The Justice of Earnings in Dual-Earner Households

The rise in female labor market participation and the growth of "atypical" employment arrangements has, over the last few decades, brought about a steadily decreasingpercentage of households in which the man is the sole breadwinner, and a rising percentage of dual-earner households. Against this backdrop, the present paper investigates the impact of household contexts in which the traditional male breadwinner model has been called into question on individuals' subjective evaluations of the equity or inequity of their personal earnings. In the first step, based on social production function theory, we derive three criteria used by individuals to evaluate the fairness or justice of their personal earnings: compensation for services rendered, coverage of basic needs, and the opportunity to earn social approval. In the second step, we apply considerations from household economics and new approaches from gender research to explain why men's and women's evaluations of justice are determined to a considerable degree by the specific situation within their household - for example, by the status and income relation between the two partners. The assumptions derived regarding gender-specific patterns in justice attitudes are then tested on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) from the year 2007. We find that, among women, the perceived justice of personal earnings depends much more strongly on the particular household context. At the same time, opportunities for social comparison within the household and the relation between the woman's personal income and that of her husband play central roles. Men's justice evaluations, in contrast, are determined to a much greater extent by whether their income allows them to conform to traditional gender norms and concepts of "masculinity", and by so doing, to gain social approval outside the household as well.

Designing Multi-Factorial Survey Experiments: Effects of Presentation Style (Text or Table), Answering Scales, and Vignette Order

Multi-factorial survey experiments have become a well-established tool in social sciences as they combine experimental designs with advantages of heterogeneous respondent samples. This paper investigates three under-researched design features: how to present vignettes (running text vs. table), how to measure responses (rating vs. open scale), and how to sort vignettes (random vs. extreme-cases-first, to prevent censored responses). Experiments were conducted in a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subject design with 408 university students rating decks à 20 vignettes. Analyses of 7,895 ratings showed no differences of whether vignettes were presented as running texts or tables. Open scales revealed more measurement problems, e.g., missing values, than rating scales. Finally, vignettes presented randomly sorted produced similar results compared to sorting extreme vignette cases first. Recommendations based on the findings are to use random orders of vignettes and rating scales. Table vignettes provide an alternative to text vignettes but should be further evaluated with heterogeneous samples

Preferences for work arrangements:A discrete choice experiment

This study investigates individual preferences for work arrangements in a discrete choice experiment. Based on sociological and economic literature, we identified six essential job attributes—earnings, job security, training opportunities, scheduling flexibility, prestige of the company, and gender composition of the work team—and mapped these into hypothetical job offers. Out of three job offers, with different specifications in the respective job attributes, respondents had to choose the offer they considered as most attractive. In 2017, we implemented our choice experiment in two large-scale surveys conducted in two countries: Germany (N = 2,659) and the Netherlands (N = 2,678). Our analyses revealed that respondents considered all six job attributes in their decision process but had different priorities for each. Moreover, we found gendered preferences. Women preferred scheduling flexibility and a company with a good reputation, whereas men preferred jobs with high earnings and a permanent contract. Despite different national labor market regulations, different target populations, and different sampling strategies for the two surveys, job preferences for German and Dutch respondents were largely parallel

Unfair Pay and Health: The Effects of Perceived Injustice of Earnings on Physical Health

While there is ample evidence that income inequalities influence individuals’ health status, the mechanisms behind this income inequality–health correlation are only partially understood. This study shows that inequalities evaluated on the basis of individual perceptions of injustice are a driving force behind this connection. Two main questions are addressed: Does perceiving one’s earnings as unfair affect physical health? Do such perceptions contribute to structural health inequalities? The hypotheses presented are based on the effort–reward imbalance model, according to which experiencing injustice causes stress, which can have a negative effect on individual health. Analyses of large-scale longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel of the years 2005–2010 show that female employees who perceive their earnings as unjustly low display significantly worse physical health, and that if employees perceive their earnings to be unjust for an extended period, this contributes to the deterioration of individual physical health in male and female employees. Employees from lower social classes, in particular unskilled blue-collar workers, more frequently perceive their earnings to be unjust. Experience of unjust earnings mediates the relationship between social class and physical health, if to a limited extent. Our conclusion is that differential exposure to unjust earnings contributes to the emergence of structural health inequalities

A just gender pay gap? Three factorial survey studies on justice evaluations of earnings for male an female employees

Sauer C. A just gender pay gap? Three factorial survey studies on justice evaluations of earnings for male an female employees. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 29. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2014.The study investigates justice evaluations of earnings for male and female employees and links them to the actual inequality people are embedded in. Previous studies in non-reflexive sociological justice research found mixed results. Some studies report a just gender pay gap favoring men; others do not find this gap. This study provides an explanation for these mixed results by combining sociological justice research and status construction theory. Three factorial survey studies were carried out consisting of descriptions of employees with varying characteristics including gender. One study was conducted with social sciences students and two with population samples of German inhabitants. Results show that social sciences students revealed no gender gap in their ratings. In the population surveys, both men and women, showed a rating behavior favoring male employees. The findings indicate that actual inequalities between men and women influence the existence, sign, and size of a just gender pay gap

A Factorial Survey on the Justice of Earnings within the SOEP-Pretest 2008

In the 2008 Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) Pretest, the factorial survey method was tested for the first time for use in the SOEP longitudinal study. In this paper, we describe the construction and application of the vignette module, which has its origins in the field of justice research and is used in particular in the measurement of income justice. We show that the factorial survey method is applicable in large-scale survey research when taking certain constraints into account,and that respondents of varying ages and educational groups are able to deal sufficiently well with answering the questions. The results obtained suggest that older respondents tend to take fewer dimensions into consideration in forming their opinions. Further studies will be needed to determine whether this is evidence that the evaluation tasks were too complex for these respondents and should thus be interpreted as a method effect, or whether it represents a valid substantive result. The results of the study demonstrate convincingly that alongside occupation, education, and performance-factors relating directly to employment-familial aspects such as civil status, the partner's employment status, and number of children constitute important criteria for determining what constitutes a "fair" income. The factor survey in the 2008 SOEP Pretest offers diverse analytical potential, both from a methodological point of view and in terms of the empirical results obtained. The positive experience with the 2008 SOEP Pretest suggests that the SOEP vignette module can be used effectively in a future wave of the main SOEP survey.income, justice theory, fairness, factorial survey method, SOEP

A Factorial Survey on the Justice of Earnings within the SOEP-Pretest 2008

In the 2008 Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) Pretest, the factorial survey method was tested for the first time for use in the SOEP longitudinal study. In this paper, we describe the construction and application of the vignette module, which has its origins in the field of justice research and is used in particular in the measurement of income justice. We show that the factorial survey method is applicable in large-scale survey research when taking certain constraints into account, and that respondents of varying ages and educational groups are able to deal sufficiently well with answering the questions. The results obtained suggest that older respondents tend to take fewer dimensions into consideration in forming their opinions. Further studies will be needed to determine whether this is evidence that the evaluation tasks were too complex for these respondents and should thus be interpreted as a method effect, or whether it represents a valid substantive result. The results of the study demonstrate convincingly that alongside occupation, education, and performance – factors relating directly to employment – familial aspects such as civil status, the partner's employment status, and number of children constitute important criteria for determining what constitutes a "fair" income. The factor survey in the 2008 SOEP Pretest offers diverse analytical potential, both from a methodological point of view and in terms of the empirical results obtained. The positive experience with the 2008 SOEP Pretest suggests that the SOEP vignette module can be used effectively in a future wave of the main SOEP survey.income, justice theory, fairness, factorial survey method, SOEP

Die wahrgenommene Gerechtigkeit des eigenen Einkommens: geschlechtstypische Muster und die Bedeutung des Haushaltskontextes

The rise in female labor market participation and the growth of ¿atypical¿ employment arrangements has, over the last few decades, brought about a steadily decreasing percentage of households in which the man is the sole breadwinner, and a rising percentage of dual-earner households. Against this backdrop, the present paper inves-tigates how household contexts in which the traditional "male breadwinner" model still exists or has already been challenged affect individuals' subjective evaluations of the justice of their personal earnings. In the first step we derive three criteria used by individuals to evaluate the fairness or justice of their personal earnings: compensation for services rendered, coverage of basic needs, and the opportunity to earn social approval. In the second step, we apply considerations from household economics and new approaches from gender research to explain why men's and women's evaluations of justice are determined to a considerable degree by the specific situation within their household. The assumptions derived regarding gender-specific patterns in justice attitudes are then tested on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) from 2007 and 2005. The results support our central thesis that gender-specific patterns in the evaluation of personal earnings are both reduced and increased in dual-earner households. They are reduced because women in dual-income households tend to have higher income expectations that challenge the existing gender wage gap. At the same time, gender-specific patterns are increased because men evaluate the equity of their personal income in relation to their ability to fulfill traditional gender norms and thus their capacity to live up to corresponding notions of "masculinity". Die zunehmende Erwerbsbeteiligung von Frauen und die Ausbreitung "atypischer" Beschäftigungsverhältnisse hat zur Folge, dass der Anteil an Haushalten, in denen der Mann der alleinige Ernährer der Familie ist, abnimmt und der Anteil an Zweiverdienerhaushalten seit Jahren ansteigt. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragt dieser Beitrag, welche Bedeutung Haushaltskontexte, in denen das traditionelle male-breadwinner Modell noch existiert bzw. bereits in Frage gestellt ist, für die Bewertung der Gerechtigkeit des eigenen Erwerbseinkommens haben. Dazu werden in einem ersten Schritt drei Beurteilungskriterien der Gerechtigkeit des eigenen Einkommens hergeleitet: Kompensation erbrachter Leistungen, Bedarfsabsicherung und Ermöglichung sozialer Wertschätzung. In einem zweiten Schritt wird erläutert, warum die Gerechtigkeitsurteile von Männern und Frauen maßgeblich von der spezifischen Situation im jeweiligen Haushalt bestimmt sind. Die daraus abgeleiteten Annahmen zu geschlechtstypischen Mustern von Gerechtigkeitseinstellungen werden mithilfe von Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels aus den Jahren 2007 und 2005 überprüft. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass in Zweiverdienerhaushalten geschlechtstypische Muster bei der Bewertung des eigenen Einkommens verringert und verstärkt werden: Verringert werden sie, weil Frauen in Zweiverdienerhaushalten höhere Ansprüche an ihr Lohnniveau haben, und verstärkt werden sie, weil Männer die Bewertung ihres Erwerbseinkommens davon abhängig machen, ob es sie in die Lage versetzt, den traditionellen Geschlechternormen und den darin transportierten Vorstellungen über "Männlichkeit" entsprechen zu können.Einkommensgerechtigkeit, Geschlecht, Zweiverdienerhaushalte, Geschlechternormen, fairness, equity, inequality, pay differentials, dual-earner households, gender, gender norms

Die Bewertung von Erwerbseinkommen: methodische und inhaltliche Analysen zu einer Vignettenstudie im Rahmen des SOEP-Pretest 2008

In the 2008 Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) Pretest, the factorial survey method was tested for the first time for use in the SOEP longitudinal study. In this paper, we describe the construction and application of the vignette module, which has its origins in the field of justice research and is used in particular in the measurement of income justice. We show that the factorial survey method is applicable in large-scale survey research when taking certain constraints into account, and that respondents of varying ages and educational groups are able to deal sufficiently well with answering the questions. The results obtained suggest that older respondents tend to take fewer dimensions into consideration in forming their opinions. Further studies will be needed to determine whether this is evidence that the evaluation tasks were too complex for these respondents and should thus be interpreted as a method effect, or whether it represents a valid substantive result. The results of the study demonstrate convincingly that alongside occupation, education, and performance - factors relating directly to employment - familial aspects such as civil status, the partner's employment status, and number of children constitute important criteria for determining what constitutes a "fair" income. The factor survey in the 2008 SOEP Pretest offers diverse analytical potential, both from a methodological point of view and in terms of the empirical results obtained. The positive experience with the 2008 SOEP Pretest suggests that the SOEP vignette module can be used effectively in a future wave of the main SOEP survey. Im Pretest 2008 wurde erstmals für die Längsschnittstudie Sozio-oekonomisches Panel (SOEP) die Erhebungsmethode des Faktoriellen Surveys erprobt. Es werden Aufbau und die Umsetzung des Vignettenmoduls beschrieben, das inhaltlich auf dem Gebiet der empirischen Gerechtigkeitsforschung, speziell Messung von Einkommensgerechtigkeit, angesiedeltist. Es wird gezeigt, dass der Faktorielle Survey bei Beachtung einiger Randbedingungen auch in der großflächigen Umfrageforschung einsetzbar ist und Befragte verschiedener Alters- und Bildungsgruppen mit der Beantwortung hinreichend gut zurecht kommen. Die erzielten Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass vor allem ältere Befragte weniger Dimensionenzu Beurteilung heranziehen. Ob dies als Hinweis für eine für diese Befragten zu komplexe Urteilsaufgabe und damit einen methodischer Effekt zu deuten ist, oder aber ein inhaltlich valides Ergebnis darstellt, wäre in künftigen Studien zu klären. Die inhaltlichen Ergebnisse zeigen beispielhaft, dass neben dem Beruf, der Ausbildung und der Leistung - also Faktoren die im direkten Bezug zur Erwerbstätigkeit stehen -ebenso familiäre Aspekte, wie der Familienstand, die Erwerbstätigkeit des Partners und die Anzahl der Kinder relevante Kriterien für die Einkommensgerechtigkeit darstellen. Der Faktorielle Survey im SOEP Pretest 2008 bietet sowohl in methodischer als auch inhaltlicher Hinsicht vielzählige Analysemöglichkeiten. Die positiven Erfahrungen des SOEP-Pretest 2008 ermutigen dazu, auch in einer künftigen Haupterhebung des SOEP Vignettenmodule einzusetzen.