Equal pay legislation and the gender wage gap

Solomon Polachek

IZA World of Labor, 2019, No 16v2, 16

Abstract: Despite equal pay legislation dating back 50 years, American women still earn 18% less than their male counterparts. In the UK, with its Equal Pay Act of 1970, and France, which legislated in 1972, the gap is 17% and 10% respectively, and in Australia it remains around 14%. Interestingly, the gender pay gap is relatively small for the young but increases as men and women grow older. Similarly, it is large when comparing married men and women, but smaller for singles. Just what can explain these wage patterns? And what can governments do to speed up wage convergence to close the gender pay gap? Clearly, the gender pay gap continues to be an important policy issue.

Keywords: gender; wage inequality; human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 J16 J17 J71 J78 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Journal Article: Equal pay legislation and the gender wage gap (2014)
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