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Title: Women in the Economy: Perspectives on Gender Inequality
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Polachek, Solomon W. |
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Women in the Economy: Perspectives on Gender Inequality In: Comparable Work Issues for the 80s, Volume 1. U.S. Civil Rights Commission, ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1984: pp. 34-53 Cohort(s): Mature Women, Young Women Publisher: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Keyword(s): Affirmative Action; Behavior; Discrimination; Discrimination, Sex; Dual Economic Theory; Earnings; Government Regulation; Occupational Segregation; Sexual Division of Labor; Work Attachment This paper provides a survey of current literature on gender differences in economic well-being. The conclusions are: (1) Gender occupational segregation exists in that differences are apparent in the occupational patterns of men and women. However, sex differences in occupational distribution are incapable of explaining gender wage differentials. In fact, occupational segregation explains only about 15 percent of gender wage differences, though most studies yield an even smaller explanatory power. (2) Human capital theory provides the most robust explanation of gender differences in economic well-being. Primitive versions of the human capital approach explain up to 60 percent of the wage gap. More comprehensive versions can explain the entire gap. (3) Human capital theory can also be used to explain occupational segregation. Results of on going empirical work seem to indicate that if women were to work continuously, the number of women in managerial jobs would double, and the number of women in menial service-type jobs would diminish by 25 percent. (4) Discrimination takes two forms: societal and market. Societal discrimination evolves through societal preconditioning as well as through existing legislation that creates implicit marriage taxes. Both cause a division of labor within the home, forcing husbands to specialize in market activities and wives to specialize in household activities. Market discrimination evolves not because the market cannot work, but because the market is often not permitted to work. Regulatory forces restricting market competition create incentives for inefficient behavior, one form of which is discrimination. |
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Bibliography Citation
Polachek, Solomon W. "Women in the Economy: Perspectives on Gender Inequality" In: Comparable Work Issues for the 80s, Volume 1. U.S. Civil Rights Commission, ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1984: pp. 34-53
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