Understanding the Gender Earnings Gap: Hours Worked, Occupational Sorting, and Labor Market Experience

Maria Canon (), Limor Golan () and Cody A. Smith

Review, 2021, vol. 103, issue 2, 175-205

Abstract: This article documents life-cycle gender differences in labor market outcomes using longitudinal data of a cohort of individuals from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. As in other datasets, the gender earnings gap increases with age. We find that hours worked and labor market experience are the most substantial observable variables in explaining the gender pay gap. We also focus on patterns in occupational changes over the life cycle, as a large part of pay growth occurs when workers change jobs. We find that college-educated men, on average, move into occupations with higher task complexity. We further show that women are less likely to change occupations. Moreover, on average, pay grows when workers change occupations, but the growth is smaller for women. Finally, we discuss theories that are consistent with the patterns we document.

Keywords: diversity; gender earnings gap; labor market outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedlrv:91429

DOI: 10.20955/r.103.175-205

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