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The Gender Pay Gap in Ireland from Austerity through Recovery

Author

Listed:
  • Doorley, Karina

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

  • Privalko, Ivan

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

  • Russell, Helen

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

  • Tuda, Dora

    (Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

This paper estimates the raw and adjusted gender pay gap in Ireland between 2011 and 2018, a period of austerity measures and recovery from the Great Recession. Using survey data sources linked to administrative information on earnings, we show that the raw gender wage gap across the wage distribution has not changed much over this period: it is larger for higher earners and is mainly concentrated in the private sector. Using a Distribution Regression method, we estimate the relative contributions of explained and unexplained components to the overall gender wage gap at each point at the wage distribution and summarise the findings by wage quantile. The explained gender wage gap is negative, indicating that women have better labour market characteristics than men, on average. The unexplained gender wage gap is positive and increases with the wage level. This results in a small or zero gender wage gap at the bottom of the wage distribution which rises to 10% at the top of the wage distribution. The stability of the gender pay gap across the wage distribution in the private sector over the period suggest the strong structural inequalities, that are unlikely to change without significant interventions

Suggested Citation

  • Doorley, Karina & Privalko, Ivan & Russell, Helen & Tuda, Dora, 2021. "The Gender Pay Gap in Ireland from Austerity through Recovery," IZA Discussion Papers 14441, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14441
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Delaney, Judith M. & Devereux, Paul J., 2024. "Gender Differences in Graduate Degree Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 16918, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Michelle Barrett & Karina Doorley & Paul Redmond & Barra Roantree, 2022. "How Has the Gender Earnings Gap in Ireland Changed in Thirty Years?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Laurence, James & Kelly, Elish & McGinnity, Frances & Curristan, Sarah, 2023. "Wages and working conditions of non-Irish nationals in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number JR2.
    4. McGinnity, Frances & Quinn, Emma & McCullough, Evie & Enright, Shannen, 2021. "Measures to combat racial discrimination and promote diversity in the labour market: A review of evidence," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number SUSTAT110.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender pay gap; occupational segregation; discrimination; Ireland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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