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Does Working from Home Increase the Gender Wage Gap? Insights from an Italian Survey of Occupations

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  • Luca Bonacini
  • Giovanni Gallo
  • Sergio Scicchitano

Abstract

This article investigates to what extent the working from home (WFH) feasibility of occupations can influence the gender wag gap (GWG) at the mean and along the wage distribution. Based on Oaxaca–Blinder decompositions and unconditional quantile regressions, results show that the GWG is greater among women working in an occupation with a high level of WFH feasibility. We find evidence of both sticky floor and glass ceiling effects for employees with high WFH feasibility and only a sticky floor effect for the group with low WFH feasibility. The positive association revealed between the level of WFH feasibility and the GWG appears particularly strong among older and married women employees. These results underscore that the WFH feasibility may play an important role in exacerbating future gender gaps in wages, as WFH is expected to remain a normal practice beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.HIGHLIGHTS Working from home (WFH) feasibility of occupations influences the gender wage gap (GWG) in Italy.GWG is overall wider among employees with high WFH feasibility than employees with low WFH feasibility.The GWG is higher among older and married women employees.A possible explanation is Italy’s ungenerous work–family policies and poor childcare availability.There is a need for policies aimed at regulating WFH from a gender-equality perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Bonacini & Giovanni Gallo & Sergio Scicchitano, 2024. "Does Working from Home Increase the Gender Wage Gap? Insights from an Italian Survey of Occupations," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 53-88, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:30:y:2024:i:2:p:53-88
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2024.2326509
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas Bloom & James Liang & John Roberts & Zhichun Jenny Ying, 2015. "Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(1), pages 165-218.
    2. Coral Río & Carlos Gradín & Olga Cantó, 2011. "The measurement of gender wage discrimination: the distributional approach revisited," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(1), pages 57-86, March.
    3. Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini & Sarah Grace See, 2017. "Government education expenditures, pre-primary education and school performance: A cross-country analysis," CHILD Working Papers Series 61 JEL Classification: J1, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
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    2. Andlib, Zubaria, 2025. "Breaking Barriers or Reinforcing Gaps? Gender Wage Disparities Across Skill Levels in a Developing Economy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1555 [rev.], Global Labor Organization (GLO), revised 2025.
    3. Andlib, Zubaria, 2025. "Can occupational skills explain the gender wage gap in a developing economy? An unconditional quintile regression approach," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1555, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Elisa Birch & Alison Preston, 2025. "Working at Home and the Gender Wage Gap," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 125-144, March.
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    6. Yimiao Qu & Yumei Xie, 2026. "The impact of digital literacy on women’s wage income: evidence from China," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Ferri, Valentina & Gallo, Giovanni & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2025. "Bankruptcies during Covid-19 in Italy: An interrupted time-series analysis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1601, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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