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The true gender pay gap: Accounting for the distribution of unpaid labour

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  • Roos, Louisa

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel method to measure gender pay gaps, incorporating paid and unpaid labour. Decomposition analysis using Swiss labour force data attributes a sizable and persistent share of this pay gap to segregation across paid and unpaid work.

Suggested Citation

  • Roos, Louisa, 2025. "The true gender pay gap: Accounting for the distribution of unpaid labour," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:247:y:2025:i:c:s0165176524006281
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112144
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gema Zamarro & María J. Prados, 2021. "Gender differences in couples’ division of childcare, work and mental health during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 11-40, March.
    2. Daniela Del Boca & Noemi Oggero & Paola Profeta & Mariacristina Rossi, 2020. "Women’s and men’s work, housework and childcare, before and during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1001-1017, December.
    3. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    4. Eleonora Matteazzi & Stefani Scherer, 2021. "Gender Wage Gap and the Involvement of Partners in Household Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 490-508, June.
    5. Maria Karamessini & Elias Ioakimoglou, 2007. "Wage determination and the gender pay gap: A feminist political economy analysis and decomposition," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 31-66.
    6. Joni Hersch, 2009. "Home production and wages: evidence from the American Time Use Survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 159-178, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender pay gap; Unpaid labour; Decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • B54 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Feminist Economics

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