Local Administration and Racial Inequality in Federal Program Access: Insights from New Deal Work Relief

Price Fishback, Jessamyn Schaller and Evan J. Taylor

No 32681, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: New Deal programs provided relief jobs for millions of unemployed Americans. Although the federal government sought to prohibit racial discrimination, eligibility was determined by local administrators. Using the 1940 Census, we estimate county-level Black–White gaps in WPA employment. The estimates show that about 40% of Black male workers lived in counties where their rate of work relief employment was the same or higher than similar White male workers, including 24% in the South. Black workers’ relative access to work relief was higher where the White unemployment rate was lower and where local governments had more resources.

JEL-codes: J08 J45 J78 N32 N42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07
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