period,
and the evidence for any cyclical variation in these changes.
Table 1 shows the distribution of men and women workers across
earnings intervals for the two end years of the sample and for peak (1989)
Table 1: Distribution of Workers across Earnings Intervals
for Men and Women, Selected Years, 1982-1996
(percentages)
|
Very |
Low |
Low Middle |
High |
High |
Very High | |
|
All Workers | ||||||
|
1982 |
11.2 |
13.4 |
25.4 |
22.1 |
14.8 |
13.1 |
|
1983 |
12.0 |
13.9 |
24.2 |
21.3 |
14.8 |
13.9 |
|
1989 |
11.0 |
13.5 |
25.5 |
22.0 |
14.2 |
13.7 |
|
1992 |
12.4 |
14.0 |
23.6 |
21.0 |
14.0 |
15.0 |
|
1996 |
12.4 |
13.9 |
23.7 |
20.8 |
13.5 |
15.7 |
|
Mean |
11.77 |
13.80 |
24.41 |
21.29 |
14.24 |
14.47 |
|
Men | ||||||
|
1982 |
7.4 |
9.6 |
19.8 |
23.1 |
20.0 |
20.1 |
|
1983 |
8.2 |
10.5 |
19.1 |
21.2 |
19.7 |
21.3 |
|
1989 |
7.0 |
9.8 |
20.2 |
22.8 |
19.0 |
21.3 |
|
1992 |
9.4 |
11.3 |
19.5 |
20.2 |
17.5 |
22.1 |
|
1996 |
9.3 |
11.1 |
20.1 |
20.1 |
16.4 |
23.0 |
|
Mean |
8.17 |
10.52 |
19.75 |
21.25 |
18.41 |
21.91 |
|
Women | ||||||
|
1982 |
16.7 |
18.7 |
33.3 |
20.6 |
7.5 |
3.2 |
|
1983 |
17.2 |
18.5 |
31.3 |
21.4 |
8.1 |
3.5 |
|
1989 |
16.2 |
18.4 |
32.1 |
20.8 |
8.3 |
4.2 |
|
1992 |
16.0 |
17.3 |
28.5 |
21.9 |
9.7 |
6.5 |
|
1996 |
16.0 |
17.3 |
27.9 |
21.6 |
10.1 |
7.1 |
|
Mean |
16.37 |
17.98 |
30.38 |
21.31 |
8.91 |
5.03 |
458
Charles M. Beach and Ross Finnie