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A Life Cycle Perspective on Changes in Earnings Inequality Among Married Men and Women

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  • John Pencavel

    (Department of Economics, Stanford University)

Abstract

The connection between the growth in hourly earnings inequality of individuals and changes in family earnings involves a number of issues: the movements in the employment of different family members, the association between changes in the earnings of the husband and those of the wife, and patterns of assortative mating. This paper offers a decomposition of the logarithm of the coefficient of variation in family earnings that distinguishes these issues. Unlike most of the previous research, this paper organizes the data on the dispersion of family earnings not simply over time but also by age. We focus on the impact on family earnings inequality of the growth in the relative employment and relative earnings of wives. Such growth has partly offset the effects on family earnings inequality of the increase in husbands’ earnings inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • John Pencavel, 2005. "A Life Cycle Perspective on Changes in Earnings Inequality Among Married Men and Women," Discussion Papers 04-036, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:sip:dpaper:04-036
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    Cited by:

    1. Hryshko, Dmytro & Juhn, Chinhui & McCue, Kristin, 2017. "Trends in earnings inequality and earnings instability among U.S. couples: How important is assortative matching?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 168-182.
    2. Olivier Donni & Eleonora Matteazzi, 2012. "On the Importance of Household Production in Collective Models: Evidence from U.S. Data," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 105-106, pages 99-125.
    3. Kimhi, Ayal, 2011. "Can Female Non-Farm Labor Income Reduce Income Inequality? Evidence from Rural Southern Ethiopia," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114756, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Ayal Kimhi, 2009. "Male Income, Female Income, and Household Income Inequality in Israel: A Decomposition Analysis," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 18(3-4), pages 34-48, September.
    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. Sergio Firpo & Lorena Hakak, 2022. "Changes in the women’s labor market and education and their impacts on marriage and inequality: evidence from Brazil," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1909-1950, April.
    7. Richard Breen & Signe Andersen, 2012. "Educational Assortative Mating and Income Inequality in Denmark," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 867-887, August.
    8. El Lahga, AbdelRahmen & Moreau, Nicolas, 2007. "Would you Marry me? The Effects of Marriage on German Couples? Allocation of Time," ZEW Discussion Papers 07-024, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Richard V. Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2009. "Using The P90/P10 Index To Measure U.S. Inequality Trends With Current Population Survey Data: A View From Inside The Census Bureau Vaults," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(1), pages 166-185, March.
    10. Huang, Fung-Mey & Luh, Yir-Hueih & Huang, Fung-Yea, 2012. "Unemployment information and wives’ labor supply responses to husbands’ job loss in Taiwan," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1176-1194.
    11. 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).
    12. El Lahga, Abdel Rahmen & Moreau, Nicolas, 2007. "The Effects of Marriage on Couples’ Allocation of Time Between Market and Non-Market Hours," IZA Discussion Papers 2619, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. 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).
    14. 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).
    15. Shao-Hsun Keng & Peter F. Orazem, 2019. "Performance pay, the marriage market and rising income inequality in Taiwan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 969-992, September.
    16. Tessa Conroy & Steven Deller & Philip Watson, 2021. "Regional income inequality: a link to women-owned businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 189-207, January.
    17. 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.
    18. Segato, Federico, 2021. "Female labour force participation and household income inequality in Italy," MPRA Paper 108280, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Ostrovsky, Yuri, 2012. "The correlation of spouses' permanent and transitory earnings and family earnings inequality in Canada," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 756-768.
    20. Milan Bouchet-Valat, 2017. "Does women’s employment growth increase wage inequalities between couples? The case of France between 1982 and 2014," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 493, pages 67-85.
    21. Pencavel, John, 2006. "Earnings Inequality and Market Work in Husband-Wife Families," IZA Discussion Papers 2235, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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