Table 2.
Household Income Characteristics of Men with Low Labor-Force Attachment by Race, Education, and Age, 1992–2017
| Whites | Blacks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: High School Dropouts | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 |
| Average Annual Income ($) | ||||||
| Own earnings | 900 | 1,100 | 500 | 500 | 400 | 300 |
| Total unearned income | 35,000 | 28,300 | 28,400 | 29,200 | 28,300 | 23,500 |
| Own disability-related benefits | 3,300 | 5,700 | 7,600 | 2,400 | 4,200 | 5,400 |
| Own other unearned income | 900 | 1,100 | 1,500 | 400 | 700 | 900 |
| Cohabitants’ total earnings | 21,800 | 13,100 | 12,500 | 18,600 | 15,800 | 10,100 |
| Cohabitants’ total unearned income | 8,000 | 7,400 | 6,100 | 6,600 | 6,800 | 6,300 |
| Household food stamps income | 1,000 | 1,000 | 700 | 1,200 | 800 | 800 |
| Maximal Source of Income (%) | ||||||
| Own earnings | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Own disability-related benefits | 12 | 23 | 31 | 10 | 18 | 27 |
| Earnings OR unearned income from: | ||||||
| Parents | 30 | 21 | 11 | 38 | 22 | 16 |
| Spouse | 15 | 20 | 20 | 5 | 12 | 12 |
| Other HH members | 25 | 20 | 21 | 31 | 31 | 26 |
| HH food stamps income | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Other source or tie | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| None (living on < $4 per day) | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| B: High School Graduates (no college) | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 |
| Average Annual Income ($) | ||||||
| Own earnings | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 600 | 700 | 600 |
| Total unearned income | 43,000 | 35,900 | 36,200 | 36,800 | 29,200 | 27,800 |
| Own disability-related benefits | 3,100 | 5,300 | 7,200 | 2,400 | 3,600 | 5,300 |
| Own other unearned income | 1,600 | 2,100 | 3,600 | 800 | 1,300 | 2,200 |
| Cohabitants’ total earnings | 30,200 | 19,900 | 18,000 | 26,100 | 17,000 | 14,100 |
| Cohabitants’ total unearned income | 7,400 | 7,900 | 6,900 | 6,600 | 6,500 | 5,500 |
| Household food stamps income | 700 | 700 | 500 | 900 | 800 | 700 |
| Maximal Source of Income (%) | ||||||
| Own earnings | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Own disability-related benefits | 9 | 18 | 25 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
| Earnings OR unearned income from: | ||||||
| Parents | 35 | 21 | 12 | 41 | 23 | 11 |
| Spouse | 14 | 22 | 24 | 7 | 17 | 19 |
| Other HH members | 25 | 19 | 19 | 29 | 25 | 23 |
| HH food stamps income | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Other source or tie | 6 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| None (living on < $4 per day) | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
Source: Authors’ calculations based on the March Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
Note: “HH” is household. Sample consist of all households in which at least one prime-age, non-college-educated man with low labor-force attachment resided. Low-labor force attachment is defined as no more than 13 weeks of employment in the reference year. Households with imputed sources of income are excluded. Disability-related benefits are not fully identifiable until 1988; food stamps benefits are not identifiable until 1992; as a result, we consider the years 1992–2017. The top subpanels record average levels of the man’s household’s yearly income in 2017 dollars, rounded to the nearest hundred and broken down by income source. The bottom subpanels record the frequency with which each source of earnings accounts for the largest share of total household income. Extremely poor households, which subsist on less than $4 per day (with a square-root equivalence scale to adjust for household size), are classified as having no maximal source of income. See main text and the online Appendix available with this paper at the journal website for additional information on data processing and some additional tabulations.