Discussion paper Economic history

DP17500 Quantifying Racial Discrimination in the 1944 G.I. Bill

Did the G.I. bill discriminate against Black World War II veterans? Using a variety of historical sources, I estimate similar average amounts of G.I. benefits received by Black and white World War II veterans. However, there were disparate welfare implications, as white veterans' real cash-equivalents of the benefits were, on average, about two-thirds of the government's expenditure, while the average real cash-equivalent among Black veterans was only a quarter of the government's expenditure.

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Citation

Eden, M (2022), “DP17500 Quantifying Racial Discrimination in the 1944 G.I. Bill”, CEPR Press Discussion Paper No. 17500. https://cepr.org/publications/dp17500