This study offers a comparative analysis that uncovers shifts in the public sector
among different racial/ethnic groups of women workers from 1970 through 2000.
Using the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we find that workers who
earned the least benefited the most from the public sector. Moreover, after
controlling for individual characteristics, we find that the public sector premium
disappears for white women and is strongest for black women. We also uncover
important variations in the public sector premium by level of government.
Findings suggest that federal and state employment benefits all women. While
local-level employment does benefit black women, we find that white and Latina
women experience a wage penalty in local government jobs.