Multiracial Identification and Racial Gaps: A Work in Progress

Jenifer L. Bratter

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2018, vol. 677, issue 1, 69-80

Abstract: For nearly 20 years, the U.S. Census has allowed respondents to report multiple races, offering new opportunities to assess the well-being of multiracial groups. Multiple-race reporting provides much-needed nuance for assessing the racial stratification of social outcomes as the distinctions between racial groups is less clear. Here, I explore the promises and the pitfalls of working with multiple-race data in studies of race inequality. I begin with a discussion of prior work using multiple-race data, showing how they inform our understanding of race-based patterns, and also consider issues raised by the conceptual and methodological fuzziness inherent in using multiple-race responses. I then provide a brief picture of current racial differences in adult poverty rates for single- and multiple-race groups, revealing that some multiracial groups experience parity with single-race groups while others occupy a space in between. While these patterns are meaningful, multiple interpretations are possible given the nature of multiple-race data.

Keywords: multiracial identity; racial inequality; U.S. Census; racial identification; poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:677:y:2018:i:1:p:69-80

DOI: 10.1177/0002716218758622

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