Causes of Shifts in Occupational Segregation of the Foreign-Born: Evidence from American Cities, 1870-1880

Abstract

T7his article applies arguments about the dynamics of competition in an ethnic and racial job queue to an analysis of causes of changes in occupational segregation in late 19th century America. The evidence lends credibility to the hypothesis that the presence of lower-status blacks enabled some white ethnics to move up the job queue and out of segregated occupations. The findings are that cities that had initially large and growing numbers of blacks had decreasing occupational segregation for foreigners, while those with growing numbers of foreigners had increasing levels. Where there were a relatively larger number of illiterate blacks, levels of segregation for the foreign-born decreased, but the numbers of foreign-born who were illiterate did not affect occupational segregation for this group. Research on the late 19th and early 20th century finds that the structure of opportunity for blacks in the United States deteriorated sharply just as occupational mobility for white immigrants improved.' We know little about the mechanisms that produced these paths of opportunity, despite the fact that they undoubtedly have consequences for today's gaps in occupational attainment between blacks and whites (Farley 1984). In order to explore these issues, this article analyzes data on changes in levels of occupational segregation of the foreign-born population in cities in the late 19th century.