The Greedy Jobs Phenomenon as a Driving Force Behind the Gender Pay Gap: A Systematic Review

Nick Deschachtⓡ, Sunčica Vujićⓡ () and Oscar Frison
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Nick Deschachtⓡ: KU Leuven
Sunčica Vujićⓡ: University of Antwerp
Oscar Frison: KU Leuven

De Economist, 2025, vol. 173, issue 1, No 5, 177-204

Abstract: Abstract Greedy jobs can be defined as jobs in which temporal flexibility for workers is costly to organize and in which there are rewards for long hours and constant availability to employers. Despite the mechanisms underlying this concept being familiar to labor economists studying the determinants of the gender wage gap, the label greedy work is not widely utilized in the literature on gender inequality. We therefore provide an identification and systematic review of articles that (implicitly) relate the gender wage gap to greedy jobs. Our findings underscore the importance of policy interventions aimed at promoting workplace flexibility, worker substitutability, provision of affordable childcare solutions, and cash transfers to parents, making jobs less greedy and therefore more compatible with tasks at home.

Keywords: Greedy jobs hypothesis; Gender pay gap; Permanent availability; Job non-substitutability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J31 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10645-024-09444-4

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