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Looze, Jessica (2017): Why do(n't) they leave? Motherhood and women's job mobility. In: Social science research, Jg. 65, H. July, S. 47-59. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.03.004

Abstract

"Although the relationship between motherhood and women's labor market exits has received a great deal of popular and empirical attention in recent years, far less is known about the relationship between motherhood and women's job changes. In this paper, I use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979) (NLSY79) and Cox regression models to examine how motherhood influences the types of job changes and employment exits women make and how this varies by racial-ethnic group. I find preschool-age children are largely immobilizing for white women, as they discourage these women from making the types of voluntary job changes that are often associated with wage growth. No such effects were found for Black or Hispanic women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Macis, Mario & Mirco Tonin (2017): Gender differences in earnings and leadership. Recent evidence on causes and consequences. In: ifo DICE report, Jg. 15, H. 2, S. 18-21.

Abstract

Gegenstand des Beitrags sind die Ursachen und Auswirkungen geschlechtsspezifischer Lohnunterschiede und der Unterrepräsentation von Frauen in Führungspositionen. Die Autoren beziehen sich dabei auf aktuelle empirische Untersuchungen mit Schwerpunkt auf den USA. Als wesentliche Ursache für die Unterschiede wird die Rolle sozialer Normen über Geschlechterrollen herausgestellt. Weiterhin gehen die Autoren auf die Besetzung von Führungspositionen in der Wissenschaft sowie politische Strategien zur Gleichstellung von Frauen ein und stellen den weiteren Forschungsbedarf zum Thema heraus. (IAB)

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Meara, Katie, Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster (2017): Is the gender pay gap in the US just the result of gender segregation at work? (IZA discussion paper 10673), Bonn, 55 S.

Abstract

"This study examines the gender wage gap between male and female workers in the US using a cross-section from the Current Population Survey (CPS) It shows that the extent of gender segregation by both industry and occupation is significantly greater than previously supposed. For the wage gap this creates problems of sample selection bias, of non-comparability between male and female employment. To address these problems the study uses a matching approach, which we also extend to a more recent methodological version with a yet stronger statistical foundation - Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA) - not previously used in related studies. Despite this, doubts remain about even these well founded and appropriate techniques in the presence of such strong gender segregation. To secure even greater precision we repeat the matching analysis for a small number of industries and occupations, each carefully selected for employing similar numbers of men and women. This is an approach that has not previously been explored in the relevant literature. The findings for the full sample are replicated at the level of industry and occupation, where comparability is more reliable. The study supports the view of the existing literature that the gender wage gap varies by factors such as age and parenthood. But it also finds that, even when these and other important 'control' variables such as part-time working, industry and occupation are taken into account, a statistically significant gender wage gap remains." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Neumark, David & Peter Shirley (2017): The long-run effects of the earned income tax credit on women's earnings. (NBER working paper 24114), Cambrige, Mass., 46 S. DOI:10.3386/w24114

Abstract

"We use longitudinal data on marriage and children from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to characterize women's exposure to the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) during their first two decades of adulthood. We then use measures of this exposure to estimate the long-run effects of the EITC on women's earnings as mature adults. We find some evidence indicating that exposure to a more generous EITC when women were unmarried and had young (pre-school) children leads to higher earnings and hours, and perhaps wages, in the longer run. We also find some evidence that exposure to a more generous EITC when women had young children but were married leads to lower earnings and hours in the longer run. These longer-run effects are to some extent consistent with what we would expect if the short-run effects of the EITC on employment that are documented in other work, and predicted by theory, are reflected in effects of the EITC on cumulative labor market experience (and other consequences of labor market attachment) that influence earnings." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Neumeier, Christian, Todd Sorensen & Douglas Webber (2017): The implicit costs of motherhood over the lifecycle. Cross-cohort evidence from administrative longitudinal data. (IZA discussion paper 10558), Bonn, 29 S.

Abstract

"The explicit costs of raising a child have grown over the past several decades. Less well understood are the implicit costs of having a child, and how they have changed over time. In this paper we use longitudinal administrative data from over 70,000 individuals in the Synthetic SIPP Beta to examine the earnings gap between mothers and non-mothers over the lifecycle and between cohorts. We observe women who never have children beginning to out earn women who will have children during their 20s. Gaps increase monotonically over the lifecycle, and decrease monotonically between cohorts from age 26 onwards. In our oldest cohort, lifetime gaps approach $350,000 by age 62. Cumulative labor market experience profiles show similar patterns, with experience gaps between mothers and non-mothers generally increasing over the lifecycle and decreasing between cohorts. We decompose this cumulative gap in earnings (up to age 43) into portions attributable to time spent out of the labor force, differing levels of education, years of marriage and a number of demographic controls. We find that this gap between mothers and non-mothers declines from around $220,000 for women born in the late 1940s to around $160,000 for women born in the late 1960s. Over 80% of the change in this gap can be explained by variables in our model, with changes in labor force participation by far the best explanation for the declining gap. Comparing our oldest cohort as they approach retirement to the projected lifecycle behavior of the 1965 cohort, we find that the earnings gap is estimated to drop from $350,000 (observed) to $282,000 (expected) and that the experience gap drops from 3.7 to 2.1 years. We also explore the intensive margin costs of having a child. A decomposition of earnings gaps between mothers of one child and mothers of two children also controls for age at first birth. Here, we find a decline in the gap from around $78,000 for our oldest cohorts to around $37,000 for our youngest cohorts. Our model explains a smaller share of the intensive margin decline. Changes in absences from the labor market again explain a large amount of the decline, while differences in age at first birth widen the gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ngai, L. Rachel & Barbara Petrongolo (2017): Gender gaps and the rise of the service economy. In: American Economic Journal. Macroeconomics, Jg. 9, H. 4, S. 1-44. DOI:10.1257/mac.20150253

Abstract

"This paper investigates the role of the rise in services in the narrowing of gender gaps in hours and wages in recent decades. We highlight the between-industry component of differential gender trends for the United States and propose a model economy with goods, services, and home production, in which women have a comparative advantage in producing services. The rise of services, driven by structural transformation and marketization of home production, raises women's relative wages and market hours. Quantitatively, the model accounts for an important share of the observed trends in women's hours and relative wages." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Reuben, Ernesto, Matthew Wiswall & Basit Zafar (2017): Preferences and biases in educational choices and labor market expectations. Shrinking the black box of gender. In: The economic journal, Jg. 127, H. 604, S. 2153-2186. DOI:10.1111/ecoj.12350

Abstract

"Using an experiment to measure overconfidence and preferences for competitiveness and risk, this article investigates whether these measures explain gender differences in college major choices and expected future earnings. We find that individuals who are overconfident and overly competitive expect to earn significantly more. In addition, gender differences in overconfidence and competitiveness explain 18% of the gender gap in earnings expectations. These experimental measures explain as much of the gender gap in earnings expectations as a rich set of control variables. While expected earnings are related to college major choices, the experimental measures are not related with college major choice." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Rossin-Slater, Maya (2017): Maternity and family leave policy. (IZA discussion paper 10500), Bonn, 27 S.

Abstract

"Maternity and family leave policies enable mothers to take time off work to prepare for and recover from childbirth and to care for their new children. While there is substantial variation in the details of these policies around the world, the existing research yields the following general conclusions. First, despite important barriers to the take-up of leave, both the implementation of new programs and extensions of existing ones increase leave-taking rates among new parents. Second, leave entitlements less than one year in length can improve job continuity for women and increase their employment rates several years after childbirth; longer leaves can negatively influence women's earnings, employment, and career advancement. Third, extensions in existing paid leave policies have no impact on measures of child well-being, but the introduction of short paid and unpaid leave programs can improve children's short- and long-term outcomes. Fourth, while more research is needed, the current evidence shows minimal impacts of existing U.S. state-level programs on employer-level outcomes such as employee productivity, morale, profitability, turnover rates, or the total wage bill." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Sbardella, Angelica, Emanuele Pugliese & Luciano Pietronero (2017): Economic development and wage inequality. A complex system analysis. In: PLoS one, Jg. 12, H. 9, S. 1-26. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0182774

Abstract

"Adapting methods from complex system analysis, this paper analyzes the features of the complex relationship between wage inequality and the development and industrialization of a country. Development is understood as a combination of a monetary index, GDP per capita, and a recently introduced measure of a country's economic complexity: Fitness. Initially the paper looks at wage inequality on a global scale, over the time period 1990-2008. Our empirical results show that globally the movement of wage inequality along with the ongoing industrialization of countries has followed a longitudinally persistent pattern comparable to the one theorized by Kuznets in the fifties: countries with an average level of development suffer the highest levels of wage inequality. Next, the study narrows its focus on wage inequality within the United States. By using data on wages and employment in the approximately 3100 US counties over the time interval 1990-2014, it generalizes the Fitness-Complexity metric for geographic units and industrial sectors, and then investigates wage inequality between NAICS industries. The empirical time and scale dependencies are consistent with a relation between wage inequality and development driven by institutional factors comparing countries, and by change in the structural compositions of sectors in a homogeneous institutional environment, such as the counties of the United States." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Schleutker, Elina (2017): Women's work-life preferences. Reconceptualization and cross-country description over time. In: European Societies, Jg. 19, H. 3, S. 292-312. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2017.1290266

Abstract

"According to Hakim's preference theory, women can be divided into three groups based on their work - family preferences: home-centered, adaptive and work-centered. Here it is argued that Hakim's conceptualization of the adaptive women is unsatisfactory, as it does not take into consideration how the adaptive women want to combine work and family. The paper offers a reconceptualization of the adaptive group. Based on when women want to return to employment after childbirth, and how many hours they would like to work, three types of adaptive women are distinguished: the home-oriented adaptive women, the truly adaptive women and the work-oriented adaptive women. To demonstrate the fruitfulness of the reconceptualization, a cross-sectional descriptive study of women's preferences over time is conducted by employing data from International Social Survey Programme." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Strain, Michael R. & Douglas A. Webber (2017): High school experiences, the gender wage gap, and the selection of occupation. In: Applied Economics, Jg. 49, H. 49, S. 5040-5049. DOI:10.1080/00036846.2017.1299100

Abstract

"Using within-high-school variation and controlling for a measure of cognitive ability, this paper finds that high-school leadership experiences explain a significant portion of the residual gender wage gap and selection into management occupations. Our results imply that high-school leadership could build non-cognitive, productive skills that are rewarded years later in the labor market and that explain a portion of the systematic difference in pay between men and women. Alternatively, high-school leadership could be a proxy variable for personality characteristics that differ between men and women and that drive higher pay and becoming a manager. Because high school leadership experiences are exogenous to direct labor market experiences, our results leave less room for direct labor market discrimination as a driver of the gender wage gap and occupation selection." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Weinstein, Amanda L. (2017): Working women in the city and urban wage growth in the United States. In: Journal of regional science, Jg. 57, H. 4, S. 591-610. DOI:10.1111/jors.12336

Abstract

"Although the female labor force participation rate of women has been steadily rising in the United States, there is substantial variation across cities. Previous cross-county studies find that gender inequality in employment reduces economic efficiency hindering growth. This result is examined in a regional context, across metropolitan areas in the United States. Throughout multiple model formulations including instrumental variables approaches, higher initial female labor force participation rates are positively related to subsequent wage growth in metropolitan areas between 1980 and 2010. Specifically, every 10 percent increase in female labor force participation rates is associated with an increase in real wages of nearly 5 percent." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Yu, Wei-hsin & Janet Chen-Lan Kuo (2017): The motherhood wage penalty by work conditions. How do occupational characteristics hinder or empower mothers? In: American Sociological Review, Jg. 82, H. 4, S. 744-769. DOI:10.1177/0003122417712729

Abstract

"Mothers are shown to receive lower wages than childless women across industrial countries. Although research on mothers' wage disadvantage has noted that the extent of this disadvantage is not universal among mothers, it has paid relatively little attention to how the structural characteristics of jobs moderate the price women pay for motherhood. Using data from 16 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that began in 1997, we examine how the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers varies by occupational characteristics. Deriving hypotheses from three prominent explanations for the motherhood wage penalty - stressing work-family conflict and job performance, compensating differentials, and employer discrimination, respectively -- we test whether this penalty changes with an occupation's exposure to hazardous conditions, schedule regularity, required on-the-job training, competitiveness, level of autonomy, and emphasis on teamwork. Results from fixed-effects models show that the wage reduction for each child is less in occupations with greater autonomy and lower teamwork requirements. Moreover, mothers encounter a smaller penalty when their occupations impose less competitive pressure. On the whole, these findings are consistent with the model focusing on job strain and work-family conflict, adding evidence to the importance of improving job conditions to alleviate work-family conflict." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"Women in the Workplace 2018 is the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. Since 2015, LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company have published this report annually to give companies and employees the information they need to advance women and improve gender diversity within their organizations. McKinsey & Company also conducted similar research in 2012. This year, 279 companies employing more than 13 million people shared their pipeline data and completed a survey of their HR practices. In addition, more than 64,000 employees were surveyed on their workplace experiences, and we interviewed women of different races and ethnicities and LGBTQ women for additional insights. Since 2015, 462 companies employing almost 20 million people have participated in the study." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Adema, Willem, Chris Clarke & Valérie Frey (2016): Paid parental leave and other supports for parents with young children. The United States in international comparison. In: International social security review, Jg. 69, H. 2, S. 29-51. DOI:10.1111/issr.12100

Abstract

"Die Vereinigten Staaten stehen mit ihrer Politik für Familien und Frauen am Scheideweg. Gegenwärtig bieten die Vereinigten Staaten eine grundlegende Unterstützung für Kinder, Väter und Mütter in Form einer unbezahlten Elternzeit, kinderbezogener Steuererleichterungen und einer beschränkten öffentlichen Kinderbetreuung. Andere Mitgliedsstaaten der Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD) hingegen unterstützen Familien durch bezahlte Elternzeit und umfassende Investitionen in Kleinkinder und Kinder. Die möglichen Vorteile eines Ausbaus solcher Strategien in den Vereinigten Staaten sind enorm. Bezahlte Elternzeit und subventionierte Kinderbetreuung können dazu beitragen, dass mehr Frauen in die Arbeitsbevölkerung eintreten und dort bleiben, das Wirtschaftswachstum gestützt wird, die Kinder kognitive und gesundheitliche Vorteile haben und die Eltern die Möglichkeit erhalten, ihre eigene Aufteilung von Arbeit und Privatleben zu wählen. Die Vereinigten Staaten sind hinsichtlich vieler sozialer und wirtschaftlicher Indikatoren gegenüber dem Rest der OECD ins Hintertreffen geraten, da sie nicht angemessen in Kinder, Väter und Mütter investiert haben. Angesichts der bedeutenden Vorteile dieser Familienbeihilfen konzentriert sich dieser Artikel auf die Frage der Vereinbarung von Arbeit und Kinderbetreuung für Familien mit kleinen Kindern und insbesondere auf Strategien der bezahlten Elternzeit innerhalb der OECD und der Vereinigten Staaten." (Autorenreferat, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Bee, C. Adam & Joshua Mitchell (2016): The hidden resources of women working longer. Evidence from linked survey-administrative data. (NBER working paper 22970), Cambrige, Mass., 40 S. DOI:10.3386/w22970

Abstract

"Despite women's increased labor force attachment over the lifecycle, household surveys such as the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) do not show increases in retirement income (pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs) for women at older ages. We use linked survey-administrative data to demonstrate that retirement incomes are considerably underreported in the CPS ASEC and that women's economic progress at older ages has been substantially understated over the last quarter century. Specifically, the CPS ASEC shows median household income for women age 65-69 rose 21 percent since the late 1980s, while the administrative records show an increase of 58 percent. Survey biases in women's own incomes appear largest for women with the longest work histories. We also exploit the panel dimension of our data to follow a cohort of women and their spouses (if present) as they transition into retirement in recent years. In contrast to previous work, we find that most women do not experience noticeable drops in income up to five years after claiming social security, with retirement income playing an important role in maintaining their overall standard of living. Our results pose a challenge to the literature on the 'retirement consumption puzzle' and suggest total income replacement rates are high for recent retirees." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bertrand, Marianne, Patricia Cortés, Claudia Olivetti & Jessica Pan (2016): Social norms, labor market opportunities, and the marriage gap for skilled women. (NBER working paper 22015), Cambrige, Mass., 65 S. DOI:10.3386/w22015

Abstract

"In most of the developed world, skilled women marry at a lower rate than unskilled women. We document heterogeneity across countries in how the marriage gap for skilled women has evolved over time. As labor market opportunities for women have improved, the marriage gap has been growing in some countries but shrinking in others. We discuss a theoretical model in which the (negative) social attitudes towards working women might contribute towards the lower marriage rate of skilled women, and might also induce a non-linear relationship between their labor market prospects and their marriage outcomes. The model is suited to understand the dynamics of the marriage gap for skilled women over time within a country with set social attitudes towards working women. The model also delivers predictions about how the marriage gap for skilled women should react to changes in their labor market opportunities across countries with more or less conservative attitudes towards working women. We test the key predictions of this model in a panel of 23 developed countries, as well as in a panel of US states." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Blau, Francine D. & Lawrence M. Kahn (2016): The gender wage gap. Extent, trends, and explanations. (IZA discussion paper 9656), Bonn, 76 S.

Abstract

"Using PSID microdata over the 1980-2010, we provide new empirical evidence on the extent of and trends in the gender wage gap, which declined considerably over this period. By 2010, conventional human capital variables taken together explained little of the gender wage gap, while gender differences in occupation and industry continued to be important. Moreover, the gender pay gap declined much more slowly at the top of the wage distribution that at the middle or the bottom and by 2010 was noticeably higher at the top. We then survey the literature to identify what has been learned about the explanations for the gap. We conclude that many of the traditional explanations continue to have salience. Although human capital factors are now relatively unimportant in the aggregate, women's work force interruptions and shorter hours remain significant in high skilled occupations, possibly due to compensating differentials. Gender differences in occupations and industries, as well as differences in gender roles and the gender division of labor remain important, and research based on experimental evidence strongly suggests that discrimination cannot be discounted. Psychological attributes or noncognitive skills comprise one of the newer explanations for gender differences in outcomes. Our effort to assess the quantitative evidence on the importance of these factors suggests that they account for a small to moderate portion of the gender pay gap, considerably smaller than say occupation and industry effects, though they appear to modestly contribute to these differences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Blau, Francine D., Gielen, Anne C. & Klaus F. Zimmermann (Hrsg.) (2016): Gender, inequality, and wages. (IZA Prize in labor economics), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 545 S.

Abstract

"In all Western societies women earn lower wages on average than men.
The gender wage gap has existed for many years, although there have been some important changes over time. This volume of collected papers contains extensive research on progress made by women in the labor market, and the characteristics and causes of remaining gender inequalities. It also covers other dimensions of gender inequality, such as family formation, wellbeing, and other dimensions of inequality, including by race and immigrant status, and their interplay with gender. The author was awarded the 2010 IZA Prize in Labor Economics for this research.
The book probes and quantifies the explanations for the gender wage gap, including differential choices made in the labor market by men and women, as well as labor market discrimination and employment segregation. It also delineates how the gender wage gap has decreased over time in the United States and suggests explanations for this narrowing of the gap, and the more recent slowdown in wage convergence. The volume also investigates international differences in the gender wage gap, and wage inequality and explains the link between the two. Moving on to consider a variety of indicators of gender inequality, it paints a picture of significant gains in women's relative status in the United States across a number of dimensions. It analyses the trends in female labor supply and what they indicate about changing gender roles in the United States, and considers a successful intervention designed to increase the relative success of academic women. Furthermore the book focuses on inequality by race and immigrant status, examining not only race differences in wages and the even larger race differences in wealth, but also immigrant source countries on immigrant women's labor market assimilation. In sum the book underscores the high relevance of research on gender inequalities in the labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Blau, David M. & Ryan M. Goodstein (2016): Commitment in the household. Evidence from the effect of inheritances on the labor supply of older married couples. In: Labour economics, Jg. 42, H. October, S. 123-137. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2016.08.003

Abstract

"We study the effect of receiving an inheritance on the labor force participation (LFP) of both the recipient and the recipient's spouse in a population of older married couples. An inheritance is not subject to laws in the U.S. governing division of marital property at divorce, because it is not acquired with income earned during marriage. Hence it plays the role of a 'distribution factor' in the intrahousehold allocation of resources, increasing bargaining power of the recipient. Controlling for inheritance expectations, we interpret the receipt of an inheritance as a shock to wealth. Our results indicate that receiving an inheritance reduces LFP of the recipient by four percentage points, comparable in magnitude to the effect of a self-reported decline in health. However, an inheritance has little or no effect on LFP of the spouse. These estimates are inconsistent with a dynamic, collective model of the household in which spouses have the ability to commit to an ex ante efficient allocation. The results are consistent with a model of limited commitment in which a shock to household resources can alter bargaining power. We discuss the implications for reform of Social Security spouse and survivor benefits." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))