THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF STATUS AND LABOR DIVISION ON LEVELS OF INCOME AMONG WOMEN WHO ARE PRIMARY PROVIDERS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: A CASE STUDY (OCCUPATIONAL-SEGREGATION, LABOR SEGMENTATION, FEMALE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS)

A new concept is used to analyze female breadwinners. This new concept replaces the concept of "female head" (indicated by marital status and absent husbands) with economic criteria. Four main economic criteria based on the 1980 census data definition are used. They are householder (as confirmed by owner or rental contracts), bill payment, income, and employment. The group selected using these criteria are Primary Providers. The District of Columbia census population was chosen to demonstrate the new concept and method of selection. Income differences for Providers are analyzed by evaluating the effects of gender, race, education, and labor segmentation on income levels. The income of women Providers is compared with that of women non-Providers. Gender differences are examined for all income sources. Racial differences in income are compared with gender differences, controlling for education, employment status, and the extent of sex-segregated occupations. A multiple analysis of variance was carried out treating race, gender, level of education, occupational segregation, and labor segmentation as factors expected to account for significant variation in income among Providers. The combined impact of occupational segregation and segmented labor when varied with education was found to have the strongest effect on variation in income. Gender as an independent factor accounted for very little of the variation in income because the differentiation of occupations by sex is an integral structural feature of labor segmentation. A major outcome of segregated occupations is that they produce greater stratification among women in the labor structure than is evident among men. Gender differences in income among black Primary Providers are quite distinct though not as great as among white Primary Providers. Differences in income by race are greater among men than they are among women. Incomes tend to decrease in occupations located in the subordinate and secondary segments. These segments contain the majority of jobs in which women are concentrated. Women Providers earn significantly less than women non-Providers. This is explained by a wider spread of incomes around the average for women non-Providers.