During the strong economic conditions that predated the COVID-19 pandemic, many US workers, especially females and individuals of color, suffered from economic vulnerability. Despite growing research attention, we lack an understanding of how the prevalence and patterns of earnings and job instability vary with worker characteristics, particularly at the intersections between sex and race/ethnicity. This study uses longitudinal administrative data from a large, diverse state from 2015 through 2018 to document changes in earnings and jobs. We then examine variation in the size, frequency, and direction of these changes by worker sex and race/ethnicity among a subsample of workers who are connected to the public welfare system. Results indicate that, as expected, workers who are connected to the public welfare system experienced higher levels of economic vulnerability, but with substantial racial/ethnic and sex differences. As a consequence, a large number of workers—disproportionately those of color—were experiencing high levels of economic instability during a period of strong economic growth. Our findings have implications for policy and practice strategies.

在 COVID-19 大流行之前的强劲经济条件下，许多美国工人，尤其是女性和有色人种，遭受经济脆弱性之苦。尽管研究关注度越来越高，但我们仍缺乏对收入和工作不稳定的普遍性和模式如何随工人特征而变化的理解，特别是在性别和种族/民族之间的交叉点。本研究使用 2015 年至 2018 年来自一个大型、多样化州的纵向行政数据来记录收入和工作的变化。然后，我们根据工人性别和种族/民族在与公共福利系统相关的工人子样本中检查这些变化的大小、频率和方向的变化。结果表明，正如预期的那样，与公共福利系统有联系的工人经历了更高程度的经济脆弱性，但种族/民族和性别差异很大。结果，大量工人——尤其是有色人种——在经济强劲增长期间经历了高度的经济不稳定。我们的研究结果对政策和实践策略有影响。