The male breadwinner norm in Brazil

Kauany de Souza (), Fabiana Rocha () and Pedro Forquesato
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Kauany de Souza: University of São Paulo
Fabiana Rocha: University of São Paulo

Economics Bulletin, 2023, vol. 43, issue 4, 1759 - 1770

Abstract: In this paper we provide evidence of the male breadwinner norm, a cultural norm that establishes that "a man should earn more than his wife". First we show that there is a large discontinuity in the relative intra-household earnings distribution at the 50% threshold. Then we argue that the male breadwinner norm is responsible for it by empirically rejecting alternative explanations, such as marriage between co-workers or self-employed, misreporting, and assortative matching. We conclude that the social norm effectively is a main driver of the high gender inequality observed in the country.

Keywords: male breadwinner; household earnings; gender inequality. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-12-30
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