Income Distribution in Steel Communities
Principal investigators: Patricia Beeson and Rick Tannery

Spatially concentrated job losses of well-paid workers from the American steel industry affected both the workers and the larger communities in which they lived. This research project examines how individuals and communities responded to these structural changes by investigating the ways in which former steelworkers and potential new entrants into the labor market adjusted to these depression-like conditions. The focus is on one labor market, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, which is used as a case study to provide context for a broader analysis of the effects of restructuring nationally. The research combines the analysis of secondary data with interviews of individuals directly affected by mill closings and individuals in the community who were in a position to observe the changes that occurred. Secondary data analysis is used to show how the loss of steel jobs affected the regional income distribution for as long as ten years following the mass layoffs. We use a unique data source that permits us to follow former steelworkers and examine how they adapted to the structural change. Interviews with family members and those in high school before and after the mass layoffs provide a context for the data analysis.

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