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Occupational Gender Segregation and Women's Wages in Canada: An Historical Perspective

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  • Nicole Fortin
  • Michael Huberman

Abstract

We document the evolution of occupational gender segregation and its implications for women's labour market outcomes over the twentieth century. The first half of the century saw a considerable decline in vertical segregation as women moved out of domestic and manufacturing work into clerical work. This created a substantial amount of horizontal segregation that persists to this day. To study the effects of occupational segregation on the gender gap, we introduce a decomposition technique that divides the gap into between-occupation and within-occupation components. Since the 1990s the component attributable to within-occupation wage differentials has become predominant.
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  • Nicole Fortin & Michael Huberman, 2002. "Occupational Gender Segregation and Women's Wages in Canada: An Historical Perspective," CIRANO Working Papers 2002s-22, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2002s-22
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    Cited by:

    1. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Tan, Michelle, 2011. "Noncognitive skills, occupational attainment, and relative wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Toyin Ajibade Adisa & Gbolahan Gbadamosi & Olatunji David Adekoya, 2021. "Gender apartheid: The challenges of breaking into “man's world”," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 2216-2234, November.
    3. Fortin, Nicole M. & Bell, Brian & Böhm, Michael, 2017. "Top earnings inequality and the gender pay gap: Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 107-123.
    4. Luiza Antonie & Miana Plesca & Jennifer Teng, 2016. "Heterogeneity in the Gender Wage Gap in Canada," Working Papers 1603, University of Guelph, Department of Economics and Finance.
    5. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2013. "Do psychosocial traits help explain gender segregation in young people's occupations?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 59-73.
    6. Gillian C. Hamilton & Ian Keay & Frank D. Lewis, 2017. "Contributions to Canadian economic history: The last 30 years," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1632-1657, December.
    7. Eleonora Matteazzi & Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2014. "Part-Time Wage Penalties for Women in Prime Age," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(3), pages 955-985, July.
    8. repec:rre:publsh:v:36:y:2006:i:1:p:44-62 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Mariona Lozano & Dana Hamplová & Céline Le Bourdais, 2016. "Non-standard work schedules, gender, and parental stress," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(9), pages 259-284.
    10. Ilse Lindenlaub & Anja Prummer, 2014. "Gender, Social Networks And Performance," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1461, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    11. Ilse Lindenlaub & Anja Prummer, 2014. "Gender, Social Networks And Performance," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1461, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    12. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2010. "Do Non-Cognitive Skills Help Explain the Occupational Segregation of Young People?," IZA Discussion Papers 5093, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. DeRiviere, Linda, 2008. "Have we come a long way? Using the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics to revisit the 'pin money' theory," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2340-2367, December.
    14. Aldaz Odriozola, Leire & Eguía Peña, Begoña, 2016. "Segregación laboral por género en España y en el País Vasco. Un análisis de cohortes /Occupational Segregation by Sex in Spain and in the Basque Country. A Cohort Analysis," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 34, pages 133-154, Enero.
    15. Dickson Thomas NDAMSA & Aloysius Mom NJONG & Francis Menjo BAYE & Jackson YOUYEM, 2015. "Investigating the role of male advantage and female disadvantage in explaining the discrimination effect of the gender pay gap in the Cameroon labor market. Oaxaca-Ransom decomposition approach," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 1(34), pages 55-72, May.
    16. Christopher Worswick & Frances Woolley & Casey Warman, 2006. "The Evolution Of Male-female Wages Differentials In Canadian Universities: 1970-2001," Working Paper 1099, Economics Department, Queen's University.

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