Career Lesbians: Getting Hired for Not Having Kids?

Stijn Baert

No 7767, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using a field experiment, we investigate whether discrimination based on women's sexual orientation differs by age and family constraints. We find weakly significant evidence of discrimination against young heterosexual women. This effect is driven by age (and fertility) rather than by motherhood. We do not find any unequal treatment at older ages. This age effect is consistent with our theoretical expectation that, relative to lesbian women, young heterosexual women are penalised for getting children more frequently and taking on, on average, more at-home-caring tasks.

Keywords: motherhood; sexual orientation; labour market discrimination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J13 J16 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2013-11
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - revised version published in: Industrial Relations Journal , 2014, 45 (6), 543 - 561

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Journal Article: Career lesbians. Getting hired for not having kids? (2014)
Working Paper: Career Lesbians. Getting Hired for Not Having Kids? (2013)
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