TY  - JOUR
AU  - Neal,Derek
TI  - Why Has Black-White Skill Convergence Stopped?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11090
PY  - 2005
Y2  - January 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11090
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11090.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Derek Neal
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/702-8166
Fax: 773-702-8490
E-Mail: d-neal@uchicago.edu
AB  - All data sources indicate that black-white skill gaps diminished over most of the 20th century, but black-white skill gaps as measured by test scores among youth and educational attainment among young adults have remained constant or increased in absolute value since the late 1980s.  I examine the potential importance of discrimination against skilled black workers, changes in black family structures, changes in black household incomes, black-white differences in parenting norms, and education policy as factors that may contribute to the recent stability of black-white skill gaps.  Absent changes in public policy or the economy that facilitate investment in black children, best case scenarios suggest that even approximate black-white skill parity is not possible before 2050, and equally plausible scenarios imply that the black-white skill gap will remain quite significant throughout the 21st century.
ER  -