Commuting to work and gender norms by sexual orientation

Sonia Oreffice and Dario Sansone

Labour Economics, 2023, vol. 85, issue C

Abstract: We assess the role of gender-conforming social norms in household decision-making and gender inequalities in the labor market with a parsimonious household model that endogenizes commuting time. Using the American Community Survey 2008–2019, we test the model predictions and find that women in same-sex couples have a longer commute to work than working women in different-sex couples, whereas the commute to work of men in same-sex couples is shorter than the one of working men in different-sex couples, even after controlling for demographic characteristics, partner's characteristics, location and urbanicity, fertility, marital status, industry and occupation. These differences among men and women amount to a sizable portion of the gender commuting gap estimated in the literature, and are particularly stark among married couples with children. Within-couple gaps in commuting time are also significantly smaller in same-sex couples, and labor supply disparities mimic the commuting ones. According to our model, these differences are interpreted as gender-conforming social norms leading women in different-sex couples into jobs with a shorter commute and fewer hours worked while their male partners or spouses hold jobs with a longer commute and more hours worked, thus reinforcing gender inequalities.

Keywords: Commute; Household decisions; Labor supply; LGBTQ+; Specialization; Travel time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J15 J16 J22 R20 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:85:y:2023:i:c:s0927537123001264

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102451

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