n this study, we document the evolution of the gender pay gap in the UK over the past three decades and its association with fertility, examining the role of various differences in career patterns between men and women and how they change with the arrival of the first child. We show that differ- ences in accumulated years of labour market experience play an important role, while differences in in- dustry, occupation, and job characteristics explain less, conditional on working experience. We develop an empirical wage model to estimate the causal effect of working experience on the wages of women. Estimates from this model are then used to simulate two counterfactual scenarios in which women who are employed always work full-time, or women’s rates of both part-time and full-time work are the same as men’s. We find that differences in working experience explain up to two-thirds of the gender pay gap of college graduates 20 years after the first childbirth, and that the gap is largely driven by differences in full-time experience. The role of working experience is more moderate for individuals with no college education, but it can still account for about one-third of the overall long-term gender wage gap.

The gender pay gap in the UK: children and experience in work / M. Costa Dias, R. Joyce, F. Parodi. - In: OXFORD REVIEW OF ECONOMIC POLICY. - ISSN 0266-903X. - 36:4(2020), pp. 855-881. [10.1093/oxrep/graa053]

The gender pay gap in the UK: children and experience in work

F. Parodi
Ultimo
2020

Abstract

n this study, we document the evolution of the gender pay gap in the UK over the past three decades and its association with fertility, examining the role of various differences in career patterns between men and women and how they change with the arrival of the first child. We show that differ- ences in accumulated years of labour market experience play an important role, while differences in in- dustry, occupation, and job characteristics explain less, conditional on working experience. We develop an empirical wage model to estimate the causal effect of working experience on the wages of women. Estimates from this model are then used to simulate two counterfactual scenarios in which women who are employed always work full-time, or women’s rates of both part-time and full-time work are the same as men’s. We find that differences in working experience explain up to two-thirds of the gender pay gap of college graduates 20 years after the first childbirth, and that the gap is largely driven by differences in full-time experience. The role of working experience is more moderate for individuals with no college education, but it can still account for about one-third of the overall long-term gender wage gap.
gender pay gap; human capital; labour supply; wage dynamics
Settore ECON-01/A - Economia politica
2020
Article (author)
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
graa053.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: Article
Tipologia: Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione 577.78 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
577.78 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1099791
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 34
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 35
social impact