IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lis/liswps/531.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The contribution of Women's Employment and Earnings to Household Income Inequality: A Cross-Country Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Susan Harkness

Abstract

Aggregate data shows an inverse relationship between female employment and income inequality. This paper investigates this relationship using micro-data for seventeen OECD countries. In all countries, female earnings exert an equalising force on the distribution of income in spite of large employment gaps between high and low educated women. There are marked similarities across countries; even in Nordic countries where employment rates are high female earnings comprise a small proportion of the family budget and single women, employed or not, are overrepresented in the bottom of the income distribution. The US is the one country that stands out, with greater earnings equality among couples and more single women households making it into the top quintile. For all countries, raising female employment and reducing employment inequality between women would have a substantial impact on reducing household income inequality, and a far larger impact than reducing the gender pay gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Harkness, 2010. "The contribution of Women's Employment and Earnings to Household Income Inequality: A Cross-Country Analysis," LIS Working papers 531, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lisdatacenter.org/wps/liswps/531.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:econom:v:62:y:1995:i:245:p:29-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. David Bloom & McKinley Blackburn, 1994. "Changes in the Structure of Family Income Inequality in the US and Other Industrialized Nations During the 1980s," LIS Working papers 118, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Daniela Del Boca & Silvia Pasqua, 2003. "Employment Patterns of Husbands and Wives and Family Income Distribution in Italy (1977–98)," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 49(2), pages 221-245, June.
    4. Silvia Pasqua, 2008. "Wives' work and income distribution in European countries," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 5(2), pages 157-186, December.
    5. repec:bla:revinw:v:47:y:2001:i:3:p:321-33 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Andrea Brandolini & Anthony B. Atkinson, 2001. "Promise and Pitfalls in the Use of "Secondary" Data-Sets: Income Inequality in OECD Countries As a Case Study," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 771-799, September.
    7. Sheldon Danziger, 1980. "Do Working Wives Increase Family Income Inequality?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 15(3), pages 444-451.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Kranzinger, 2020. "The decomposition of income inequality in the EU-28," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 643-668, August.
    2. Inhoe Ku & Wonjin Lee & Seoyun Lee & Kyounghoon Han, 2018. "The Role of Family Behaviors in Determining Income Distribution: The Case of South Korea," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(3), pages 877-899, June.
    3. Chimere O. Iheonu & Ozoemena S. Nwodo & Uchechi S. Anaduaka & Ugochinyere Ekpo, 2020. "Inequality and Female Labour Force Participation in West Africa," Working Papers 20/076, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    4. Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez & Andrés Hincapié & Ruben Irvin Rojas-Valdés, 2012. "Family Income Inequality and the Role of Married Females' Earnings in Mexico: 1988-2010," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 49(1), pages 67-98, May.
    5. Chimere O. Iheonu & Ozoemena S. Nwodo & Uchechi S. Anaduaka & Ugochinyere Ekpo, 2020. "Inequality and Female Labour Force Participation in West Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 20/076, African Governance and Development Institute..
    6. Federica Alfani & Fabio Clementi & Michele Fabiani & Vasco Molini & Enzo Valentini, 2024. "Does gender equality in labor participation bring equality? Evidence from developing and developed countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 289-311, July.
    7. Tendai Zawaira & Matthew Clance & Carolyn Chisadza, 2023. "Social institutions, gender attitudes and female labour force participation in sub‐Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 91(2), pages 186-213, June.
    8. Raymundo M. Campos Vázquez & Andrés Hincapie & Rubén I. Rojas Valdés, 2011. "Family Income Inequality and the Role of Wives Earnings in Mexico: 1988-2010," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2011-07, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
    9. Nolan, Brian & Azzollini, Leo & Breen, Richard, 2022. "From Gender Equality to Household Earnings Equality: the role of Women's Labour Market Outcomes across OECD Countries," INET Oxford Working Papers 2022-13, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    10. Matthijs Kalmijn, 2013. "The Educational Gradient in Marriage: A Comparison of 25 European Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1499-1520, August.
    11. Chimere O. Iheonu & Ozoemena S. Nwodo & Uchechi S. Anaduaka & Ugochinyere Ekpo, 2020. "Inequality and Female Labour Force Participation in West Africa," Working Papers of The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA). 20/008, The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA).
    12. Chimere O. Iheonu & Ozoemena S. Nwodo & Uchechi S. Anaduaka & Ugochinyere Ekpo, 2020. "Inequality and Female Labour Force Participation in West Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 20/076, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    13. Sophie Ponthieux, 2014. "L’inégalité des revenus d’activité et les niveaux de vie des femmes et des hommes - Une comparaison entre cinq pays de l’Union européenne," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 469(1), pages 85-119.
    14. Boschini, Anne & Håkanson, Christina & Rosén, Åsa & Sjögren, Anna, 2011. "Trading off or having it all? Completed fertility and mid-career earnings of Swedish men and women," Working Paper Series 2011:15, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steven Pressman, 2006. "The Decline of the Middle Class: An International Perspective," LIS Working papers 280, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Seonglim Lee & Jinkook Lee & Yunhee Chang, 2014. "Is Dual Income Costly for Married Couples? An Analysis of Household Expenditures," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 161-177, June.
    3. Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez & Andrés Hincapié & Ruben Irvin Rojas-Valdés, 2012. "Family Income Inequality and the Role of Married Females' Earnings in Mexico: 1988-2010," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 49(1), pages 67-98, May.
    4. Raymundo M. Campos Vázquez & Andrés Hincapie & Rubén I. Rojas Valdés, 2011. "Family Income Inequality and the Role of Wives Earnings in Mexico: 1988-2010," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2011-07, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
    5. Salverda, Wiemer & Checchi, Daniele, 2014. "Labour-Market Institutions and the Dispersion of Wage Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 8220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Alvaredo, Facundo & Bourguignon, François & Ferreira, Francisco H. G. & Lustig, Nora, 2023. "Seventy-five Years of Measuring Income Inequality in Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13157, Inter-American Development Bank.
    7. Bertocchi, Graziella & Brunetti, Marianna & Torricelli, Costanza, 2014. "Who holds the purse strings within the household? The determinants of intra-family decision making," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 65-86.
    8. Olivier Bargain & Tim Callan, 2010. "Analysing the effects of tax-benefit reforms on income distribution: a decomposition approach," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, March.
    9. Lane Kenworthy, 2004. "Welfare States, Real Income and Poverty," LIS Working papers 370, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Bertocchi, Graziella & Brunetti, Marianna & Torricelli, Costanza, 2011. "Marriage and other risky assets: A portfolio approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2902-2915, November.
    11. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia García‐Peñalosa, 2010. "Labour Market Institutions and the Personal Distribution of Income in the OECD," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(307), pages 413-450, July.
    12. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Larrimore, Jeff & Simon, Kosali I., 2012. "A "Second Opinion" on the Economic Health of the American Middle Class," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(1), pages 7-32, March.
    13. Jung, Samuel Moon & Vijverberg, Chu-Ping C., 2019. "Financial development and income inequality in China – A spatial data analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 295-320.
    14. Sanjay Reddy & Rahul Lahoti & Arjun Jayadev, 2015. "The global consumption and income project: An introduction and preliminary findings," WIDER Working Paper Series 003, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Thomas Piketty & Gilles Postel-Vinay & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2006. "Wealth Concentration in a Developing Economy: Paris and France, 1807–1994," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 236-256, March.
    16. Jennifer Elena Feichtmayer & Klaus Gründler, 2021. "Global Evidence on Misperceptions and Preferences for Redistribution," CESifo Working Paper Series 9381, CESifo.
    17. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2003. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1597-1616, September.
    18. Bourguignon, Francois, 2005. "The Effect of Economic Growth on Social Structures," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 27, pages 1701-1747, Elsevier.
    19. Isis Gaddis & Stephan Klasen, 2014. "Economic development, structural change, and women’s labor force participation:," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 639-681, July.
    20. Henrik Hansen & Louise Lund Rants & Julie Buhl-Wiggers, 2009. "Do elites benefit from democracy and foreign aid in developing countries?: Comment," Discussion Papers 09/06, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; female employment; gender pay gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:531. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Piotr Paradowski (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lisprlu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.