Low-wage mobility during the early career

Despite the size of the low-wage workforce, knowledge of the low-wage labor market is markedly sparse. In particular, little is known about the mobility patterns of low-wage workers. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I analyze low-wage mobility during the early career. I find that exits from low-wages are common, but the odds of exit and the permanence of an exit vary by social group membership and have changed in recent decades. Women, African Americans, residents of the South, and the less educated fare worse in the low-wage labor market. My findings also suggest that low-wage mobility has changed since the 1970s, with low-wages becoming more difficult to avoid.