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Beliefs about the Gender Pension Gap

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  • Jana Schuetz

    (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)

Abstract

I conduct an online survey of 3,000 respondents in the United States to examine individuals' beliefs about the gender pension gap. By including an information provision experiment in which treated respondents are informed about the size of the gender pension gap, I examine whether receiving this information causally affects respondents' perceptions of the fairness and drivers of the gender pension gap and their support for policies aimed at reducing it. I find that most respondents underestimate the gender pension gap and that treated respondents are less likely to perceive the gender pension gap as fair. In addition, treated respondents perceive the unequal distribution of care work and gender differences in wages as more important drivers of the gap, and their demand for remedial policies such as targeted financial education increases significantly. In terms of heterogeneity, I find that female respondents are generally less affected by the treatment than male respondents when asked about their policy views, although the treatment affects male and female respondents' beliefs and perceptions about the gender pension gap similarly.

Suggested Citation

  • Jana Schuetz, 2024. "Beliefs about the Gender Pension Gap," Jena Economics Research Papers 2024-004, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2024-004
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    File URL: https://oweb.b67.uni-jena.de/Papers/jerp2023/wp_2024_004.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender pension gap; survey experiment; information provision; pension reform preferences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General

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