Self-Employment, Earnings, and Sexual Orientation

Christopher Jepsen and Lisa Jepsen ()

Open Access publications from School of Economics, University College Dublin

Abstract: Although many studies document differences by sexual orientation in earnings and other labor-market outcomes, little is known about differences in self-employment. Our study contributes to both the self-employment literature and sexual-orientation literature by analyzing differences in self-employment rates and earnings by sexual orientation. Gay men are less likely to be self-employed than married men, whereas lesbians are equally likely to be self-employed as married women. We find that gay men earn less than married men. We do find, however, that for those gay men who are self-employed, there is little evidence of a further earnings penalty, at least among full-time workers. Lesbians earn at least as much as married women, but receive no further earnings premium—or penalty—by being self-employed, again among full-time workers.

Keywords: Sexual orientation; Self-employment; Earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J3 J7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2017-03
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published in: Review of Economics of the Household, 15(1) 2017-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/10197/9009 Open Access version, 2017 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Self-employment, earnings, and sexual orientation (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucn:oapubs:10197/9009

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