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What Same-Sex Adoption Laws Can Tell Us About the Gender Wage Gap in the United States

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  • John Levendis

    (Loyola University New Orleans)

  • Aaron Lowen

    (Grand Valley State University)

Abstract

Gender wage gaps are frequently explained as resulting from direct discrimination, employers’ preferences over personality traits, and differing labor force attachment. We rely on a natural quasi-experiment using exogenous changes in state-level, same-sex adoption laws to distinguish between the competing explanations of the gender wage gap. Estimates from a differences-in-differences model show the wage gap between lesbians and heterosexual women shrank or inverted in those states which legalized adoption by same-sex couples. The wage gap did not change for men. This supports the parenthood hypothesis as a viable explanation for a portion of the gender wage gap.

Suggested Citation

  • John Levendis & Aaron Lowen, 2023. "What Same-Sex Adoption Laws Can Tell Us About the Gender Wage Gap in the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 473-489, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:44:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-022-09835-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-022-09835-2
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discrimination; Gender; Sexual orientation; Wage differentials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law
    • K38 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Human Rights Law; Gender Law; Animal Rights Law

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