Growth in Service Sector Employment and MSA Gender Earnings Inequality: 1970-1980

This study tests contradictory hypotheses regarding the implications of service sector growth in post-industrial societies on gender stratification. Panel analyses of 1970 and 1980 U.S. census datafrom the largest 124 MSAs reveal that increasing employment in service industries reduces the gender gap in median earnings net of changes in human capital and community variables. Findings also support the deindustrialization thesis in that service sector growth is economically detrimental to both sexes. However, men's earnings deteriorate at a faster rate than women's earnings resulting in greater similarity between male andfemale earnings. The results imply that men in metropolitan labor markets experiencing greater employment in service industries suffer lower earnings because of dwindling high-wage blue-collar jobs. A larger male service sector component also reduces occupational sex segregation, thus helping to equalize the earnings of men and women. In recent years there has been increasing concern among sociologists and economists regarding the implications of industrial restructuring in the United States for processes of gender stratification. As greater proportions of employees work in industries providing services to organizations and individuals, rather than in the immediate production of tangible goods, the question arises as to how increased service sector employment will affect the relative rewards accruing to men and women in the labor force. Thus far there is no consensus as to whether expanding employment in service industries will increase, maintain, or decrease social and economic rewards between the sexes. The present paper explicates the various positions and assumptions underlying recent speculation and empirical findings on this topic. After discussing shortcomings of the available literature, quantitative analyses directly assess the impact of service sector employment on relative gender earnings.1 *This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 1988 meetings of the American Sociological Association. The suggestions of Janet Saltzman Chafetz, Anthony Gary Dworkin, Paula England, William Form, Jennifer Glass, anonymous reviewers, and the comments of many individuals who have heard various versions of the paper are gratefully acknowledged. The Department of Sociology, the Center for Public Policy, and the Computer Center of the University of Houston provided partial support for this research. Direct correspondence to the author at the Department of Sociology -PGH 3474, University ofHouston, Houston TX 77204. i The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces, March 1991, 69(3):763-783 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.132 on Thu, 15 Sep 2016 04:44:37 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 764 / Social Forces 69:3, March 1991