Subjective and Objective Indicators of Racial Progress * Betsey Stevenson The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan & CESifo and NBER [email protected] http://www.nber.org/~bstevens Justin Wolfers The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy & Department of Economics, University of Michigan & CAMA, CESifo, CEPR, IZA and NBER [email protected] http://www.nber.org/~jwolfers
Abstract
Progressinclosingdifferencesinmanyobjectiveoutcomesforblacksrelativetowhiteshasslowed,
andevenworsened,overthepastthreedecades.However,overthisperiodtheracialgapinwell‐
beinghasshrunk.Intheearly1970sdatarevealedmuchlowerlevelsofsubjectivewell‐beingamong
blacksrelativetowhites.Investigatingvariousmeasuresofwell‐being,wefindthatthewell‐beingof
blackshasincreasedbothabsolutelyandrelativetothatofwhites.Whilearacialgapinwell‐being
remains,two‐fifthsofthegaphasclosedandthesegainshaveoccurreddespitelittleprogressin
closingotherracialgapssuchasthoseinincome,employment,andeducation.Muchofthecurrent
racialgapinwell‐beingcanbeexplainedbydifferencesintheobjectiveconditionsofthelivesofblack
andwhiteAmericans.Thusmakingfurtherprogresswilllikelyrequireprogressinclosingracialgaps
inobjectivecircumstances.
Thisdraft:March15,2013
Keywords:Subjectivewell‐being,lifesatisfaction,happiness,race
JELcodes:D6,I32,J1,J7,K1
*TheauthorswouldliketothankseminarparticipantsatWhartonandparticipantsattheUniversityof
ChicagoLawandEconomicsofRaceconference,aswellasJonathonMasurforusefuldiscussions.
BetseyStevensonwouldliketothankSloanforsupportthroughaWork‐FamilyEarlyCareer
DevelopmentGrantandtheNationalInstitutesofHealth‐NationalInstituteonAging(grantP30
AG12836),theBoettnerCenterforPensionsandRetirementSecurityattheUniversityof
Pennsylvania,andNationalInstitutesofHealth–NationalInstituteofChildHealthandHuman
DevelopmentPopulationResearchInfrastructureProgram(grantR24HD‐044964)attheUniversityof
Pennsylvaniaforfunding.
I.
Introduction TheCivilRightsMovementrevolutionizedthelivesofblacksintheUnitedStates.Aseriesoflegal
victoriesandpublicpolicychangesinthe1950sand1960soutlaweddejurediscrimination.These
legalandpolicychanges—BrownvBoardofEducation(37U.S.483[1954]),theCivilRightsActof
1964,theVotingRightsActof1965,andtheFairHousingActof1968—openedthedoorstoschools,
jobs,housing,andprivateestablishmentsthatservedthepublic,throughoutthecountry.Sociologists
havearguedthatduringthisperiodblackmenandwomenexperiencedlargeimprovementsin
occupationalstatus,whichledtotheriseoftheblackmiddleclass.1
Theselegalandpolicychangesyieldedimprovementsintheobjectivecircumstancesofthelivesof
blacks,particularlyintheperiodrightafterthelawswerepassed.DonohueandHeckman(1991)
studythetimingofthechangesinthelawsandlabormarketgainsaccruingtoblackmen.They
concludethatthewagegainsexperiencedbyblackmenrelativetowhitemenintheperiodfrom1965
to1975wereduetothereductionindejurediscrimination,particularlyintheSouth.2However,since
then,theearningsgapbyracehaswidenedforbothmenandwomen.AltonjiandBlank(1999,p.
3149)notethat“althoughblackmen'swagesrosefasterthanwhitemen'sinthe1960sandearly
1970s,therehasbeenlittlerelativeimprovement(andevensomedeterioration)inthe25yearssince
then.”Inthedecadesincetheirarticletherehasbeenlittlechangeintheratioofmedianweekly
earningsofblackandwhitemen.3
Atthetimeofthelegalreforms,blacksreportedlevelsofsubjectivewell‐beingthatwerewell
belowthoseofwhites.Sociologistsexaminingdataonsubjectivewell‐beinghavepointedtothislarge
gapandconcludedthatimprovementsinthecivilrightsofblackshavehadlittleimpactontheir
subjectivewell‐beingdespitehavingmadeimprovementsinobjectivemeasures.In1986,Thomasand
HughesevaluateddatafromtheGeneralSocialSurvey(GSS),showingthat“blacksscoreconsistently
lowerthanwhitesonmeasuresofpsychologicalwell‐being.”Further,theyarguedthat“the
differencesbetweenblacksandwhitesremainedconstantbetween1972and1985.”Thisledthemto
concludethatracecontinuestobeanimportantfactordeterminingsubjectivewell‐being,“inspiteof
recentchangesinthesocialandlegalstatusofblackAmericans”(ThomasandHughes1986,p.830).
1Wilson(1980,pp.126‐30);ThomasandHughes(1986)
2DonohueandHeckman(1991)pointtotheexperienceofepisodic,ratherthancontinuous,wagegainsas
evidencethatthegainsreflectedthelegalreformsinsteadofbeingpartofbroadertrendsininequality.
3
Medianusualweeklyearningsofemployedfulltime,wageandsalaryworkers,BlackorAfricanAmerican,men
andwhitemen,CurrentPopulationSurvey.
In1998,theyre‐visitedthequestionandconcludedthatevenwiththelongerrunofdata,therehad
beennochangeintheself‐reportedhappinessofblacks(HughesandThomas1998).
Yetmorerecentstudieshavefoundthattheblack‐whitewell‐beinggaphasshrunksincethe
1970s.4However,noneofthesestudieshaveinvestigatedtheracialgapinwell‐beingindepth,nor
havetheyattemptedtoconsiderwhatmaybebehindthesedeclines.Weshowinthispaperthatthe
black‐whitewell‐beinggapobservedinthe1970swasthreetimesgreaterthanthatwhichcanbe
explainedbyobjectivedifferencesinthelivesofblacksandwhites.Moreover,differencesinwell‐
beingbyraceweregreaterthandifferencesbetweenothergroups,suchasrichandpoor.Forinstance,
inthe1970s,blacksattheninetiethpercentileoftheblackhouseholdincomedistributionhadasmuch
incomeasawhitepersonattheseventy‐fifthpercentile;however,theiraveragelevelofwell‐being
waslowerthanthatofawhitepersonwithincomeatthetenthpercentile.Thisfindingisconsistent
withhealthstudiesthatfindthatthehealthoutcomesofblacksareworsethanthoseofwhiteseven
whenconditioningonincome(Franks,etal.2006).
Weshowthattherehassincebeensubstantialimprovementinthereportedwell‐beingof
blacksbothabsolutelyandrelativetowhites.Inthe1970s,nearlyaquarterofallblacksintheGSS
reportedbeinginthelowestcategory(“nottoohappy”),comparedtoatenthofwhites.Bythe2000s
roughlyafifthofblacksreportedbeinginthelowestcategory,comparedtoatenthofwhites.Blacks
havemovedoutofthebottomcategoryofhappinessandindoingsohavebecomemorelikelyoverthis
periodtoreportbeinginthetopcategory(“veryhappy”).Incontrast,whiteshavebecomelesslikelyto
reportbeingveryhappy.Whiletheopportunitiesandachievementsofblackshaveimprovedoverthis
period,thehappinessgainsfarexceedthosethatmightbeexpectedonthebasisofthese
improvementsinconventionalobjectivemeasuresofstatus.
Socialchangesthathaveoccurredoverthepastfourdecadeshaveincreasedtheopportunities
availabletoblacks,andastandardeconomicframeworkwouldsuggestthattheseexpanded
opportunitieswouldhaveincreasedtheirwell‐being.However,othershavenotedthatcontinued
discriminationpresentsabarriertorealizingthesebenefits.Andtherehasbeenlittleprogressin
closingracialgapsinmanyobjectivemeasures.Aspreviouslynoted,therehasbeenlittleprogressin
closingtheearningsgapsince1980,theeducationgaphasbeenstubbornlypersistentsince1990,and
4BlanchflowerandOswald(2004)findevidenceofanimprovementinthewell‐beingofblacksovertime.
StevensonandWolfers(2008b)findthatinequalityinwell‐beingisdecliningovertime,includingadeclineinthe
differencesinwell‐beingbetweenwhitesandnon‐whites.Yang(2008)alsofindsthatinequalityinhappinessby
raceisdecliningovertime.
2
unemploymentdisparitiesarelittleimproved.5Inaddition,healthdifferences,likehigherinfant
mortalityratesamongblacks,haveprovenpersistent(MacDormanandMathews2011;Kriegeretal.
2008).Ourstudyillustratesthatthefruitsofthecivilrightsmovementmaylieinother,moredifficult
todocument,improvementsinthequalityoflife—improvementsthathaveledtorisinglevelsof
happinessandlifesatisfactionforsomeblacks.Buttheseimprovementshavetakendecadestobe
realized,andevenifcurrentratesofprogresspersist,itwilltakeseveralmoredecadestofullyclose
theblack‐whitewell‐beinggap.
Ourcontributioninthispaperistocarefullydocumenttrends,overseveraldecades,in
subjectivewell‐beingbyraceintheUnitedStates,collectingevidenceacrossawidearrayofdatasets
coveringvariousdemographicgroups,timeperiods,andmeasuresofsubjectivewell‐being.To
previewourfindings,SectionIIshowsthatblacksintheUnitedStatesweremuchlesshappythan
whitesinthe1970’sandthattheracialgapinwell‐beingwasgreaterthanthatwhichwouldbe
predictedbyobjectivedifferencesinlifecircumstances.Wenextshowthatoverrecentdecades,the
well‐beingofblackshasincreased,bothabsolutelyandrelativetowhites.Blackscontinuetoreport
lowerlevelsofwell‐beingcomparedtowhites,butthegaphasbeensystematicallyclosing,andmuch
oftheextantgapisexplainedbyconditioningonobjectivecircumstances.InsectionIIIweshowthat
thisfactisrobusttoaccountingfortrendsinincarceration(potentiallymissingdata)andtoexploring
otherdatasetsandmeasuresofsubjectivewell‐being.InsectionIV,weconsiderwhohasreceivedthe
greatestgainsinwell‐beingamongblacksandhowthathascontributedtotheclosingoftheracialgap.
Wealsoexploretherelationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐beingbyraceandtakealookatother
measuresofwell‐being.
II.
Subjective Well‐Being Trends by Race Webeginbyexaminingsubjectivewell‐beingintheUnitedStatessincethe1970susingdata
fromtheGeneralSocialSurvey(GSS).Thissurveyisanationallyrepresentativesampleofabout1,500
respondentseachyearfrom1972to1993(except1979,1981,and1992)andcontinueswitharound
3,000respondentseverysecondyearfrom1994throughto2004,risingto4,500respondentsin2006
andfallingto3,500respondentsin2008.6Theserepeatedcross‐sectionsaredesignedtotrack
5Krueger,Rothstein,andTurner(2006,p.284)describe“slowandepisodic”improvementsintestscores
between1970and1990that“essentiallystoppedaround1990.”
6Onlyhalftherespondentswerequeriedabouttheirhappinessin2002and2004,followedbytwo‐thirdsin
2006.In2008,therewere2,036newpeoplesurveyedand1,536peoplefromthe2006surveywhowerere
surveyed.
3
attitudesandbehaviorsamongtheU.S.populationandcontainawiderangeofdemographicand
attitudinalquestions.Throughoutthispaper,wefocusonthesampleofrespondentswhoidentify
themselvesaseither“white,”or“black”;theresidual“other”categorycompriseslessthan5percentof
allrespondents(andlessthan1percentinthe1970s)andsoyieldstoosmallasampletopermit
meaningfulanalysis.
Subjectivewell‐beingismeasuredusingthequestion:“Takenalltogether,howwouldyousay
thingsarethesedays—wouldyousaythatyouareveryhappy,prettyhappy,ornottoohappy?”In
addition,respondentsareaskedabouttheirsatisfactionwithanumberofaspectsoftheirlife,suchas
theirmarriage,theirhealth,theirfinancialsituation,andtheirjob.ThelongdurationoftheGSSand
theuseofconsistentsurveylanguagetomeasuresubjectivewell‐beingmakeitideallysuitedfor
analyzingtrendsovertime.However,thereareafewchangestothesurveythatcanimpactreported
well‐being.Forexample,ineveryyearbut1972,thequestionabouthappinessfollowedaquestion
aboutmaritalhappiness,andineveryyearexcept1972and1985,thehappinessquestionwas
precededbyafive‐itemsatisfactionscale.Bothofthesechangeshavebeenshowntoimpactreported
happiness(Smith1990).Wecreateaconsistentseriesthataccountsforthesemeasurementchanges
usingthesplit‐ballotexperimentsdonebytheGSSinordertoprovideabridgebetweendifferent
versionsofthesurvey.Wemakeadjustmentstothedatafollowingtheapproachdetailedinappendix
AofStevensonandWolfers(2008b).7Finally,inordertoensurethatthesetimeseriesarenationally
representative,allestimatesareweighted(usingtheproductoftheusualGSSweightWTSSALLand
theweightOVERSAMP,whichallowsustoincludetheblackoversamplesin1982and1987).Inorder
tomaintaincontinuitywithearliersurveyrounds,wealsoexcludethose2006interviewsthat
occurredinSpanishandcouldnothavebeencompletedhadEnglishbeentheonlyoption,asSpanish‐
languagesurveyswerenotofferedinpreviousyears.8
Inordertofacilitatecomparisonswithotherdatasets,weneedtofindawaytostandardizethe
measureofsubjectivewell‐being,sincethesedatalackanaturalscaleandarereporteddifferently
acrossdatasets.Wetreattheseorderedcategories,runningfrom“nottoohappy”to“prettyhappy”
andthen“veryhappy”asscoresof1,2,and3,respectively,sohighernumbersindicategreater
happiness.Inordertomakethescalemeaningful,wethenstandardizethehappinessvariableby
subtractingthemeananddividingbythestandarddeviation.Therefore,thecoefficientsinour
7Whileusingthesplit‐ballotexperimentsallowsacomparisontoincludetheyears1972and1985,italsomeans
thatitisnotpossibletosimplydropthese2outlieryears,asresultsfromsubsequentsurveysalsoneedtobe
adjustedforthepresenceoftheseexperimentalsplitballots.
8ThistreatmentofthedataalsofollowsStevensonandWolfers(2008b).
4
regressionshaveanaturalinterpretation—theycapturetheaveragenumberofstandarddeviation
changesinsubjectivewell‐beingassociatedwitha1unitchangeintheindependentvariable.This
rescalinghasthedisadvantageofassumingthatthedifferencebetweenanytwolevelsofasubjective
well‐beingquestionisequal(thatitisequallyvaluabletomove,forexample,from“nottoohappy”to
“prettyhappy”asitistomovefrom“prettyhappy”to“nottoohappy”).Theresultswepresentare
robusttoalternativemethodsofstandardizingsuchasusinganorderedprobitregressionorsimply
usingtherawscaling.9
Figure1showstheaveragelevelsofwell‐beingforblacksandwhitesineachyearofour
sample;thesolidsquaresalsoshowtheimpliedannualestimatesoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,
andthe95percentconfidenceintervalaroundtheseestimatesareshaded.Inthe1970sthereisa
largegapbetweenthewell‐beingofblacksandwhites.Thewell‐beingindexisstandardized,and
hencethemetricisinterpretable:theblack‐whitewell‐beinggapinthe1970swasequaltonearlyhalf
ofthestandarddeviationofwell‐being.Overtheensuingperiodtheaveragewell‐beinglevelofwhites
declinedslightly,whiletheaveragewell‐beinglevelofblackstrendedupward.Theincreasingwell‐
beingofblacksand,toalesserextent,thedecliningwell‐beingofwhiteshasledtoaclosureoftwo‐
fifthsoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap.
Table1embedsthesefindingsinamoreformalregressionanalysis.Weestimatearegressionof
theform:
,
∗
1972
100
∗
1972
100
[1] whereidenotesanindividual,andtdenotestheyearinwhichthatindividualwassurveyedbytheGSS.
Thetimetrendsaremeasuredastimesincethestartofthesamplein1972,dividedby100,which
meansthatβ measurestheblack‐whitehappinessgapin1972,whileβ andβ measurethegrowth
percenturyinwell‐beingforwhitesandblacks,respectively.Thusβ
black‐whitewell‐beinggappercentury,and
β measureschangesinthe
measuresthefractionofacenturyrequiredtoclose
theinitialblack‐whitewell‐beinggap.Weestimatethisusingordinaryleastsquaresregresson,and
clusterourstandarderrorsattheyearlevel.Theseresultsareshownincolumn1ofTable1.The
regressionrevealsthesamepatternsseeninFigure1,showingbothanincreaseinthewell‐beingof
9Themostimportantdifferencebetweenthestandardizationweemployhereandtheorderedprobitregression
isthatthelatterscalesdifferencesrelativetothestandarddeviationofwell‐beingconditionaloncovariates,
whilethesimplernormalizationweemployscalesdifferencesrelativetotheunconditionalstandarddeviationof
5
blacksandadeclineinthewell‐beingofwhites.Whiletheincreaseinblackwell‐beingisnotitself
statisticallysignificant—largelyreflectingthestatisticalimprecisionthatcomesfromthesmallsample
ofblacksintheGSS—thedifferencebetweenthetwotrendsisstatisticallysignificantlydifferentfrom
zeroatthe1percentlevel.Blackwell‐beingincreasedrelativetothatofwhitesatarateof.498ofa
standarddeviationpercentury,whichoverthe36yearsofourdatacumulatestoaclosingof.180ofa
standarddeviation.Takingthepredictedvaluesofthisequationsuggeststhatin1972,blackswereon
average.449ofastandarddeviationlesshappythanwhites,andthatdifferencehadshrunkto.269of
astandarddeviationby2008.
Interpreting the magnitude of the racial well‐being gap Inordertogetasenseoftherelevantmagnitudes,itisworthcomparingtheracialwell‐being
gapwiththewell‐beinggapbetweenrichandpoor.Figure2showstherelationshipbetweenwell‐
beingandthelogofincome,plottingaveragelevelsofwell‐beingandincomeforeachvigintile(20‐
quantile)oftheincomedistribution.(Tobeclear,ourincomemeasureisrealfamilyincomeper
householdequivalent.)10Noticethatthehorizontalaxisisalogscale,andsothelinearpattern
suggestsalinearrelationshipbetweenmeasuredwell‐beingandlogincome(thus,subjectivewell‐
beingrisesatadecreasingrateasincomeincreases).Asshowninpreviousstudies,therelationship
betweensubjectivewell‐beingandincomeisbestdescribedasalevel‐logrelationship,withwell‐being
increasinglinearlyasthelogofincomerises.11Onesimplecomparisoncontraststhewell‐beingofthe
poor(roughlythebottomquartileofthefamilyincomedistribution—thosewithincomeslessthan
$15,000peryearperequivalenthousehold),andtherich(thetopquartile,withhousehold‐equivalent
incomesofmorethan$40,000peryear).Thisyieldsarich‐poorwell‐beinggapof0.441.Thatis,the
well‐being.FormoreinformationoncardinalizinghappinessvariablesseevanPraagandFerrer‐i‐Carbonell
(2004)andappendixAinStevensonandWolfers(2008a).
10TheGeneralSocialSurvey(GSS)measuresnominalfamilyincomeinvariouscategories.Wetransformthese
intopointestimatesbyusingintervalregression,assumingthatincomeislognormallydistributedineachyear,
anddeflatebytheconsumerpriceindexresearchseriesusingcurrentmethods(CPI—RS)sothatthisis
measuredin2005dollars.WeusethemodifiedOrganisationforEconomicCo‐operationandDevelopment
(OECD)equivalencescaletotakeaccountofeconomiesofscaleinhouseholdsize(thefirstadultiscountedas
oneperson,subsequentadultscountas.5,andchildrencountas.3).Thus,ourincomeconceptisrealfamily
incomeperequivalent.
11StevensonandWolfers(2008a)andDeaton(2008)explorethefunctionalformthatbestfitsthedata.While
thelevel‐logrelationshipappearstobethebestfit,analysisoftherelationshipofwell‐beingwithboththelevel
andthelogofincomeshowasimilarfinding,whichisthatsubjectivewell‐beingrisesatadecreasingrateas
incomeincreases,withnoevidencethatthedecreasingrateslowsovertime.Infact,estimatessuggestthat,if
anything,thedecreaseinthemarginalincreaseinsubjectivewell‐beingfromeachadditionaldollarmaybeginto
slowathighlevelsofincome.
6
magnitudeoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapinthe1970swasroughlyequaltothewell‐beinggap
betweenpeopleinthetopandbottomquartilesoftheincomedistribution.Thislargewell‐beinggap
occurreddespitethefactthattheblack‐whiteincomegapwasmuchsmallerthantherich‐poorincome
gap—indeed,intheGSS,theaverageincomeofblacksinthe1970swas$16,500,comparedwith
$26,800forwhites.
Inordertobemoreformalaboutthis,wecancompareourestimatesoftheblack‐whitewell‐
beinggapwiththecoefficientonincomeinastandardwell‐beingequation.Thus,weestimatea
simpleregressionofourstandardizedwell‐beingmeasureonlogincome,controllingforafullsetof
age race genderfixedeffectsandyearfixedeffects.Thisyieldsawell‐being‐incomegradientof
0.186,withastandarderrorof0.006,whichisconsistentwithpreviousestimates;thisestimated
regressionlineisillustratedinFigure2.12Inthe1970stheaverageoflogincomeforblackswas0.56
logpointlessthanthatforwhites.Thisincomegapwouldbeexpectedtocreateawell‐beinggapof
0.186 0.56=0.10.Thus,theblack‐whitewell‐beinggapin1972wasroughlyfourtimeslargerthan
mightbeexpectedonthebasisoftheincomegap.AsFigure1shows,overtheensuingfourdecades,
two‐fifthsoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapcloseddespitelittleclosureintheincomegap.Yetthere
remainsaracialwell‐beinggapthatislargerthanmightbeexpectedsimplyonthebasisofincome
differences.
The conditional racial well‐being gap Toassesstheracialwell‐beinggap,whileholdingincomedifferencesconstant,theregression
inthesecondcolumnofTable1controlsflexiblyforincome,addingaquarticinlogfamilyincomeper
equivalent(usingtheOrganisationforEconomicCo‐operationandDevelopment’smodified
equivalencescale)plusadummyvariableforthosewithmissingdata.Inthisspecificationweseethat
the1972racialgapinwell‐being,conditionalonrealfamilyincomein1972,fellfrom.449to.354.This
simplyrepeatsthefindingabove:lessthanone‐quarteroftheinitialracialwell‐beinggapcanbe
explainedbyincomedifferences.By2008theracialgapinwell‐beinghadfallenbyasimilaramount
whetherornotweholddifferencesinhouseholdincomeconstant.Incolumn1,weseethattheracial
gapinwell‐beingfellby.18ofastandarddeviation,andaddingcontrolsforincomeyieldsafallof.17
ofastandarddeviation.
Thus,littleofthechangeovertimeintheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapisexplainedbychangesin
income.Thisispartiallyduesimplytothefactthattheblack‐whiteincomegaphasnotclosedmuch
7
sincethe1970s.Table2reportsthemedianwagesofmenandwomeninconstantdollarsinthe1970s
andinthe2000s.Earningsofthemedianblackmanare60percentofthoseofthemedianwhiteman
inthe1970sandhavegrownto72percentbythe2000s,closingonly20percentoftheearningsgap.
Incomegapsbetweenwomenaremuchsmaller,withthemedianwhitewomanearningaround10
percentmorethanthemedianblackwomaninthe1970sand4percentmoreinthe2000s.Turning
tofamilyincomeweseethattheaveragefamilyincomeforblackshaslargelyparalleledrisesinwhite
incomes,andhencetherehasbeenverylittlenarrowingoftheblack‐whiteincomegap.Inthe1970s,
medianblackfamilyincomewas58percentofthatofwhites,andinthe200sithadrisenonlyto64
percent.Finally,theblackpovertyratehasdeclinedsomewhat,yetblackfamiliesarestillaboutthree
timesaslikelyaswhitefamiliestobelivinginpoverty.Thus,theblack‐whitewell‐beinggaphas
narroweddespiteslowprogressinthenarrowingoftheblack‐whiteincomegap.
Thereare,ofcourse,manyotherdifferencesbetweenblackandwhitefamiliesthatmightaffect
thesubjectivewell‐beingofeach.Table2providesasummaryofchangesinthelivesofblacksand
whitesfromthe1970stothe2000s.Overthisperiodthepercentageofblacksdroppingoutofhigh
schoolfellbothabsolutelyandrelativetowhites,whilethepercentageenrolledincollegeandthe
proportionwithabachelor’sdegreerose.Howeveralargeracialdisparityineducationremains.
Similarly,weseethatwhilethelifeexpectancyofblacksincreasedoverthisperiod,italsoincreased
amongwhites,andalargeracialgapinlifeexpectancypersists.Inthe1970swhiteslivedanaverage
of6.8yearslongerthanblacks,andthatgaphadshrunkto5.3bythe2000s.Finally,theracialgapin
incarcerationoverthisperiodhasgrownforbothmenandwomen,somethingwewillinvestigate
furtherinsection3.
Thus,therehavebeensomeimportantchangesintheobjectiveindicatorsofblackwell‐being,
andsoitisimportanttoassesshowcontrollingforthesechangesimpactstheestimatedtrendsinthe
racialgapinwell‐being.Inotherwords,wewanttoassessifblacksandwhiteshavebecomemore
similarintermsofreportedsubjectivewell‐beingsimplybecausethecircumstancesoftheirliveshave
becomemoresimilar.InthethirdcolumnofTable1,weaddcontrolsforownandparents’education,
religion,employmentstatus,maritalbehavior,children,region,age,andsexinadditiontocontrolling
forincome.13Totheextentthatthesecharacteristicsareassociatedwithsubjectivewell‐beingand
12StevensonandWolfers(2008a)findthatthecross‐sectionalgradientoftherelationshipbetweenhappiness
andlogincomeisaround.3inmostdatasetsandis.2intheGSS.
13Oursocioeconomiccontrolsincludeindicatorvariablesforgender,age(bydecade),employmentstatus(full‐
andpart‐time,temporaryillness/vacation/strike,unemployed,retired,inschool,keepinghouse,orother),
maritalstatus(married,widowed,divorced,separated,ornevermarried),highestdegreeearnedbythe
8
differintheirprevalenceacrossthepopulationbyrace,theymayaccountforsomeoftheestimated
differenceinsubjectivewell‐beingbetweenblacksandwhites.However,whilemanyofthesecontrols
arehighlycorrelatedwithwell‐being,inmanycasesthissimplyreflectstheunderlyingwell‐beingof
thepeoplechoosingaparticularlifecircumstance.Forexample,whilemarriedpeoplearetypically
happierthanthosewhoarenotmarried,muchofthisrelationshipisduetohappierpeoplebeingmore
likelytomarry(StevensonandWolfers2007).Further,therehasbeenchangingselectionthrough
timeintoemployment,education,andmarriage.Thus,whileblackshavebecomelesslikelytomarry
overthisperiod(bothabsolutelyandrelativetomaritalbehaviorbywhites),itisdifficulttoknowif
(orbyhowmuch)thismayhavechangedtheirsubjectivewell‐being(IsenandStevenson2010).
Inthefourthcolumnweallowtherelationshipbetweenthecontrolsandwell‐beingtovaryby
race,andthusweinteractallofthecontrolswithrace.Thisspecificationyieldssimilarresultstothose
seenincolumn3wherecontrolsarenotallowedtovarybyrace.Thereare,however,important
differencesintherelationshipbetweenwell‐beingandmanyofthesecontrolsbyrace.Wewillreturn
todiscussingtheseinsectionIVasweexploretrendsseparatelybydemographicgroups.
Incolumn5,wealsoallowfordifferentwell‐beingtrendsbasedoneachofthese
characteristics,byalsointeractingeachofourcontrolswithtimetrends.Whiletherearesome
importanttimetrendsthatdifferbygroup—suchasthedeclineinwomen’swell‐beingrelativeto
men’soverthisperiod,asnotedbyStevensonandWolfers(2009),andawideningofeducation
differentialsdocumentedinStevensonandWolfers(2008b)—accountingforthesetrendsdoesnot
muchchangeourconclusions.
Comparingthesevariousestimates,wefindthatcontrollingformeasurabledifferencesinthe
livesofblacksandwhitesexplainsaboutone‐thirdoftheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapinthe1970s,and
muchofthisisduetothedifferencesinincomebetweenblacksandwhites.Turningtothetrendsover
timeweseethatlittleofthechangeovertimeisexplainedbythecontrols.Inallspecificationsthe
black‐whitewell‐beinggap—measuredrelativetothestandarddeviationofwell‐being—isclosingata
rateofabout0.5percentury.However,thisrelativechangeiscomposedofbothadecreaseinthe
well‐beingofwhitesandanincreaseinthewell‐beingofblacks.Thedecreaseinthewell‐beingof
respondentandhisorherparents(lessthanhighschool,highschool,associatesdegreeorjuniorcollege,
bachelorsdegree,orgraduatedegree),religion(Protestant,Catholic,Jewish,other,ornone),andninecensus
regions.
9
whitesislargeroncecontrolsforobjectiveindicatorsaretakenintoaccount.14Finally,whiletheracial
gapinwell‐beingremainslarge,aroundtwo‐thirdsofthegapin2008canbeexplainedbydifferences
inobservablecharacteristics,comparedtoonlyone‐thirdin1972.Thissuggeststhattherehavebeen
improvementsinsubjectivewell‐beingforblacksovertimethataredistinctfromchangesintheir
objectivecircumstances.
III.
Robustness Beforeweturntoamoregranularanalysisofthetrendsinwell‐beingacrossdifferentgroups
byrace,itisworthcheckingtoseewhethertheobservedracialdifferencesholdacrossalternative
measuresofwell‐being,potentialsampleselectionproblems,andotherdatasets.
Examining the distribution of well‐being Thefirstalternativemeasureofwell‐beingsimplyconsidersthoseinthetopandbottomofthe
well‐beingdistributionintheGSSseparately.Columns6and7ofTable1turntoprobitregressions
analyzingindicatorsforwhethertherespondentis“veryhappy”or“nottoohappy,”respectively.In
ordertoretaincomparabilitywiththeearlierregressions,wereportrawprobitcoefficients,which
describethechangesinastandardizedlatentwell‐beingvariable.
Column6showsthatwhiteshavebecomelesslikelytoreportbeingveryhappyovertime,
whileblackshavebecomemorelikelytodoso(albeitnotstatisticallysignificantlyso).Overtimethis
hasledtoastatisticallysignificantclosureoftheracialgapinself‐reportingasbeingveryhappy,and
thedifferenceintheestimatedtimetrendssuggeststhatthiswell‐beinggapisdecliningby0.6ofa
standarddeviationper100years,amagnitudethatissimilartoearlierregressionsthatexaminedthe
completesetofresponsecategories.Thesecoefficientsimplythatin1972,blackswere16percentage
pointslesslikelythanwhitestoreportbeingveryhappy,andby2008,thisgaphadhalved,withblacks
8percentagepointslesslikelytoreportbeingveryhappy.
Turningtothebottomofthescale,weseethatblackshavebecomelesslikelyovertimeto
reportbeingnottoohappy,whiletherehasbeenlittlechangeinthelikelihoodthatwhitesreport
beinginthiscategory.Thesecoefficientsimplythatin1972,blackswere12.5percentagepointsmore
likelythanwhitestoreportbeingnottoohappyandthisdifferenceshrinksbyaboutathirdto8.7
14ManyscholarsnotethattheUnitedStateshasnothadthehappinessgainsthatwouldbeexpectedgiven
increasesinincome(see,forexample,StevensonandWolfers2008b;BlanchflowerandOswald2004;Easterlin
1995).
10
percentagepoints,in2008.Theracialgapinreportingbeing“nottoohappy”isclosingby0.3ofa
standarddeviationper100years,amagnitudethatissmallerthanthatseenforthe“veryhappy”
category,butstatisticallyindistinguishablefromouroverallestimatesandstillsuggestiveofarolefor
improvementsatthebottomaswellasthetopofthedistributioninthenarrowingoftheracialgapin
well‐being.
The impact of incarceration TheGSSstrivestoincludearepresentativesampleoftheadulthouseholdpopulationeachyear,
butbyfocusingonhouseholds,thesamplemissesthoselivingingroupquarters,includinginstitutions.
Theperiodweareexaminingcoincideswithalarge,andraciallyunbalanced,increaseinincarceration.
Inturn,thismeansthattheGSSsamplingframemayhavebecomeincreasinglyunrepresentativeofthe
aggregateU.S.blackpopulation.Togaugetheseriousnessofthisconcern,wecollecteddataonblack
andwhiteincarcerationandinstitutionalizationratessincethe1970s;thesedataareshowninFigure
3.DuringtheGSSsampleperiod(1972‐2008)theproportionoftheadultpopulationthatwas
incarceratedroseamongwhitesfrom0.2percentto0.4percent,whileahigherrateamongblacksof
1.0percentofthepopulationmorethantripledto3.4percent.Incarcerationratesaremuchhigherfor
certainsubgroupsofthepopulation—particularlyformenrelativetowomenandfortheyoung
relativetotheold.
Ourconcernisthatthosewhoareatriskforincarcerationmaybetheleasthappymembersof
societyandthereforeasincarcerationratesrose,alargerproportionofunhappypeople(and
particularly,unhappyblacks)mayhavebeenremovedfromthesamplingframe,mechanicallyraising
theaveragelevelsofwell‐beingamongthoseblackswhoweresurveyed.Toboundthemaximum
extentofthiseffectweaddbacktotheGSSsampletheproportionofbothblacksandwhiteswhoare
missingbecauseofincarceration,andassignallofthesepeopleahappinessscoreof“nottoohappy”—
thelowesthappinesscategory.15Figure4reportstheresultsofthisexercise,showingboththealready
15Estimatesoftheincarceratedpopulationineachyeararecollectedfromseveralsources,asthereisnosingle
dataseriesthatmeasurestheincarceratedovertime.Westartwiththe1970and1980censusesofpopulation,
fromwhichweestimatethesizeoftheinstitutionalizedadultpopulationincorrectionalfacilitiesandthendivide
bytherelevantadultpopulation,linearlyinterpolatingtoobtainannualestimatesfor1970to1979.From1980
to2008,werelyonWesternandPetit(2009)whoconstructannualestimatesforblacksandwhitesofthe
numberofpeopleages18‐64whoarecurrentlyincarcerated.TheirdataarebuiltfromBureauofJustice
Statisticsestimatesofthepenalpopulationsacrosslocaljailsandstateandfederalcorrectionalfacilities,aswell
assurveysoftheinmatepopulations.(WhileWesternandPettitmeasureonlytheincarceratedpopulation
under65yearsofage,Sabol,WestandCooper[2009]estimatethatin2008onlyaround1percentofall
prisonersunderstateorfederaljurisdictionwere65orolder.)Inordertoestimateincarcerationrates,we
simplydivideWesternandPettit’sincarcerationnumbersbyestimatesofthetotaladultpopulationbyrace,
11
reportedhappinesslevelsofblacksandwhites,andjustbeloweachline,ourestimatesofthelower
boundthatresultsfromaddingbackintheincarceratedpopulation.Forwhites,thetwolinesare
imperceptiblydifferent(reflectingthelowincarcerationrate),whileforblacks,awedgeemerges
throughtime.Takingaccountofthepossibleeffectsofrisingincarcerationresultsinaslightlysmaller
closingofthewell‐beinggap—itclosesby0.4percenturyratherthan0.5.Thus,thenotionthat
growingincarcerationratesmayexplainuptoafifthoftheclosingofthewell‐beinggaprepresentsan
upperboundontheextentofthiseffect.16Thisexercise,however,doesnotconsiderhowhighratesof
incarcerationmaybeimpactingthewell‐beingofthosenotincarcerated,andwewillreturntothis
questionwhenweexaminewell‐beingbyraceamongvarioussocioeconomicandagecategories.
Alternative datasets Inourfinalsetofrobustnesschecks,weturntoconsideringalternativedatasetswithvarying
measuresofsubjectivewell‐beinganddifferentsurveymodes.AsHerbst(2012)describes,theDDB
NeedhamLifeStylesurveys—whichareconductedbymail—provideausefulalternativeindicatorof
subjectivewell‐beingformuchofthisperiod.Thissurveybeganin1975andhassincerunannually
witharound3,500respondentseachyear.However,before1985thesampleconsistedonlyof
marriedhouseholds.From1985onwardthesampleisarepresentativesampleofallU.S.households
andincludesalifesatisfactionquestionaskingona6‐pointscalehowmuchrespondentsagreeor
disagreewiththestatement“Iamverysatisfiedwiththewaythingsaregoinginmylifethesedays.”17
Figure5summarizesthesedata,illustratingverysimilarpatternstothoseseenwiththeGSS.Inthe
mid‐1980s,therewasalargeblack‐whitesubjectivewell‐beinggap,equaltoabout0.4ofastandard
deviation;subsequentlythesatisfactionofwhiteshasfallenslightly,whilethesubjectivewell‐beingof
blackshasrisenstrongly,closingmuchoftheblack‐whitesatisfactiongap.Becauseofthelater
startingdateofthissurvey,theabsoluteclosingofthewell‐beinggapoverthedurationofthesurveyis
somewhatlessthanthatseenintheGSS,butthepointestimateoftherateofchangeismorerapid.
Finally,toinvestigatethemostrecentdata,weturntotheBehavioralRiskFactorSurveillance
System(BRFSS),whichhasasked1.9millionpeopleabouttheirlifesatisfactionsince2005.The
BRFSSasks“Ingeneral,howsatisfiedareyouwithyourlife?”withpossibleresponsesof:very
satisfied,satisfied,dissatisfied,orverydissatisfied.Thesedatasuggestthatrecentyearshaveseena
whichwegeneratebyinterpolatingdecadalpopulationestimatesaggregatedfromthe1980‐2000Integrated
PublicUseMicrodataSeries,andthenthe2001‐8AmericanCommunitySurvey.
16Assumingthatallthoseleftoutwereveryhappywouldestablishtheupperboundofourestimate.
17Thesurveybeganincludingthelifesatisfactionquestionin1983.Sincethereareonly2years,1983and1984,
inwhichsatisfactiondatawerecollectedforthemarriedonlysample,wesimplybeginouranalysiswiththefull
populationin1985.
12
continuationofthelonger‐runtrendsevidentinearlierfigures.Aswithourothersamples,the
estimatedblack‐whitewell‐beinggapoverthisperiodisaroundone‐fifthtoone‐quarterofastandard
deviation.Moreover,thesedataalsosuggestthattheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapcontinuedtoclose
between2005and2010—ouranalysisshowsaclosingoftheracialgapoverthisperiodof.29ofa
standarddeviationpercentury.However,theshorttimeperiodmakesitdifficulttoestimatethiswith
anyprecisionandthestandarderroronthatestimateis.17.18Thisricherrecentsampledoes,
however,stronglysuggestthattherecentdownwardblipinmeasuredblackwell‐beingseenintheGSS
dataislikelyduetosimplesamplingerror.
Wenowturntobreakingthesetrendsapartbyvariousdemographicandsocioeconomic
groupstoinvestigatefurtherwhichgroupsexperiencedthelargestgainsinwell‐beingforblacksand
themostclosureoftheracialwell‐beinggap.
IV.
Who Gained? Inordertoconsiderhowwell‐beinghaschangedamongvariousgroups,takingaccountofthe
manychangesinthelifecircumstancesofAmericans,weturntowardestimatingaregressionthat
disaggregatesourmainfindingsfromtheGSSandsimultaneouslytakesaccountofhowwell‐beinghas
changedfordifferentsub‐groupsofblacksandwhites.Thus,were‐estimateequation[1]butinteract
eachofthetermswithafamilyofdummyvariablesindicatingwhethertherespondentisamemberof
variousage,gender,region,urban,education,income,employmentandmaritalstatusgroups:
18Figureanddataanalysisareavailablefromtheauthors.
13
1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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1972
100
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[2] 1972
100
1972
100
1972
100
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1972
100
Weareparticularlyinterestedinevaluatingthedifferentialblack‐whitetrendswithineach
group,andthisapproachallowsustodothiswhilecontrollingforthedifferentialtrendsaffecting
blacksandwhitesinothergroups,too.Itcanbedifficulttodirectlyinterpretanyregressioninvolving
somanyinteractionterms.Forinstance,predictedgrowthinwell‐beingforablackwomandepends
notonlyon
butalsoonherassumedothercharacteristics,eachmultipliedbytherelevant
s
Webeginbyreportingtheimpliedblack‐whitewell‐beinggapsatboththebeginningandendofour
sampleforsomeonewithsampleaveragecharacteristics(apartfromraceandtime).Usingthewhole‐
sampleaverage—ratherthandifferentaveragesforblacksandwhites—ensuresthatourresultsare
notaffectedbythedifferentcompositionoftheblackandwhitepopulations.Theimpliedracialgapin
well‐beingfor1972isreportedinthefirstcolumnofTable3,andthegapin2008isreportedinthe
secondcolumn.Wereportthedifferencebetweenthetwo,whichistheamountthattheracialgap
closedovertheperiod,inthethirdcolumn.
Butnoneofthistellsuswhetherchangesinthegapweredrivenbychangesinthewell‐beingof
blacks,whites,oracombinationofboth.Forthis,weevaluate
and
for
someonewiththesampleaveragecharacteristics.Theserace‐specifictimetrendsarereportedinthe
14
fourthandfifthcolumnsandshowstandarddeviationchangesinwell‐beingpercentury.Thus,the
trendinthechangeintheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,percentury,isthedifferencebetweenthetwo
columns,reportedinthesixthcolumn.Notethatthethirdcolumnissimplythesixthcolumndivided
by100(toconvertitintoperyearchanges)andmultipliedbythenumberofyearsthathavepassed
(36).
In1972,theracialgapinwell‐beingwaslargestamongwomen,theyoung,thoselivinginthe
South,collegegraduates,thoseinthetophalfoftheincomedistribution,thenon‐employed,andthe
married.By2008,somethingsremainedthesame—thosewithmoreeducationandincomestillfaced
largewell‐beinggaps.However,theracialgapinwell‐beingamongwomenwaseliminated,whilehalf
oftheracialgapamongmenremained.Whiletheearlyperiodexperiencedlargeracialgapsinwell‐
beingamongpeopleofallages,differencesintheracialgapacrosspeopleofvariousagesemergedby
2008,withalargewell‐beinggappersistingfortheyoung(ages18‐29).Thelargestgainsinwell‐
beingwereintheSouth,erasingthelargeracialgapinwell‐beingthatwaspresentin1972.
Letusturntoconsideringthesechangesinmoredetail.Focusingonwomen,weseethata
racialwell‐beinggapof.4ofastandarddeviationwasnearlyerasedoverthedecades.Thisoccurred
bothbecauseblackwomenbecamehappier—byaround.2ofastandarddeviationoverthe36year
period(.006ayear)—andbecausewhitewomenbecamelesshappybyaround.15ofastandard
deviation(‐.004ayear).19Alargerwell‐beinggapremainsamongmen,bothbecauseblackmales’
well‐beingroseslightlyless—by.13ofastandarddeviation—andbecausetherewasnodeclineinthe
well‐beingofwhitemen.Insum,subjectivewell‐beingappearstohaverisenmorestronglyforblack
womenthanblackmen,anoutcomethatisconsistentwithotherindicatorsofeconomicandsocial
progress.
Turningtothetrendsbyageweseethatthoseages18‐29andthoseages30‐44hadthe
largestracialgapsinwell‐being:withineachgroupblackswereabout.4ofastandarddeviationless
happythanwhites.Blacksinthesetwoagegroupsalsohadthelargestabsolutewell‐beinggains,with
thewell‐beingofblacksages18‐29increasingby.3ofastandarddeviationovertheperiod.However,
thewell‐beingofyoungwhitesalsoroseand,assuch,thewell‐beinggapclosedbyonly.18ofa
standarddeviation.
19StevensonandWolfers(2009)discusstrendsinwomen’shappinessindetailanddocumenttheseracial
differencesinthetrendsinwomen’shappiness.
15
Thatyoungblackshadthelargestgainsinwell‐beingisperhapssomewhatsurprisinggiventhe
highratesofincarcerationamongthisagegroupandraisessuspicionsaboutthefactthatthose
incarceratedarenotinoursample.However,recallsectionIIthataccountingforthemissing
incarceratedindividualshadlittleimpactonourresults.Moreover,thesearechangesbyage
conditionalonchangesbyeducationandincome,amongotherthings.Whenwelookattheraw
trendsand,mostimportant,whenwebreaktheagetrendsdownbygender,weseethattheproblems
facingyoungblackmenareindeedimpactingtheirwell‐being.Figure6showsthatamongblacks,
youngmenhavebecomelesshappyoverthisperiodandaretheonlyagegrouptofacesubstantial
well‐beinglossesandforwhichtheracialgapinwell‐beingactuallygrew.
Figure6pointstolargewell‐beinggainsamongyoungandprimeageblackwomenandgains
formenages30‐44.Returningtotheregressionresults,weseethatclosingoftheracialgapinwell‐
beingforthoseages30‐44occurredbothbecauseblacksbecamehappierandbecausewhitesofthat
agegroupbecamelesshappy.Amongthoseages45‐59,theracialgapinwell‐beingclosedeven
thoughblacksinthisagegroupbecamelesshappy,becausetheirwell‐beinglossesweresmallerthan
thoseexperiencedbywhites.ThisresultisseenequallyformenandwomeninFigure6.Turningto
thoseover60,weseearacialgapinwell‐beingin2008inwhichblackswerestatisticallysignificantly
happierthanwhites.Thisreversaloccurredbecauseblacksinthisagegroupbecamehappier,while
whitesinthisagegroupbecamelesshappy.Thesedivergenttrendsbroughtaboutthelargestchange
intheracialwell‐beinggap,withaclosureinthegapofnearly.5ofastandarddeviation.Itshouldbe
notedthatwhilethisisnotacohortassessment,examiningthoseover60in2008showsthattheracial
gapinwell‐beinghasbeeneliminatedamongthosewholivedthroughthecivilrightsstruggles.
Wenotedatthestartofthissectionthatwell‐beinggapswerelargestforthosewiththemost
educationandincomein1972.20Yetthiswaslargelytrueattheendofthesampleaswell.Butthisis
notbecausetherewasnochange.Overtheensuingdecadesthewell‐beinggainswerelargestamong
collegeeducatedblacks,withlittlechangeinthewell‐beingofcollege‐educatedwhites.However,by
2008theracialwell‐beinggapwasstilllargestamongthosewithacollegedegreeormore,sincethat
gapbeganasthelargest.Moreover,asmallergaininwell‐beingamongblackswithonlyahighschool
20Recallthatwearemeasuringfamilyincomeconvertedto2005dollars.Thedollaramountsareperhousehold
equivalent,wherethefirstadultcountsforone,additionaladultscountfor.5,andchildrencountfor.3.Thisis
donetoadjustforanyrolethatchangeinfamilysizemayhaveoninterpretingfamilyincomeovertime.The
incomebreaksweuseareselectedtoroughlydividethesampleintoquartiles.
16
educationwascombinedwithdecliningwell‐beingamongwhiteswithonlyahighschooleducation,
resultinginaclosingoftheracialgapinwell‐beingamonghighschoolgraduates.
Turningtoincome,weseethatthewell‐beinggainswerelargestforthoseinthethirdincome
quintile.Blacksinthisincomecategoryhadlargewell‐beinggains,whichcombinedwithwell‐being
lossesamongwhitestocompletelyeliminatetheracialgapinwell‐beingofnearlyhalfastandard
deviation.Theracialgapinwell‐beingremainslargestamongthosewiththemostincome.While
blacksinthetopincomecategorybecamehappierovertime,sodidthosewithlessincome.Thosein
thebottomtwoquartilesandthetopquartileallexperiencedadeclineinthewell‐beinggapof.18ofa
standarddeviation.Sincethewell‐beinggapwaslargestforthosewiththemostincomein1972,it
wasalsolargestforthisgroupin2008.
Figure7furtherillustratestherelationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐being.Itshowsthe
relationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐being,notconditionalonotherfactorssuchaseducationand
age,bothofwhichareimportantinputsintoincome.Whilebothblacksandwhiteswithmoreincome
arehappierthanthosewithless,well‐beinglevelsrosemoresteeplywithincomeamongwhitesinthe
1970s.Asaresult,theracialgapinwell‐beinggrewwithincome.Itispossiblethatdiscriminatory
barriersinspendingmoney—beingexcludedfromrestaurants,hotels,orsocialclubsforthewell‐to‐
do—reducedtheabilityofextraincometogeneratefurthergainsforblacks.Overtheensuing
decades,however,thegapclosedandtheunconditionalrelationshipbetweenincomeandwell‐being
steepenedforblackssuchthatbythe2000s,theunconditionalmappingofincomeandwell‐beingwas
thesameforblacksandwhites,althoughwhitesremainedslightlyhappierateachlevelofincome.
Ifexclusionfromplacesofbusinessisplayingaroleforthewell‐to‐do,exclusionand
discriminationingeneralmightbeimpactingallblacksmostnotablyintheSouth.Arguablythe
antidiscriminationmeasuresusheredinduringthecivilrightserahadtheirlargestimpactinthe
South.DonohueandHeckman(1991)arguetheSouthwastheareathatbothresistedandwas
affectedthemostbythefederalactivitysurroundingthecivilrightsmovement.21Indeed,weseethat
inthe1970stheracialgapinwell‐beingwaslargestintheSouth.BlacksintheSouthwerenearlya
halfofastandarddeviationlesshappythanwhites,comparedtodifferencesofbetween.2and.3ofa
standarddeviationinotherregions.
21DonohueandHeckman(1991,p.1605)arguethat“federalactivitywasimposedontheSouthandhadits
greatestapparenteffectintheregionthatresisteditthemost.”
17
Overthe36yearsofthesampleperiod,thewell‐beinggainsamongblacksweregreatestinthe
Southwithblacksbecominghappieratarateof.009ofastandarddeviationperyear,foratotalgainof
athirdofastandarddeviationinwell‐being.IncontrastwhitesintheSouthbecamesomewhatless
happy.By2008,therewasanegligiblegapof.01ofastandarddeviationgapinblack‐whitewell‐
being.
Itmaybethatmoresubtleformsofracialdiscriminationtookdecadestoplayoutfollowingthe
legislationusheredinbythecivilrightsmovement.WeexamineddataonracialattitudesfromtheGSS
andfoundthatmeasuresofprejudicesuchasnotbeingwillingtovoteforablackpresident,favoring
lawsagainstinter‐racialmarriage,andsupportingsegregatedneighborhoodsweremuchhigherinthe
Souththanintherestofthecountry.Figure8showsthatintheearly1970smorethanhalfof
Southernerssupportedtherightsofwhitestohavesegregatedneighborhoodsandfavoredlaws
againstracialintermarriage.Almosthalfsaidthattheywouldnotvoteforablackpresident.In
contrast,10‐20percentinotherregionssaidthattheywouldnotvoteforablackpresident,and20‐40
percentfavoredlawsagainstracialintermarriageandsupportedtherighttosegregated
neighborhoods.Overtimethesemeasuresofprejudicehavedeclinedthroughoutthecountry.
However,thedeclineshavebeengreatestintheSouth.Thegraphsshowthatwhileformallaws
reducingdiscriminationtookeffectatapointintime,ithastakendecadesforracialattitudesto
change.Whiletheselawsmayhavebeenthecatalystfordeclinesinprejudice,timewasanecessary
ingredienttocompletethechange.
DonohueandHeckman(1991)pointtotheimportanceofnorthernmigrationofblacksoutof
theSouthinimprovementsforblacksuntilthemid‐1960s,butarguethatsuchmigrationaccountsfor
littleofthepost‐1964change.Changesinthemigrationpatternsareperhapsthemostconvincing
evidencethattheclosingoftheracialgapinsubjectivewell‐beingindicatesthatlifeforblacksinthe
Southisnowonparwiththatofwhitesofsimilarbackgrounds.Forthe35yearspriortothelate
1990s,themigrationflowwasanetoutflowofblacksfromtheSouth.Thatpatternreversedinthelate
1990s,andtheSouthbegantoexperienceanetinflowofblacks(Frey2004).
Thelastthingthatweconsiderarechangesinwell‐beingbymaritalstatus.Weincludethis
discussionbecausemarriagepatternsofblacksandwhiteshavedivergedsubstantiallyoverthepast4
decades.Blacksarenowmuchlesslikelythanwhitestomarry,and,iftheydomarryanddivorce,they
arelesslikelytoremarry.Theyalsohavechildrenatyoungeragesandmoreoftenoutofwedlock
(IsenandStevenson2010).However,itshouldbenotedthatsubjectivewell‐beingisbothafunction
oftheindividual’spersonalityandhisorherreactiontolifeevents.Assuch,correlationsbetweenlife
18
outcomesandwell‐beingmaynotbecausal.Forexample,onereasonthatmarriedpeoplereport
substantiallygreaterwell‐beingthanunmarriedpeopleinacrosssectionisbecausehappypeopleare
morelikelythanunhappypeopletomarry(StevensonandWolfers2007).Itmaybethattherehave
beenimportantchangesintheunderlyingwell‐beingofblackswhochoosetomarrycomparedto
blackswhodonotmarry.Thesecompositionchangescouldpotentiallyexplainallofthedifferences
thatweseebymaritalstatus.Thusanalyzingtrendsbymaritalstatusmaynotbeinformativeabout
theroleofchangingmaritalbehaviorinchangesinreportedsubjectivewell‐being.Withthatcaveat
weexaminedifferencesinthewell‐beingtrendsbymaritalstatusandfindthattheracialgapinwell‐
beingwaslargestamongmarriedindividualsin1972(seeTable3).Wealsoseethatmarriedblacks
havehadthelargestgainsinwell‐beingandthis,combinedwithasmalldeclineinthewell‐beingof
marriedwhites,hasledtoaneliminationoftheracialgapinwell‐beingamongthemarried.Thewell‐
beinggapisnowlargestforthosewhoarewidowed,atone‐thirdofastandarddeviation.Bothblacks
andwhiteswhonevermarriedbecamelesshappyoverthedecadesandtherewaslittlechangeinthe
racialgapinwell‐beingamongthem.
Weconcludeourinvestigationbyconsideringracialgapsinvariousdomainsofwell‐being.
TheGSSassessespeople’ssatisfactionwiththeirfamily,friends,job,finances,city,andhealth.Looking
attheracialgaps,wefindlittlechangeovertimeinsatisfactionwithfamily,despitethechangesin
familypatternsbyrace.Similarly,weseelittlechangeintheracialgapinsatisfactionwithpeople’sjob
orfinances.Theonedomaininwhichthereisaclearclosingoftheracialgapishealthsatisfaction.
Blacks’subjectivelyassessedhealthimprovedthroughouttheperiod,asdidtheirsatisfactionwith
theirhealth.Ashealthscholarshavenotedthereisstillagapinhealthoutcomesbyrace,butequally
important,thegainsoverthisperiodwerelarge.
V.
Conclusion Wehaveshownthattheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapdeclinedfrom1972to2008byanamount
thatisbothstatisticallysignificantandeconomicallymeaningful.Inthe1970sblackswerenearlyhalf
ofastandarddeviationlesshappythanwhites,andtwo‐thirdsofthisgapcannotbeexplainedby
conditioningondifferencesinthemeasuredlivesofblacksandwhites.Whileeconomistshave
lamentedthelargedifferencesinhouseholdincomebyrace,scientistsinotherfieldshavenotedthat
socioeconomicdifferencesalonecannotexplaintheoftenlargeracialdifferencesinwell‐being.Blacks
haveworsephysicalandmentalhealthalonganumberofdimensionsthancanbeexplainedby
19
differencesinobjectivemeasuressuchasincomeoreducation.22Forexample,Franksetal.(2006)
findthatsocioeconomicdifferencesbetweenblacksandwhitesexplainonlyhalfoftheracial
differenceinmortality.Pamuketal(1998)findresidualdifferencesinself‐ratedhealth,hypertension,
obesity,andinfantmortalityafterconditioningonsocioeconomicstatus.
Thisresearchcontributestothesefindingsbyhighlightingthelargedifferencesinsubjective
well‐beingbyrace.Consistentwiththehealthliterature,wealsofindalargeunexplainedracial
differenceinsatisfactionwithhealth,butfind,similartoourfindingsonoverallwell‐being,thatthis
unexplainedracialdifferencehasdeclinedoverthepast35years.Whilethereremainsalargeracial
gapinwell‐being,muchofthepresentgapcanbeexplainedbydifferencesintheobjectiveconditions
ofthelivesofblackandwhiteAmericans.
Somerecentscholarshavepointedtothesuccessesofthecivilrightsagendainreducinghealth
disparities,whilenotingthat“unfinishedpartsofthecivilrights–eraagenda,thepersistenceofmore
subtleformsofsegregation,andthefailuretoassurenondiscriminatorytreatmentposemajor
challengestocurrenteffortstoeliminatehealthcaredisparities”(Smith2005,p.317).Wehaveshown
thattherehavebeenlargedeclinesinprejudicialattitudesovertimeandthesedeclinesappeartobe
associatedwithimprovementsinthesubjectivewell‐beingofblacks.Howeverthereremains
prejudicetodayand,alongwithit,aracialgapinwell‐being,someofwhich,aswithhealthdisparities,
mayhaveitsexplanationintheunfinishedpartsofthecivil‐rightseraagenda.
However,therearesomeimportantcaveatstoconsider.Recallthatsomeoftherelative
changeintheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapisdrivenbyadecreaseinthewell‐beingofwhites,
particularlywhenwecontrolforobjectiveindicators.Thisraisesaquestionastowhywhiteshave
becomelesshappyandwhethertheconditionsthathaveledtotheirdecliningsubjectivewell‐being
shouldhavehadthesameeffectonblacks.Inotherwords,havetherebeenimprovementsinthe
welfareofblacksthathaveprotectedthemagainstgeneralsocietaltrendsthathavereducedwell‐
being?Orhaveblacksbeenunaffectedbythesocietaltrendsthathaveharmedthewell‐beingof
whites?
InourpreviousresearchwehaveshownthatthedeclineinAmericanwell‐beingamongwhites
isconcentratedamongwhitewomen(StevensonandWolfers2009).Incontrast,Americanwhitemen
havehadlittlechangeintheirreportedwell‐beingoverthepast35years.Inthatresearchwenote
22WilliamsandMohammed(2009)presentameta‐analysisoftheliteraturefromthemid‐2000sexamining
racialdiscriminationandhealthoutcomes.
20
thatthesetrendsmayreflectsocietaltrendsthathaveimpactedwomendifferentlyfrommen.
Similarly,thesetrendsmayhaveimpactedwhitewomendifferentlyfromblacks.Alternatively,these
trendsmayreflectbroadsocialtrendsthatshifthowweshouldinterpretpeople’sanswersto
subjectivewell‐beingquestions.Forinstance,satisfactionathomemayhavebeenamoreimportant
componentoflifesatisfactionforwomeninthepast.Aswomen’sliveshavechanged,somayhave
theirinterpretationoftheirwell‐being.Again,thereisaparallelpossibilitytoconsiderininterpreting
ourresultshere:thatthemeaningofwell‐beinghasshiftedforblacksalongwiththeirchangingsocial
situation.If,forexample,risingexpectationsareplayingaroleindampeningwell‐beingforblacks,
thenthiswouldimplythatthetrueincreaseinsubjectivewell‐beingforblacksisevenlargerthanwe
havemeasured.Finally,itissimplypossiblethatourresultscapturethepartialimprovement,beyond
objectivemeasures,inthelivesofblacksintheUnitedStatesoverthepast35years.
21
VI.
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23
Figure1:SubjectiveWell‐beingintheUnitedStatesbyRace,1972‐2008
0.6
Taken all together, how would you say things are these days,
would you say that you are: very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?
Average: Blacks
Average: Whites
Black-white happiness gap
95% confidence interval
Standardized happiness index
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-.269
-0.4
-.449
-0.6
-0.8
Trend in black-white happiness gap: 0.498 per century [se=0.198]
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Data:GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Notes:Orderedhappinesscategories(3=“Veryhappy”,2=“prettyhappy”and1=“nottoohappy”are
treatedascardinalvalues,andthenstandardizedtohaveawhole‐samplemeanofzero,anda
standarddeviationofone.Figureshowsaveragevaluesineachsurveyround,forblacksand
whites,aswellastheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,andthetrendinthatgap.
Figures—1
Figure2:SubjectiveWell‐BeingandIncome
0.4
Average happiness and income
for each 5% of income distribution
Regression line:
Happiness = 0.186 * log(Family Income)
Controlling for age*sex*race interactions
Standardized happiness index
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
$2k
$4k
$8k
$16k
$32k
$64k
$128k
Annual family income per equivalent household ($2005; Log Scale)
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Notes:Wegroupthedatainto20equally‐spacedbins,basedonannualrealfamilyincomeper
equivalenthousehold,andthedotsshowtheaveragewell‐beingandincome,foreachofthese
groups.Theregressionlineisfitfromaregressiononallindividuals,regressingwell‐beingonlog
ofthisincomevariable,controllingforafullsetofdummyvariablesforage,sexandrace,andtheir
secondandthird‐levelinteractions.
Figures—2
Share of adult population currently institutionalized
Figure3:IncarcerationandInstitutionalizationRates,byRace
0.05
Total institutionalized population:
Institutionalized in correctional facility:
Incarceration rate (Western and Pettit):
Spliced incarceration rate:
Whites
Whites
Whites
Whites
Blacks
Blacks
Blacks
Blacks
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Data:Incarcerationandinstitutionalizationratesarecalculatedbytheauthorsusingdatafromthe
1970‐2000Census;2006‐2008ACS;BJStabulationscalculatedbyWesternandPettit2009.
Notes:Seefootnote15forconstructionoftheseseries.
Figures—3
Figure4:BoundingtheImpactofIncarcerationonSubjectiveWell‐being
0.6
Thin lines show averages if all prisoners are in the least happy category
Blacks
Whites
Black-white happiness gap
95% confidence interval
Standardized happiness index
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-.269
-.326
-0.4 -.449
-.459
-0.6
-0.8
Trend in black-white happiness gap
Raw data: 0.498 per century [se=0.198]
Lower bound, including incarcerated: 0.371 per century [se=0.189]
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Notes:Foreachwell‐beingseries,twolinesareshown.Theupper(thicker)lineisthemeasured
well‐beingdataplottedinFigure1;thelower(thinner)linealsoincludesallincarceratedpeople,
assumingthattheyareinthelowestcategory,“nottoohappy.”
Figures—4
Figure5:AnAlternativeDataset:
LifeSatisfactionintheUnitedStatesbyRace,1985‐2005
0.6
I am very satisfied with the way things are going in my life these days
(6-point response scale; standardized)
Average: Blacks
Average: Whites
Black-white happiness gap
95% confidence interval
Standardized life satisfaction index
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-.267
-0.4
-.431
-0.6
Trend in black-white happiness gap: 0.819 per century [se=0.248]
-0.8
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
Data:DDB‐NeedhamLifeStyleStudy,1985‐2005.
Notes:Orderedlifesatisfactioncategories(6=“Definitelyagree”;5=“Generallyagree”;
4=“Moderatelyagree”;3=“Moderatelydisagree”;2=“Generallydisagree”;and1=“Definitely
disagree”aretreatedascardinalvalues,andthenstandardizedtohaveawhole‐samplemeanof
zero,andastandarddeviationofone.Figureshowsaveragevaluesineachsurveyround,forblacks
andwhites,aswellastheblack‐whitewell‐beinggap,andthetrendinthatgap.
Figures—5
Figure6:SubjectiveWell‐beingbyAgeandRaceintheUnitedStates,1972‐2008
Trend in standardized happiness index
Annual rate, multipled by 100
Black happiness trend. (p=0.175)
1.5
White happiness trend (p=0.003)
Trend in black-white happiness gap: (p=0.177)
1.0
0.5
0.0
M
en
:1
829
W
om
yr
s
en
:1
829
yr
M
s
en
:3
044
W
om
yr
s
en
:3
044
yr
M
s
en
:4
559
W
om
yr
s
en
:4
559
yr
s
M
en
:6
0+
W
yr
om
s
en
:6
0+
yr
s
-0.5
p-values denote whether there are statistically significant divergences across categories
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Figures—6
Figure7:Well‐beingandIncome,byRace
1970s
0.4
Whites
0.2
Whites
0.2
0.0
Happiness (Standardized scale)
1980s
0.4
0.0
-0.2
Blacks
-0.2
Blacks
-0.4
-0.4
-0.6
-0.6
-0.8
-0.8
P10
P10
$4k
P25
$8k
P25
P50
P50
P75
$16k
P75
P90
$32k
P90
P10
$64k
$128k
1990s
0.4
$4k
P10
P25
$8k
P50
P75
$16k
P75
P90
$32k
$128k
Whites
0.2
0.0
0.0
Blacks
-0.2
P90
$64k
2000s
0.4
Whites
0.2
P25
P50
Blacks
-0.2
-0.4
-0.4
-0.6
-0.6
-0.8
-0.8
P10
$4k
P10
P25
$8k
P25
P50
P50
P75
$16k
$32k
P75
P90
P90
P10
$64k
$128k
$4k
P10
P25
$8k
P25
P50
$16k
P50
P75
$32k
P75
P90
P90
$64k
$128k
Annual equivalized family income ($2005)
* Lines are local linear regressions of happiness on log(income) shown between the 10th and 90th percentiles of the income distribution.
Shaded areas show 95% confidence intervals. Estimated using Epanechnikov kernel and rule-of-thumb bandwidth.
P10, P25, P50, P75 and P90 denote the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of the respective income distributions.
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Figures—7
Proportion of whites holding each view
Figure8:TrendsinPrejudice,byRegion
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
1970
1980
1990
2000
1970
1980
1990
2000
Year
Would not vote for black president
Favor law against racial intermarriage
Object to sending child to school that is half black
Whites have the right to seg. neighborhood; Y/N
Graphs by Region
Data:U.S.GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Figures—8
Table1:SubjectiveWell‐beingTrendsintheU.S.byRace,GeneralSocialSurvey(GSS)Data
∗
,
∗
(1) (a)
Dependent variable: ‐0.161** (0.060) 0.337 (0.231) ‐0.449*** (0.037) : White Time Trend : Black Time Trend : Black Dummy Racial well‐being gap in 1972 0.498** (0.198) ‐0.449 Racial well‐being gap in 2008 ‐0.269 Difference in Time Trends Control Variables(c) Income (c) (d)
Socioeconomic controls Socioeconomic controls * race (d) Socioeconomic controls * time(d) (2) (3) (4) Standardized happiness scores (5) ,
(6) Very happy
(7) Not too happy ‐0.363*** ‐0.256*** ‐0.254***
n.a. ‐0.335***
‐0.140 (0.058) (0.065) (0.067) (0.072) (0.141) **
0.093
0.338 0.315
0.557 0.259 ‐0.463 (0.221) (0.221) (0.247) (0.240) (0.227) (0.336) ***
***
***
‐0.354
‐0.304
n.a. n.a. ‐0.456
0.531*** (0.035) (0.033) (0.044) (0.041) (b)
Implied Trends in Racial Well‐being Gap (Black‐White)
0.456** 0.594*** 0.569**
0.557** 0.594***
‐0.323 (0.187) (0.180) (0.213) (0.240) (0.198) (0.243) ‐0.354 ‐0.304 ‐0.295 ‐0.291 ‐0.456 0.531 [‐15.7%‐pts] [+12.5%‐pts] ‐0.190 ‐0.090 ‐0.091 ‐0.091 ‐0.309 0.415 [‐8.3%‐pts] [+8.7%‐pts] 









Notes: ***,**,and*denotestatisticallysignificantcoefficientsat1%,5%and10%,respectively.(Robuststandarderrorsin
parentheses;clusteredbyyear)
Sample:n=47,593blackorwhiterespondentsfromtheGeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
(a)Thedependentvariablerecordsresponsestothequestion:Takenalltogether,howwouldyousaythingsarethesedays.
Wouldyousaythatyouare:;[3]Veryhappy;[2]Prettyhappy;[1]Nottoohappy.”Columns1‐5reportOLSregressions,where
thedependentvariableisthestandardizedresponse(
0; 1);columns6‐7reportprobitestimatesofthelikelihoodof
respondingthemostandleasthappycategories.Thecoefficientsonthewhiteandblacktimetrendsreportthechangeinwell‐
beingper100years,whiletheblackdummyreportstheblack‐whitewell‐beinggapin1972.
(b)Theracialwell‐beinggapin1972,2008areprojectionsbasedonreportedcoefficients,evaluatedatsamplemeans.
(c)Incomeisaquarticinlogrealfamilyincomeperequivalent(usingtheOECDmodifiedequivalencescale,household
equivalents=1+0.5(otheradults)+0.3kids),andadummyforthe10%ofrespondentswithoutvalidincomedata.
(d)Socioeconomiccontrolsincludeindicatorvariablesforgender;age(bydecade);employmentstatus(fullandpart‐time,
temporaryillness/vacation/strike,unemployed,retired,inschool,keepinghouse,andother);maritalstatus(married,
widowed,divorced,separatedandnevermarried);educationvariablescodethehighestdegreeearnedbytherespondent,the
respondent’sfatherandmother(<highschool,highschool,associates/juniorcollege,bachelor’s,orgraduatedegrees);
religion(protestant,catholic,jewish,other,ornone),and9censusregions.Separatedummyvariablesarealsoincludedfor
missingvaluesofeachcontrolvariable.
(e)Incolumns4and5allcontrolsareinteractedwithracetoallowtheirassociationwithwell‐beingtodifferforblacksand
whites;andincolumn5,allcontrolsareinteractedwithtime,toallowfordifferentwell‐beingtrendsacrosssocioeconomic
groups.
Tables—1
Table2:ObjectiveIndicators
Blacks 2000s 1970s Median Wages of Men in Constant Dollars $20,958 $26,002 $34,749 $36,149 Median Wages of Women in Constant Dollars $11,020 $19,937 $12,177 $20,660 Median Household Income Percent of Families in Poverty $26,319 28.080% $34,514 21.600% $45,733 7.200% $54,230 7.900% Percent of Young Men Incarcerated (18‐29) 2.193% 5.51% 0.354% 1.12% Percent of Young Women Incarcerated (18‐29) 0.077% 0.213% 0.009% 0.074% Percent of Children (under 18) in Single Parent Homes Life Expectancy at Birth 33.100% 46.229% 10.300% 18.211% 66.270 72.420 73.040 77.725 Percent Male High School Dropouts (18‐24 year olds)
28.100% 14.667% 14.680% 12.956% 1970s Whites 2000s Percent Female High School Dropouts (18‐24 year 25.230% 12.400% 14.750% 9.711% olds) Percent Young Men Enrolled in College (18‐24 year 19.654% 27.444% 29.838% 34.544% olds) Percent Young Women Enrolled in College (18‐24 18.484% 35.611% 23.030% 41.067% year olds) Notes:MedianwageswerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheUSCensusBureau.(2008).HistoricalTables.TableP‐5.
RegionsofBlack[White]PeoplebyMedianIncomeandSex:1953to2008.RetrievedJune23,2010,fromPoverty:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/index.htmlMedianhouseholdincomedatawereobtained
fromannualstatisticsprovidedbytheUSCensusBureau.(2008).Income,Poverty,andHealthInsuranceCoverage
intheUnitedStates:2007.TableA‐1.HouseholdsbyTotalMoneyIncome,Race,andHispanicOriginofHouseholder:
1967to2007.AveragesoffamiliesinpovertywerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheUSCensusBureau.(2008).
HistoricalTables.Table4.PovertyStatus,byTypeofFamily,PresenceofRelatedChildren,RaceandHispanicOrigin.Retrieved
June23,2010,fromPoverty:http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/index.html.Incarcerationpercentageswere
calculatedbydividingthenumberofprisonersinFederalandStateprisonsbythetotalpopulationforthatdemographic.For
1970,decennialcensusdatafromtheUSCensusBureauprovidedthedataforboththenumberofimprisonedandthetotal
population.Forthe2000s,annualdatafromtheBureauofJusticeStatisticsprovidedprisonercountsanddatafromthe
AmericanCommunitySurveyprovidedthetotalpopulationestimates.PersonsinInstitutionsandOtherGroupQuarters.(1970).
Table3.AgeofPersonsUnderCustodyinCorrectionalInstitutionsbyTypeofControlofInstitution,Sex,Race,andSpanishOrigin:
1970.http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/42045398v2p4d4ech5.pdf.GeneralPopulationCharacteristics:
UnitedStatesSummary.(1970).Table50.SingleYearsofAgebyRaceandSex.
http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1970a_us1‐07.pdf.Prisonersin2008.AppendixTable13.Estimated
numberofsentencedprisonersunderstateorfederaljurisdiction,bygender,race,Hispanicorigin,andage,December31,2008.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p08.pdf.AmericanCommunitySurvey.TableB01001.SexByAge.Percentagesof
childreninsingleparenthomesfor1970swerecalculatedusingdecennialdatafromthe1970U.S.Census.(1970).Personsby
FamilyCharacteristics.Table1.FamilyStatusofPersonsUnder18YearsOldbePresenceandMaritalStatusofParents,Age,and
Race:1970.RetrievedJune28,2010fromSubjectReports:
Tables—2
http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/42045395v2p4a4cch05.pdf.Percentagesfor2000swerecalculated
bydividingthenumberofunder‐18childreninsingleparenthomesbythetotalnumberofunder‐18childrenforeach
demographicgroup.Eachmeasurewascalculatedusingdecennialdatafromthe2000U.S.Census.(2000).DetailedTables.
PCT29.OwnChildrenUnder18YearsbyFamilyTypeandAge.Totalpopulationfiguresineachdemographicgroupwere
calculatedusingdecennialdatafromthe2000U.S.Census.(2000).DetailedTables.P12B.SexbyAge.RetrievedJune28,2010
fromAmericanFactFinder.Lifeexpectancyaveragesforthe1970sand2000swerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheU.S
NationalCenterforHealthStatistics.(2004).U.S.LifeTables,Table12.EstimatedLifeExpectancyatbirthinyears,byraceand
sex,1900‐2000.RetrievedJune23,2010,FastStats:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/lifexpec.htmAveragesofhighschooldropouts
andcollegeenrollmentforthe1970sand2000swerecalculatedusingannualdatafromtheU.S.CensusBureau.(2007).
HistoricalTables,TableA‐5a.ThePopulation14to24YearsOldbyHighSchoolGraduateStatus,CollegeEnrollment,Attainment,
Sex,RaceandHispanicOrigin:October1967to2008.RetrievedJune23,2010,fromSchoolEnrollment:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html
Tables—3
Table3:TrendsinSubjectiveWell‐BeingbyU.S.DemographicGroup,GeneralSocialSurveyData,1972‐
2008
Male Female 18‐29 30‐44 45‐59 60+ Northeast Midwest South West Suburban and rural Urban <High School High School Bachelors and beyond <$15,000 $15,000‐
<$25,000 $25,000‐
<$40,000 >$40,000 Not employed Black‐white gap in 1972 ‐0.231***
(0.089)
‐0.392***
(0.083)
Black‐white gap in 2008 ‐0.112*
(0.069)
‐0.034
(0.075)
‐0.412***
(0.089)
‐0.394***
(0.068)
‐0.142
(0.102)
‐0.312***
(0.098)
‐0.300***
(0.101)
‐0.200**
(0.101)
‐0.444***
(0.068)
‐0.275**
(0.141)
‐0.326*** (0.096) ‐0.305*** (0.052) ‐0.233** (0.102) ‐0.327*** (0.065) ‐0.232**
(0.094)
‐0.085
(0.072)
‐0.089
(0.079)
0.152**
(0.064)
‐0.088
(0.065)
‐0.149*
(0.081)
‐0.014
(0.063)
‐0.040
(0.134)
‐0.059 (0.081) ‐0.091* (0.050) ‐0.085 (0.107) ‐0.051 (0.072) ‐0.385*** (0.133) ‐0.232*** (0.076) ‐0.263*** (0.102) ‐0.418*** (0.067) ‐0.360** (0.163) ‐0.405*** (0.109) ‐0.106 (0.096) ‐0.055 (0.045) ‐0.086 (0.119) 0.040 (0.078) ‐0.173* (0.099) ‐0.121 (0.104) Difference Trend for Blacks 0.119
0.346
(0.432)
0.358
0.587
(0.430)
0.838*
0.181
(0.473)
0.724**
0.309
(0.367)
‐0.312
0.054
(0.419)
0.631
0.464
(0.501)
0.473
0.212
(0.412)
‐0.049
0.052
(0.430)
0.923***
0.430
(0.324)
0.399
0.235
(0.810)
0.510
0.266 (0.479)
0.406
0.213 (0.264)
0.321
0.148 (0.482)
0.448
0.276 (0.369)
0.279 0.176 0.177 0.459 0.187 0.284 0.739
(0.675)
0.270
(0.346)
0.166
(0.615)
0.948***
(0.311)
0.338
(0.654)
0.594
(0.515)
Tables—4
Trend for Whites 0.015
(0.096)
‐0.408***
(0.080)
0.336**
(0.146)
‐0.135
(0.103)
‐0.461***
(0.111)
‐0.657***
(0.154)
‐0.116
(0.113)
‐0.192*
(0.108)
‐0.272***
(0.086)
‐0.254*
(0.147)
‐0.229***
(0.072) ‐0.186*
(0.108) ‐0.090 (0.126) ‐0.319***
(0.076) ‐0.036 (0.159) ‐0.220*
(0.125) ‐0.325***
(0.117) ‐0.326***
(0.078) ‐0.182*
(0.101) ‐0.195**
(0.082) Difference in the trends 0.331
(0.401)
0.995
(0.395)
0.502
(0.431)
0.858
(0.350)
0.149
(0.455)
1.288
(0.398)
0.590
(0.373)
0.143
(0.443)
1.195
(0.327)
0.653
(0.690)
0.740
(0.445)
0.592
(0.237)
0.411
(0.498)
0.767
(0.341)
0.775
(0.572)
0.490
(0.313)
0.491
(0.566)
1.274
(0.324)
0.520
(0.647)
0.789
(0.538)
Employed Married Widowed Divorced / Separated Never married ‐0.265*** (0.064) ‐0.393*** (0.079) 0.019 (0.126) ‐0.347*** (0.107) ‐0.179* (0.096) ‐0.037 (0.048) ‐0.003 (0.065) ‐0.333*** (0.103) ‐0.111 (0.100) ‐0.170* (0.097) 0.228 0.390 ‐0.352 0.236 0.009 0.405
(0.347)
0.896**
(0.389)
‐0.824
(0.644)
0.650
(0.550)
‐0.534
(0.523)
‐0.228**
(0.114) ‐0.187* (0.100) 0.154 (0.260) ‐0.006 (0.127) ‐0.560***
(0.189) 0.633
(0.278)
1.083
(0.352)
‐0.978
(0.567)
0.656
(0.526)
0.025
(0.489)
Data:GeneralSocialSurvey,1972‐2008.
Notes:***,**,and*denotestatisticallysignificantcoefficientsat1%,5%and10%,respectively.(Robuststandarderrorsin
parentheses;clusteredbyyear)
Tables—5