PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Michael A. Schultz
TI  - The Wage Mobility of Low-Wage Workers in a Changing Economy, 1968 to 2014
AID  - 10.7758/RSF.2019.5.4.06
DP  - 2019 Sep 01
TA  - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
PG  - 159--189
VI  - 5
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/5/4/159.short
4100  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/5/4/159.full
AB  - How are changes in the low-wage labor market affecting the mobility of workers out of low-wage work? I investigate changes in the wage mobility of workers starting employment spells in low wages using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1968 to 2014 and discrete-time event history analysis. About half of all low-wage workers move to better wages within four years. Effects on mobility rates are significant by age, gender, race, education, occupation, and job characteristics. Mobility rates out of low-wage work have declined since the late 1990s. Little progress has been made in closing the gaps in mobility for women and nonwhites over time. I find evidence for the decline of firm internal labor markets and lower mobility for part-time workers over time.