IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02082691.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is there a wage cost for employees in family-friendly workplaces? The effect of different employer policies

Author

Listed:
  • Ariane Pailhé

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

  • Anne Solaz

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

Abstract

This article assesses the wage impact of different family‐friendly employer policies: in‐kind or in‐cash child‐related benefits and flexible work schedule arrangements. We use French matched employee–employer data with a rich set of indicators of family‐friendly benefits, and we pay attention to the possible endogeneity of worker–employer matching. Our results show that the provision of in‐cash or in‐kind benefits is associated with higher wages for women, while flexible work schedules have no significant effect on wages. Our results lead us to reject the hypothesis of compensating wage differentials: women do not appear to face a trade‐off between wages and a better work–life balance. Our findings are more in line with the enhancing productivity theory: in‐kind benefits reduce the time devoted to household activities and alleviate conflict between professional life and family life, thereby improving women's work effort and productivity. This is not the case for flexible work arrangements, which may be perceived as negatively related to workers' commitment to their job.

Suggested Citation

  • Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2019. "Is there a wage cost for employees in family-friendly workplaces? The effect of different employer policies," Post-Print hal-02082691, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02082691
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12295
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02082691
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-02082691/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12295?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chloé Duvivier & Mathieu Narcy, 2015. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty and Its Determinants: A Public–Private Comparison," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 415-443, December.
    2. Ali Fakih & Pascal L. Ghazalian, 2013. "Female Labour Force Participation in MENA's Manufacturing Sector: The Implications of Firm-related and National Factors," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-46, CIRANO.
    3. Dominique Meurs & Ariane Pailhe & Sophie Ponthieux, 2010. "Child-related Career Interruptions and the Gender Wage Gap in France," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 99-100, pages 15-46.
    4. Felfe, Christina, 2012. "The motherhood wage gap: What about job amenities?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-67.
    5. Randall K. Filer, 1985. "Male-Female Wage Differences: The Importance of Compensating Differentials," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 38(3), pages 426-437, April.
    6. Elaine McCrate, 2005. "Flexible Hours, Workplace Authority, And Compensating Wage Differentials In The Us," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 11-39.
    7. Lionel Wilner, 2016. "Worker-firm matching and the parenthood pay gap: Evidence from linked employer-employee data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 991-1023, October.
    8. Nick Bloom & Tobias Kretschmer & John Van Reenen, 2011. "Are family-friendly workplace practices a valuable firm resource?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 343-367, April.
    9. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2011. "What makes French employees so happy with their balance between family and work ? The impact of family-friendly policies," Working Papers awrip0l4gpz89adag6hi, French Institute for Demographic Studies.
    10. John S. Heywood & W. Stanley Siebert & Xiangdong Wei, 2007. "The implicit wage costs of family friendly work practices," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(2), pages 275-300, April.
    11. Compton, Janice & Pollak, Robert A., 2014. "Family proximity, childcare, and women’s labor force attachment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 72-90.
    12. Ali Fakih, 2014. "Vacation Leave, Work Hours, and Wages: New Evidence from Linked Employer–Employee Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(4), pages 376-398, December.
    13. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Marianne Simonsen & Mette Verner, 2004. "Does the Gap in Family‐friendly Policies Drive the Family Gap?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(4), pages 721-744, December.
    14. Ali Fakih & Pascal L. Ghazalian, 2013. "Female Labour Force Participation in MENA's Manufacturing Sector: The Implications of Firm-related and National Factors," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-46, CIRANO.
    15. repec:adr:anecst:y:2010:i:99-100:p:02 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Joshi, Heather & Paci, Pierella & Waldfogel, Jane, 1999. "The Wages of Motherhood: Better or Worse?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(5), pages 543-564, September.
    17. Aaron Lowen & Paul Sicilian, 2009. "“Family-Friendly” Fringe Benefits and the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 30(2), pages 101-119, June.
    18. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    19. Joseph, Olivier & Pailhé, Ariane & Recotillet, Isabelle & Solaz, Anne, 2013. "The economic impact of taking short parental leave: Evaluation of a French reform," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 63-75.
    20. Paul Oyer, 2008. "Salary or benefits?," Research in Labor Economics, in: Work, Earnings and Other Aspects of the Employment Relation, pages 429-467, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    21. Eric Solberg & Teresa Laughlin, 1995. "The Gender Pay Gap, Fringe Benefits, and Occupational Crowding," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(4), pages 692-708, July.
    22. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    23. Johnson, Nancy Brown & Provan, Keith G., 1995. "The relationship between work/family benefits and earnings: A test of competing predictions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 571-584.
    24. Den Dulk, Laura & Groeneveld, Sandra & Ollier-Malaterre, Ariane & Valcour, Monique, 2013. "National context in work-life research: A multi-level cross-national analysis of the adoption of workplace work-life arrangements in Europe," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 478-494.
    25. Davies, Rhys & Pierre, Gaelle, 2005. "The family gap in pay in Europe: a cross-country study," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 469-486, August.
    26. John M. Evans, 2001. "Firms' Contribution to the Reconciliation between Work and Family Life," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 48, OECD Publishing.
    27. Matt L. Huffman & Joe King & Malte Reichelt, 2017. "Equality for Whom? Organizational Policies and the Gender Gap across the German Earnings Distribution," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(1), pages 16-41, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Seung Hee Yang & Byung Yong Jeong, 2020. "Gender Differences in Wage, Social Support, and Job Satisfaction of Public Sector Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-11, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Grimshaw, Damian. & Rubery, Jill., 2015. "The motherhood pay gap : a review of the issues, theory and international evidence," ILO Working Papers 994873763402676, International Labour Organization.
    2. repec:ilo:ilowps:487376 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Ali Fakih, 2014. "Vacation Leave, Work Hours, and Wages: New Evidence from Linked Employer–Employee Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(4), pages 376-398, December.
    4. Chloé Duvivier & Mathieu Narcy, 2015. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty and Its Determinants: A Public–Private Comparison," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 415-443, December.
    5. Özgür Demirtaş & Aykut Arslan & Mustafa Karaca, 2019. "Why perceived organizational and supervisory family support is important for organizations? Evidence from the field," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 841-869, August.
    6. Uwe Jirjahn & Jens Mohrenweiser, 2021. "Works councils and organizational gender policies in Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 1020-1048, December.
    7. Fang, Tony & Lee, Byron & Timming, Andrew R. & Fan, Di, 2019. "The Effects of Work-Life Benefits on Employment Outcomes in Canada: A Multivariate Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 12322, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Anna Matysiak, 2018. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: A Meta-Analysis," VID Working Papers 1808, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    9. Verena Lauber & Johanna Storck, 2016. "Helping with the Kids? How Family-Friendly Workplaces Affect Parental Well-Being and Behavior," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1630, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Verena Lauber & Johanna Storck, 2016. "Helping with the Kids? How Family-Friendly Workplaces Affect Parental Well-Being and Behavior," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 883, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Verena Lauber & Sarah Reiter & Johanna Storck, 2015. "Familienfreundlichkeit in Unternehmen - Status Quo in Deutschland und Forschungsstand," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 77, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Nizalova, Olena Y. & Sliusarenko, Tamara & Shpak, Solomiya, 2016. "The motherhood wage penalty in times of transition," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 56-75.
    13. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska, 2015. "She Cares and He Earns? The Family Gap in Poland," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 42.
    14. Bruno Rodrigues & Vincent Vergnat, 2019. "The time and the transitions back to work in France after maternity," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 861-888, September.
    15. Lionel Wilner, 2016. "Worker-firm matching and the parenthood pay gap: Evidence from linked employer-employee data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 991-1023, October.
    16. Budig, Michelle J. & Misra, Joya & Boeckmann, Irene, 2016. "Work-family policy trade-offs for mothers? Unpacking the cross-national variation in motherhood earnings penalties," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 119-177.
    17. Ewa Cukrowska & Anna Lovasz, 2014. "Are children driving the gender wage gap? Comparative evidence from Poland and Hungary," Working Papers 2014-16, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    18. Kunze, Astrid, 2014. "The family gap in career progression," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 29/2014, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    19. Ali Fakih, 2014. "Availability of Family-Friendly Work Practices and Implicit Wage Costs: New Evidence from Canada," CIRANO Working Papers 2014s-33, CIRANO.
    20. Ma, Xinxin, 2022. "Parenthood and the gender wage gap in urban China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    21. Hennig, Jan-Luca & Stadler, Balazs, 2021. "Firm-specific pay premiums and the gender wage gap in 21 European countries," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242354, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    wages; flexible work schedules; family-friendly employment policies; women's employment; France; family pay-gap;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02082691. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.