The Work of Cities: Underemployment and Urban Change in Late- 20th-Century America

This research moves beyond preoccupations with deindustrialization, joblessness, and the urban “underclass” to examine the role that cities and urbanization in gen­ eral have played in the reorganization of production and local labor markets. After reviewing recent work on global cities, new industrial districts, and the “new” social division of labor, the author used Census data to examine the extent and relative causes of rising underemployment in U.S. metropolitan areas during 1950–90. Sever­ al key findings emerge. First, underemployment increased 35 percent between 1970 and 1990, largely due to shifts in structural rather than personal factors. Second, most of this structural shift occurred within industries, not across them. Third, the consequences of these shifts have been most dramatic at the bottom rather than the top of the urban hierarchy, despite recent claims regarding global cities. Fourth, fac­ tors associated with the new social division of labor characterized by growing num­ bers of smaller workplaces and “routine” business service firms offer the strongest empirical explanation for rising underemployment in local metropolitan areas. Implications are discussed. During the 1980s Americans began to worry a great deal about the deindustrialization of their major cities and the possible contributions of this trend to rising joblessness. As scholars analyzed this problem, they produced valuable insights into the transformation of urban economies and the growth of underclass populations trapped in inner-city neigh­ borhoods that were increasingly devoid of the financial and social rewards of work. This research, however, also obscured the fact that joblessness constitutes only one aspect of economic hardship facing many urban residents. More significant by far, in terms of both absolute numbers and relative growth over recent decades, continues to be low-income employment—work situations that fail to provide workers with socially acceptable earn­ ings as a result of inadequate worktime, low wages, or a combination of the two. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research • Volume 7, Number 1 • 2004 Cityscape 107 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development • Office of Policy Development and Research