The gender wage gap

The actual gender wage disparity (which compares the wages of male and female workers with similar labor-force characteristics) is lower than the raw gender earnings gap.Wages ; Discrimination in employment

The Gender Pay Gap

Empirical research on gender pay gaps has traditionally focused on the role of gender-specific factors, particularly gender differences in qualifications and differences in the treatment of otherwise equally qualified male and female workers (i.e., labor market discrimination). This paper explores the determinants of the gender pay gap and argues for the importance of an additional factor, wage structure, the array of prices set for labor market skills and the rewards received for employment in favored sectors. Drawing on joint work with Lawrence Kahn, I illustrate the impact of wage structure by presenting empirical results analyzing its effect on international differences in the gender gap and trends over time in the gender differential in the U.S.

Gender Culture and Gender Gap in Employment

This paper analyzes to what extent gender culture affects gender gap in employment. Drawing on Italian data, we measure culture by building two indices: one based on individual attitudes, as done in the existing literature; one based on firms’ attitudes. Firms’ beliefs, which express their set of ideas, values and norms, though generally neglected, are as important as individuals’ attitudes to explain female labor market outcomes. Using an instrumental variable analysis, we show that our index of gender culture based on firms’ attitudes is significant in explaining gender gap in employment in Italian provinces. We show that the same holds when culture is measured with reference to individual attitudes.firm’s culture, Italian provinces, instrumental variable

Gender gaps in unemployment rates in OECD countries

There is an enormous literature on gender gaps in pay and labour market participation but virtually no literature on gender gaps in unemployment rates. Although there are some countries in which there is essentially no gender gap in unemployment, there are others in which the female unemployment rate is substantially above the male. Although it is easy to give plausible reasons for why more women than men may decide not to want work, it is not so obvious why, once they have decided they want a job, women in some countries are less likely to be in employment than men. This is the subject of this paper. We show that, in countries where there is a large gender gap in unemployment rates, there is a gender gap in both flows from employment into unemployment and from unemployment into employment. We investigate different hypotheses about the sources of these gaps. Most hypotheses find little support in the data and the gender gap in unemployment rates (like the gender gap in pay) remains largely unexplained. But it does seem to correlate with attitudes on whether men are more deserving of work than women so that discrimination against women may explain part of the gender gap in unemployment rates in the Mediterranean countries

Can the Introduction of a Minimum Wage in FYR Macedonia Decrease the Gender Wage Gap?

This paper relies on a simple framework to understand the gender wage gap in Macedonia, and simulates how the gender wage gap would behave after the introduction of a minimum wage. First, it presents a newâÃÂÃÂalbeit simpleâÃÂÃÂdecomposition of the wage gap into three factors: (i) a wage level factor, which measures the extent to which the gender gap is driven by differences in wage levels among low-skilled workers of opposite sex; (ii) a skills endowment factor, which quantifies the extent to which the gender wage gap is driven by the difference in the share of high-skilled workers by gender; and (iii) returns to education, which measures the extent to which the gender gap is driven by differences by gender in returns to education. Second, the paper presents simple set of simulations that indicate that the introduction of a minimum wage in Macedonia could contribute to decrease the gender wage gap by up to 23 percent. Nevertheless, in order to significantly improve the wage gap, a rather high minimum wage may be required, which may contribute to reductions in employment.Minimum wages; Gender Gap; Wage Differentials; Macedonia

Can the introduction of a minimum wage in FYR Macedonia decrease the gender wage gap?

This paper relies on simple framework to understand the gender wage gap in Macedonia and then simulates how the gender wage gap would behave after the introduction of a minimum wage. First, it presents a new albeit simple decomposition of the wage gap into three factors: (i) a wage level factor, that measures the extent to which the gender gap is driven by differences in wage levels among low-skilled workers of oppositesex; (ii) an skills endowment factor, that quantifies the extent to which the gender wage gap is driven because the share of high-skilled workers differs by gender; and (iii) returns to education factor, that measures the extent to which the gender gap exists is driven by differences by gender in returns to education. Second, the paper presents simple set of simulations that indicate that the introduction of a minimum wage in Macedonia can contribute to decrease the gender wage gap by up to 23 percent. Nevertheless, in order to get a significant improvement in the wage gap a rather high minimum wage may required, which may contribute to reductions in employment.Labor Markets,,Gender and Development,Labor Policies,Access to Finance

Gender Differences in Pay

We consider the gender pay gap in the United States. Both gender-specific factors, including gender differences in qualifications and discrimination, and overall wage structure, the rewards for skills and employment in particular sectors, importantly influence the gender pay gap. Declining gender differentials in the U.S., and the more rapid closing of the gender pay gap in the U.S. than elsewhere, appear to be primarily due to gender-specific factors. However, the relatively large gender pay gap in the U.S. compared to a number of other advanced countries seems primarily attributable to the very high level of U.S. wage inequality.

Parenting, work and the gender pay gap

This paper explores the relationship between parenting, work and the gender pay gap, and provides insights into the ways organisations can help address the gender pay gap by supporting parents in the workforce to manage work and family commitments. Introduction The gender pay gap is the difference between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time equivalent earnings, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings. For example, if women’s average wage is 80% of men’s, then there is a gender pay gap of 20%. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (the Agency) calculates the national gender pay gap using Australian Bureau of Statistics\u27 Average Weekly Full-Time Earnings data. The national gender pay gap is currently 17.1% and has hovered between 15% and 18% for the past two decades. The national gender pay gap represents the average difference in wages across the whole population of women and men in the workforce. Gender pay gaps can also be calculated for industries, occupations and individual organisations, and these are usually different from the national figure. Pay gaps in favour of men are found in every single industry. Most often the gender pay gap is discussed in the context of the aggregated, national estimate, and this is the ‘default’ figure referred to as the gender pay gap in this paper. Despite decades of legislation designed to prevent it, discrimination on the basis of sex in Australian workplaces persists. Sex discrimination has long-term negative effects for both women and men, although the consequences are more readily observed in the lives of women. Women’s disjointed career trajectories are mirrored in the way the gender pay gap changes over the life course. The gender pay gap exists from first entry to the workforce and increases substantially during the years of childbirth and childrearing, a time when many women have reduced their engagement with paid employment to take on family care work. The gap then stabilises and narrows slightly from mid-life, when many women increase their paid work and sometimes develop new careers after their children have grown up. The pay gap narrows further in the years leading up to retirement with a substantial drop during retirement when men’s income is usually reduced. This paper explores the relationships between parenting, work and the gender pay gap, and provides insights into the ways that organisations can help address the gender pay gap by supporting parents in the workforce to more easily manage their paid work and family commitments

The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation

Compares 2011 median weekly earnings by gender, occupation, and race/ethnicity; the wage gender gaps within races/ethnicities; and the prevalence of occupational segregation in which women tend to work in certain occupations and men in others