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Is the Persistent Gender Gap in Income and Wages Due to Unequal Family Responsibilities?

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  • Angelov, Nikolay

    (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies)

  • Johansson, Per

    (Uppsala University)

  • Lindahl, Erica

    (IFAU)

Abstract

We compare the income and wage trajectories of women in relation to their male partners before and after parenthood. Focusing on the within-couple gap allows us to control for both observed and unobserved attributes of the spouse and to estimate both short- and long-term effects of entering parenthood. Our main finding is that 15 years after the first child was born, the male-female gender gaps in income and wages have increased with 35 and 10 percentage points, respectively. In line with a collective labor supply model, the magnitude of these effects depends on relative incomes or wages within the family.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelov, Nikolay & Johansson, Per & Lindahl, Erica, 2013. "Is the Persistent Gender Gap in Income and Wages Due to Unequal Family Responsibilities?," IZA Discussion Papers 7181, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7181
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    2. Christl, Michael & Köppl-Turyna, Monika, 2017. "Gender wage gap and the role of skills: evidence from PIAAC dataset," GLO Discussion Paper Series 63, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Geiler, P.H.M. & Renneboog, Luc, 2015. "Are female top managers really paid less?," Other publications TiSEM b3d805f0-f64d-4f30-a59d-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Boye, Katarina, 2015. "Care more, earn less? The association between care leave for sick children and wage among Swedish parents," Working Paper Series 2015:18, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    5. -, 2020. "Brechas de género en los ingresos laborales en el Uruguay," Coediciones, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 45792 edited by Cepal, July.
    6. Halvarsson, Daniel & Korpi, Martin & Wennberg, Karl, 2016. "Entrepreneurship and Income Inequality," Ratio Working Papers 281, The Ratio Institute.
    7. Maria da Conceição Figueiredo & Elsa Fontainha, 2015. "Male and Female Wage Functions: A Quantile Regression Analysis using LEED and LFS Portuguese Databases," Working Papers Department of Economics 2015/01, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    8. Johanna Wallenius & Tobias Laun, 2016. "Home and Market Hours, Human Capital Accumulation and Fertility," 2016 Meeting Papers 518, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Zarmina Khan & Danish Ahmed Siddiqui, 2020. "Antecedents 0f Women WorkForce Conflict and Turnover: The Role of Culture and Environment," Human Resource Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(1), pages 176-204, December.
    10. Lisa Geraci & Steve Balsis & Alexander J. Busch Busch, 2015. "Gender and the h index in psychology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2023-2034, December.
    11. Albrecht, James & Skogman Thoursie, Peter & Vroman, Susan, 2015. "Parental leave and the glass ceiling in Sweden," Working Paper Series 2015:4, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    12. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Anna Lovasz, 2017. "The Impact of Parenthood on the Gender Wage Gap – a Comparative Analysis of 26 European Countries," Working Papers 2017-25, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    13. Magda, Iga & Cukrowska-Torzewska, Ewa, 2018. "Do Female Managers Help to Lower Within-Firm Gender Pay Gaps? Public Institutions vs. Private Enterprises," IZA Discussion Papers 12026, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Matias Busso & Dario Romero Fonseca, 2015. "Female Labor Force Participation in Latin America: Patterns and Explanations," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0187, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender gap; quantile regression; income; wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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