Gender Norms and Relative Working Hours: Why Do Women Suffer More Than Men from Working Longer Hours Than Their Partners?

Sarah Flèche, Anthony Lepinteur and Nattavudh Powdthavee

PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) from HAL

Abstract: Constraints that prevent women from working longer hours are argued to be important drivers of the gender wage gap in the United States. We provide evidence that in couples where the wife's working hours exceed the husband's, the wife reports lower life satisfaction. By contrast, there is no effect on the husband's satisfaction. The results still hold when controlling for relative income. We argue that these patterns are best explained by perceived fairness of the division of household labor, which induces an aversion to a situation where the wife works more at home and on the labor market.

Date: 2018
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://amu.hal.science/hal-01989243v1
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Published in American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 2018, 108, pp.163-68. ⟨10.1257/pandp.20181098⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Gender Norms and Relative Working Hours: Why Do Women Suffer More Than Men from Working Longer Hours Than Their Partners? (2018)
Working Paper: Gender Norms and Relative Working Hours: Why Do Women Suffer More Than Men from Working Longer Hours Than Their Partners? (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-01989243

DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20181098

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