Intersectional Occupational Crowding: Labor Market Stratification Amongst Women Workers in New Orleans

Abstract

This descriptive paper examines racial and gender patterns of employment in New Orleans Louisiana using the 2018 American Communities Survey microdata in the context of the post-Katrina economy, with a focus on women workers. This paper reviews the literature on occupational crowding, and then uses a simple measure of crowding to analyze the local labor market focusing on an intersectional lens to examine patterns by race and ethnicity, gender, as well as additionally important dimensions of citizenship and age. A review of the literature shows the proliferation of these low-wage service occupations as associated with the redevelopment trajectory of New Orleans, as well as broader trends in the service economy. This paper then discusses how such a case study in the context of the “New New Orleans” can help to pose further research questions about occupational crowding, including methodologies for measurement, the relationship between crowding patterns and changes in service work, and how specific local and regional policy and redevelopment decisions shape crowding patterns.