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Gender Gaps in Benefits Coverage

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  • Janet Currie

Abstract

This paper explores the extent to which there are gender gaps in the provision of 4 common non-wage benefits offered by employers: pensions, health insurance, sick leaves, and disability plans. I find that there are gender differences in whether or not benefits are offered, which remain statistically significant when observable characteristics such as age, education, marital status and number of children are controlled for. Women are less likely to be offered pensions, health coverage, and disability. However, they are 10% more likely to have paid sick leave. When the wage is controlled for, differences in offered pensions and health insurance disappear, which suggests that much of the difference in benefits coverage is associated with the fact that women work in low-wage jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Janet Currie, 1993. "Gender Gaps in Benefits Coverage," NBER Working Papers 4265, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:4265
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    Cited by:

    1. Granqvist, Lena & Selén, Jan & Ståhlberg, Ann-Charlotte, 2002. "Mandatory Earnings-Related Insurance Rights, Human Capital and the Gender Earnings Gap in Sweden," Working Paper Series 179, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Dewar, Diane M., 1998. "Do those with more formal education have better health insurance opportunities?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 267-277, June.
    3. Janet Currie & Aaron Yelowitz, 1999. "Health Insurance and Less Skilled Workers," NBER Working Papers 7291, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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