LABOR-FORCE TRANSITIONS AMONG OLDER AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE MEN

Using a life-course/opportunity-cost framework, we study racial differ ences in labor force behavior among African American and white men age d 55 to 69. A multifaceted measure of labor force behavior is examined within a longitudinal framework. We perform the analyses with a merge d sample of the 1984 and 1985 Survey of Income and Program Participati on, and we find that the most stable status is not working, followed b y full-time, part-time, and unemployed statuses. Results from multivar iate logistic regression change models show race-specific effects of a ge, health, and not-working status on several labor force status and a ttrition contrasts. Researchers have much to gain by continuing to con sider racial differences in late-life labor force behavior and by focu sing on contemporaneous and lagged measures of life-course variables.