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Lundberg, Shelly (2022): Gender Economics and the Meaning of Discrimination. In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 112, S. 588-591. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20221086

Abstract

"Advances in economics hold much promise for an improved understanding of complex issues concerning gender and gender inequalities. A more realistic economics of choice based on behavioral economics, evidence of social influences on economic outcomes, and a recognition of the role of cultural persistence in patterns of behavior have blurred our traditional separation of preferences and constraints. However, in the analysis of gender gaps, we have continued to focus on the discrimination versus preferences dichotomy that this work has rendered both conceptually and empirically irrelevant. As the domain of economics continues to broaden, our approach to discrimination needs to change." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mansour, Hani & Terra McKinnish (2022): Male Wage Inequality and Characteristics of "Early Mover" Marriages. (CESifo working paper 9619), München, 38 S.

Abstract

"Previous work shows that higher male wage inequality decreases the share of ever married women in their 20s, consistent with the theoretical prediction that greater male wage dispersion increases the return to marital search. Consequently, male wage inequality should be associated with higher husband quality among those “early-mover” women who choose to forgo these higher returns to search. We confirm using U.S. decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data from 1980-2018 that married women ages 22-30 in marriage markets with greater male wage inequality are more likely to marry up in education and in husband’s occupation. We additionally consider whether male wage inequality increases wage uncertainty, leading women to prefer older husbands who can send stronger signals of lifetime earnings. We confirm that higher male wage inequality is also associated with a larger marital age gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mertehikian, Yasmin A. & Pilar Gonalons-Pons (2022): Work and Family Disadvantage: Determinants of Gender Gaps in Paid Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Socius, Jg. 8, S. 1-12. DOI:10.1177/23780231221117649

Abstract

"This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the increase in gender inequality in paid work during the pandemic to unpack the relative relevance of labor market and work-family conflict processes. Using panel data from the United States Current Population Survey, we examine four mechanisms in an integrated analysis that explicitly includes single-parent households and assesses the moderating role of women’s economic position relative to their partners. The results indicate that increases in gender inequality during the pandemic were heavily concentrated in households with children but also partly connected to gender differences in prepandemic labor market positions and to the higher prevalence of women in lower earner position relative to their partners. Single parents were more negatively impacted than partnered parents, but the disproportionate concentration of this impact on women does not contribute much to increases in overall gender inequality due to the relatively smaller size of this group." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ren, Yufei, Lin Xiu & Amy B. Hietapelto (2022): Dare to ask in front of others? Women initiating salary negotiations. In: Journal of Economic Psychology, Jg. 92. DOI:10.1016/j.joep.2022.102550

Abstract

"Previous research has shown that gender pay differences in the labor market may be caused by women's reluctance to initiate salary negotiations, which is often influenced by gender-related social norms and self-perceived gender identity. In the real world, others in work environments can know “who has asked.” In a laboratory experiment, we manipulated whether the decision to initiate salary negotiations was publicly observable. We found that in a context in which negotiation is not costly, women and men showed no difference in initiating salary negotiations. When asked to publicly express their willingness to negotiate salaries, a moderately lower number of women stepped up, an effect that was not significant for men. Furthermore, women tend to tie salary negotiation decisions to their self-perceived performance even when pay raises are not bound to performance. In contrast, men were not impacted by this factor." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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Rendall, Michelle (2022): The Link between Gender Gaps and Employment Polarization. In: CESifo forum, Jg. 23, H. 2, S. 12-16.

Abstract

"The increase in employment shares both at the bottom and at the top of the skill distribution, combined with a decline in the middle, has been extensively documented for the US and many OECD economies since the 1980s. This observed employment polarization has become a well-known stylized fact. Less well known are the characteristics of employment polarization by gender, as polarization is usually studied at an aggregate level. Nonetheless, when studying employment polarization, in Cerina et al. (2021) we also consider one of the most important and dramatic social phenomena of the 20th century: the rise in female labor force participation, coupled with a rise in broad college attainment and a closing of the gender wage gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Tocchioni, Valentina, Anna Rybińska, Monika Mynarska, Anna Matysiak & Daniele Vignoli (2022): Life-Course Trajectories of Childless Women: Country-Specific or Universal? In: European Journal of Population, Jg. 38, H. 5, S. 1315-1332. DOI:10.1007/s10680-022-09624-5

Abstract

"While existing research has documented complexities in biographies of childless women, few studies to date have systematically examined the life-course pathways of the childless from a comparative, cross-country perspective. In this paper, we analyse biographies of childless women in four countries - Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United States - in order to investigate whether pathways into childlessness are country-specific or commonly shared across institutional, cultural, and geographical settings. Partnership, education, and employment histories are examined using sequence analysis with dynamic Hamming distance and cluster analysis. Discrepancy analysis indicates a country-effect in women’s biographies although life-course patterns identified in each country share similarities. Overall, seven life-course trajectories have been identified, with the most numerous cluster comprising single, working women who completed their education at a relatively young age. The results highlight a marked variation in the life-courses of childless women. Put together, these findings provide descriptive evidence for both country-specificity and cross-country similarity in the pathways to childlessness." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Tomlin, Bryan (2022): Maternity breaks: Unemployment spells or relevant experience? In: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Jg. 198, S. 673-681. DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2022.04.015

Abstract

"A correspondence study is used to determine how taking a maternity break from the labor force to raise a child affects a mother's ability to get an administrative job relative to mothers who did not take such a break. Relative to mothers who did not take a maternity break, those who did were about half as likely to receive a response to their application, as were those who spent the same time working as a nanny. Listing “stay-at-home mother” as relevant experience on one's resumé does nothing to shrink this gap. These results are consistent with the effect of unemployment on call-back rates as identified by previous research, suggesting that employers view maternity breaks as a form of unemployment rather than relevant experience." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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Torre, Margarita (2022): The Scarring Effect of "Women’s Work". The Determinants of Women’s Attrition from Male-dominated Occupations. (OSF preprints), 47 S.

Abstract

"Women's entry into formerly male-dominated occupations has increased in recent decades, yet a significant outflow remains. This study examines the determinants of women's exits from male-dominated occupations, focusing on the effect of previous occupational trajectories. In particular, it hypothesizes that occupational trajectories in female-dominated occupations are often imbued with meanings and beliefs about the (in)appropriateness of the worker, which adversely affect women's integration and chances when they enter the male sector. Using the NLSY79 data set, the study analyzes the job histories of women employed in the United States between 1979 and 2006. The results reveal a disproportionate risk of exit among newcomers from female-dominated occupations. Also, women who reenter the male field are more likely to leave it again. Altogether, the findings challenge explanations based on deficiencies in the information available to women at the moment of hiring. The evidence points to the existence of a “scar effect” of previous work in the female field, which hinders women's opportunities in the male sector and ends up increasing the likelihood of exit." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Winkler, Anne E. (2022): Women's labor force participation. Family-friendly policies increase women's labor force participation, benefiting them, their families, and society at large. (IZA world of labor 289), Bonn, 11 S. DOI:10.15185/izawol.289.v2

Abstract

"Die Arbeitsmarktaktivitäten von Frauen steigern deren „wirtschaftlichen Wert“ für die Familie und die Gesellschaft. Während die weibliche Erwerbsbeteiligung weltweit zugenommen hat, bleibt sie in einigen Ländern und Regionen nach wie vor niedrig. In den USA sind die Frauenerwerbsquoten seit den 1990er Jahren weitgehend konstant geblieben, im Vergleich zu anderen Staaten jedoch gefallen. Angesichts der gesamtgesellschaftlichen Vorteile sollte die Politik ein starkes Interesse daran haben, Maßnahmen zur Förderung der weiblichen Erwerbsbeteiligung durchzusetzen. Elternzeit und subventionierte Kinderbetreuung sind zwei Schritte in die richtige Richtung." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

Abstract

"The health sector, with its high potential for decent jobs growth, and with 67% of wage employees being women, has a key role to play in women’s economic empowerment and the broader SDG5 agenda. This report co-developed by ILO and WHO, is the first ever global sectoral gender pay gap report. Analyzing the gender pay gaps in the health and care sector and using this evidence to achieve equal pay for equal work across the sector is a critical step to attracting and retaining all workers in health and care. This is critical if we are to address the global shortfall of health and care workers and achieve Universal Health Coverage. The high degree of feminization in the health and care sector is a key factor behind the lower earnings for both women and men within the sector. It contributes to the overall prevailing gender pay gap in the economy. The results of this groundbreaking report suggest that once age, education, occupational category, and other such factors are considered, globally women face a 24 percentage point pay gap compared to men across the health and care sector. Furthermore, among women in the health and care sector there is evidence of a motherhood gap. Much of the gender pay gap in health and care is unexplained by labour market attributes that should be the sole factors determining wages. The report assesses gender wage gaps over time and finds a particular persistence in this unexplained portion of the gender pay gap. In addition, evidence indicates that the employment impact of COVID-19 in the sector disproportionately affected workers at the low end of the pay scale, most of whom are women. The evidence in the report shows significant variation in gender pay gaps in health and care across countries, suggesting that targeted action to close gender pay gaps is both possible and effective. The path forward includes: - improving the collection and analysis of targeted gender-disaggregated wage data for the health and care sector; - investing in decent jobs in the sector; - social dialogue; - promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers for young women; - attracting more men into middle occupation categories and more women to the top; - pay transparency and legal instruments against pay discrimination; - policies to redress the motherhood pay gap; - facilitating the transition of workers from the informal to the formal economy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ahrsjö, Ulrika, René Karadakic & Joachim Kahr Rasmussen (2021): Intergenerational Mobility Trends and the Changing Role of Female Labor. (CEBI working paper series 2021,19), Copenhagen, 54 S.

Abstract

"We present new evidence on the existence and drivers of trends in intergenerational income mobility using administrative income data from Scandinavia along with survey data from the United States. Harmonizing the data from Sweden, Denmark and Norway, we first find that intergenerational rank associations in income have increased uniformly across Scandinavia for cohorts of children born between 1951 and 1979. These trends are robust to a large set of empirical specifications that are common in the associated literature. However, splitting the trends by gender, we find that father-son mobility has been stable in all three countries, while correlations involving females display substantial trends. Similar patterns are confirmed in the US data, albeit with slightly different timing. Utilizing information about individual occupation, education and income in the Scandinavian data, we find that intergenerational mobility in latent economic status has remained relatively constant for all gender combinations. This suggests that a gradual reduction in gender-specific labor market segregation, increased female labor force participation and increased female access to higher education has strengthened the signal value that maternal income carries about productivity passed on to children. Based on these results, we argue that the observed decline in intergenerational mobility in Scandinavia is consistent with a socially desirable development where female skills are increasingly valued at the labor market, and that the same is likely to be true also in the US." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bailey, Martha J., Thomas Helgerman & Bryan A. Stuart (2021): Changes in the US Gender Gap in Wages in the 1960s. In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 111, S. 143-148. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20211020

Abstract

"The 1960s witnessed landmark legislation that aimed to increase women's wages, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the 1966 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Although the gender gap in pay changed little at the mean/median during the decade, our distributional analysis shows that women's wages converged sharply on men's below but diverged above the median. However, the bulk of women's relative pay gains are not explained by changes in observed attributes. Our findings suggest an important role for legislation in narrowing the gender gap in the 1960s." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Barth, Erling, Sari Pekkala Kerr & Claudia Olivetti (2021): The dynamics of gender earnings differentials. Evidence from establishment data. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 134. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103713

Abstract

"Despite dramatic workforce gains by women in recent decades, a substantial gender earnings gap persists and widens over the course of men's and women's careers. Since there are earnings differences across establishments, a key question is whether the widening of the gender pay gap arises from differences in career advances within the same establishment or from differential gains from job-to-job moves across establishments. Using a unique match between the 2000 Decennial Census of the United States and the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) data, we find that both channels are important and affect workers differently by education. For the college educated, the increasing gap is for the most part due to differential earnings growth within establishment. The establishment component explains only 27% of the widening of the total gender pay gap for this group. For workers without college degree, the establishment component is the main driver of the, relatively small, widening of the gender earnings gap. For both education groups, marriage plays a crucial role in the establishment component of the increasing earnings gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Behera, Sarthak & Divya Sadana (2021): Differing Labor Supply: A Study on the Role of Culture. (MPRA paper / University Library of Munich 110753), München, 41 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we study the role of peoples' attitudes on their labor market behavior. Focusing within a household, we estimate how one's labor market decisions are dependent on their partner's labor market outcomes, and how these decisions are driven by their culture component. Historically, man has been associated as the primary earner in a family. We argue that culture might play a role in determining a person's labor market outcomes as it induces an aversion to the situation of when the wife earns more than the husband. We find that husbands increase their participation in the labor market if their wives earn more and this effect is even more prominent if they are from a country where people have the traditional view that man should be the primary bread-winner for the family. However, wives do not exhibit any such behavior. We argue that this irregularity is explained by the role that culture plays on forming labor market decisions. This result is important as it might contribute to the explanation of the slowdown in the convergence of the gender gap in the recent past." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bernstein, David H. & Andrew B. Martinez (2021): Jointly Modeling Male and Female Labor Participation and Unemployment. (Working paper series / H. O. Stekler Research Program On Forecasting 2021,6), Washington, DC, 23 S.

Abstract

"The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the most abrupt changes in U.S. labor force participation and unemployment since the Second World War, and with different consequences for men and women. This paper models the U.S. labor market to help interpret the pandemic's effects. After replicating and extending Emerson's (2011) model of the labor market, we formulate a joint model of male and female unemployment and labor force participation rates for 1980-2019 and use it to forecast into the pandemic to understand the pandemic's labor-market consequences. Gender-specific differences were particularly large at the pandemic's outset; lower labor force participation persists." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Blau, Francine D., Lawrence M. Kahn, Nikolai Boboshko & Matthew Comey (2021): The Impact of Selection into the Labor Force on the Gender Wage Gap. (DIW-Diskussionspapiere 1946), Berlin, 73 S.

Abstract

"We study the impact of selection bias on estimates of the gender pay gap, focusing on whether the gender pay gap has fallen since 1981. Previous research has found divergent results across techniques, identification strategies, data sets, and time periods. Using Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics data and a number of different identification strategies, we find robust evidence that, after controlling for selection, there were large declines in the raw and the unexplained gender wage gaps over the 1981-2015 period. Under our preferred method of accounting for selection, we find that the raw median wage gap declined by 0.378 log points, while the median unexplained gap declined by a more modest but still substantial 0.204 log points. These declines are larger than estimates that do not account for selection. Our results suggest that women's relative wage offers have increased over this period, even after controlling for their measured covariates, including education and actual labor market experience. However, we note that substantial gender wage gaps remain. In 2015, at the median, the selectivity-corrected gaps were 0.242 log points (raw gap) and 0.206 log points (unexplained gap)." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Calarco, Jessica McCrory, Emily Meanwell, Elizabeth M. Anderson & Amelia S. Knopf (2021): By Default: How Mothers in Different-Sex Dual-Earner Couples Account for Inequalities in Pandemic Parenting. In: Socius, Jg. 7, S. 1-15. DOI:10.1177/23780231211038783

Abstract

"Mothers did a disproportionate share of the child care during the COVID-19 pandemic—an arrangement that negatively impacted their careers, relationships, and well-being. How did mothers account for these unequal roles? Through interviews and surveys with 55 mothers (and 14 fathers) in different-sex, prepandemic dual-earner couples, we found that mothers (and fathers) justified unequal parenting arrangements based on gendered structural and cultural conditions that made mothers’ disproportionate labor seem “practical” and “natural.” These justifications allowed couples to rely on mothers by default rather than through active negotiation. As a result, many mothers did not feel entitled to seek support with child care from fathers or nonparental caregivers and experienced guilt if they did so. These findings help explain why many mothers have not reentered the workforce, why fathers’ involvement at home waned as the pandemic progressed, and why the pandemic led to growing preferences for inegalitarian divisions of domestic and paid labor." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Carlson, Daniel L. & Richard J. Petts (2021): US Parents' Domestic Labor Over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic. (SocArXiv papers), 38 S. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/uwdz6

Abstract

"Objective: This study assesses changes in parents’ divisions of housework and childcare over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: Assessing the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for gender equality requires understanding how and why labor arrangements shifted as the pandemic progressed. Yet, we know little about US parents’ domestic arrangements beyond the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic or how simultaneous changes in men’s and women’s employment, earnings, telework, gender ideologies, and access to care supports may have altered domestic labor arrangements. Method: This study assesses change in parents’ domestic labor using fixed-effects regression on data from a longitudinal panel of 700 different-sex partnered US parents collected at three time points: March 2020, April 2020, and November 2020. Results: Partnered parents’ divisions of housework and childcare became more equal in the early days of the pandemic, but reverted toward pre-pandemic levels by the fall of 2020. Changes in parents’ divisions of domestic labor were largely driven by changes in parents’ labor force conditions, and especially by fathers’ labor force conditions. Decreases in fathers’ labor force participation and increases in telecommuting in April portended increases in partnered fathers’ shares of domestic tasks. As fathers increased time in paid work and returned to in-person work by fall, their shares of domestic labor fell. Conclusion: Overall, results suggest that promoting full-time employment among mothers and greater time at home for fathers are key in facilitating a more equal division of domestic labor within families post-pandemic" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cubas, German, Chinhui Juhn & Pedro Silos (2021): Work-Care Balance over the Day and the Gender Wage Gap. In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 111, S. 149-153. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20211021

Abstract

"We focus on the timing of labor supplied during the day and its interaction with home care responsibilities. Using the American Time Use Survey, we measure the incidence of household care activities between 8 AM and 5 PM (the prime time of the day). Women experience more work interruptions during that time. These work interruptions imply wages that are about 9 percent lower. This result is consistent with occupations offering more flexibility but also a lower wage. We offer suggestive evidence that missing work due to household demands has a larger penalty in occupations with more coordinated work schedules." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dey, Matthew, Mark A. Loewenstein & Hugette Sun (2021): A look at the new job-task information in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth. In: Monthly labor review, Jg. 144, H. May. DOI:10.21916/mlr.2021.10

Abstract

"Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 and 1997, this article examines how the skill level and task content of U.S. jobs vary among workers born during the 1957–1964 and 1980–1984 periods. This article presents data on how job attributes vary by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and educational attainment as well as by performance on the Armed Forces Qualifying Test and type of occupation. It also examines the relationship between job attributes and wages." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))