BY MATT LEDERMAN, CHRIS KLEBASKI, AND

SYDNEY HOFFERTH

(Why) Are Women Paid Less?

Background, Part I

In 1950, 1/3 of working-age women were in the workforce; today, about 2/3 are.

The male labor force participation rate has fallen from 89 percent to 76 percent since 1950.

Women now account for almost half of the paid workforce in America.

Background, Part II

Fifty years ago, professional careers for women outside of nursing or teaching were unusual.

Today, women make up nearly half of the entry-level attorneys and physicians starting work each year.

In 1950, median earnings of women were only two-thirds those of men. Today, women earn 80 percent of what men are paid.

Why only 80%?

Earnings are a reflection of experience, education, marital status, age, etc.

From the US Census Bureau of Labor Statistics, unexplained differences between the pay of men and women persist. Men with the same measured individual

characteristics are paid at least ten percent more than women, and some studies find a difference twice that size.

Discrimination is prevented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, and yet earnings between men and women are still unequal.

It is hard to believe that a persistent 20% pay difference could escape the notice of these federal agencies.

Economists who study the payroll records of individual firms, using actual employee information, found that the so-called wage gap between men and women is much smaller—typically no more than 5 percent—and often there is no gap at all.

Something must be at work here besides outright gender discrimination.

Parenthood

Women’s pay is sensitive to whether or not they have children.

The average pay earned by a woman begins to fall shortly before the birth of her first child and continues to drop until the child becomes a teenager.

Parenthood pay declines suffered by women come from a variety of sources: “Mommy track” of reduced responsibilities and hours of

work Some move to different employers who offer more flexible

hours, and corresponding lower pay

Occupational Selection

Men tend to be concentrated in paid employment that is dangerous or unpleasant. Ex. Commercial fishing, construction, law enforcement,

firefighting, etc.These hazardous jobs offer a compensating

differential, extra pay for assuming the differential risk of death or injury on the job.

After adjusting for risk, the value of that pay is really no greater than the pay for less hazardous employment—but the appearance of higher pay contributes to the measured gender gap.

Hours of Work

Men are more than twice as likely as women to work in excess of fifty hours a week in paid employment.

The average paid workweek for men is about 15 percent longer than it is for women.

Men are more likely than women to be in full-time, rather than part-time, paid employment, and the wage differences that come with that can be huge.

For example, working an average forty-four hours per week versus thirty-four hours per week, for example, yields more than twice the pay, regardless of gender.

Some differences in occupational choice are due to discrimination. Highest-paying blue collar jobs are typically union jobs, and

industrial and crafts unions have a history of opposition to women as members.

Women are becoming much more numerous in specialties such as dermatology and radiology, where schedules are more flexible, hours of work can be limited. Many physicians would argue that the underrepresentation of women in high-paying surgical specialties is partly the result of discrimination against women.

The extent of gender discrimination in the workplace probably won’t be settled anytime soon.