Racial differences in occupational status and income in South Africa, 1980 and 1991

Donald J. Treiman*, Matthew Mckeever, Eva Fodor

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Using data on employed men from the 1980 and 1991 South African Censuses, we analyze the determinants of occupational status and income. Whites are found to have much higher occupational status, and especially income, than members of other racial groups. Most of the racial differentials in occupational status can be explained by racial differences in the personal assets that determine occupational attainment (especially education), but only a much smaller fraction of the White/non-White income differential can be so explained. Despite a modest reduction between 1980 and 1991 in the role of race in socioeconomic attainment, the overall picture shows more stability than change.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)111-132
Number of pages22
JournalDemography
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1996

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