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The Emergence of Wage Discrimination in U.S. Manufacturing

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  • Joyce Burnette

Abstract

This paper examines the hypothesis that wage discrimination emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century. I test for wage discrimination by estimating the female-male productivity ratio from samples of manufacturing firms in the northeast, and then comparing the estimated productivity ratio to the wage ratio. I find that women did not face wage discrimination in manufacturing during the nineteenth century. In 1900 there was wage discrimination against women in white-collar jobs, but not in blue-collar jobs. Wage discrimination persisted, and in 2002 the female-male wage ratio was less than the productivity ratio.

Suggested Citation

  • Joyce Burnette, 2011. "The Emergence of Wage Discrimination in U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 11-18, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:11-18
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2011/CES-WP-11-18.pdf
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