TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Chiswick, Barry R.
AU  - Robinson, RaeAnn H.
        TI  - Literacy and Occupation among Free People in the Antebellum United States
        PY  - 2026/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 19045
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp19045
        AB  - This paper uses the 1860 U.S. Census 1 percent microdata sample to examine literacy patterns among free adults and their association with labor market outcomes. Applying human capital frameworks to a historical context, we evaluate literacy determinants using logistic regression across demographic traits, including gender, nativity, race, age, and regional proximity to slavery. OLS regression models reveal a robust, positive relationship between literacy and occupational income scores (IPUMS), which remains significant using predicted literacy to address measurement error. While our approach likely underestimates literacy’s full economic value by capturing occupational shifts rather than intra-occupational gains, findings confirm that mid-nineteenth-century human capital was strongly tied to higher economic standing.
        KW  - literacy
KW  - human capital
KW  - occupational status
KW  - occupational income score
KW  - 1860 Census of Population
KW  - antebellum United States
KW  - labor market analysis
KW  - unreported family workers
KW  - immigrants
        ER  -