The differential is large: on average, women earn only 60 percent as much as men. (Editor)

The most important reason for the difference in the average pay of men and women is the clustering of women in lower paying jobs. (Author)

It has been hypothesized that current methods of determining pay rates value the characteristics of jobs held primarily by men differently than the characteristics of jobs held primarily by women, resulting in lower earnings for women. A policy capturing approach using numerically rated job characteristics (PAQ data) was applied separately to the…

Explored utility of adopting supply-side approach to understanding the nature of wage differentials between men and women using job applicants (N=272) as subjects. Results suggested much of the wage gap can be explained by evaluations of outcomes other than pay, and gender-related differences in expectancies, instrumentalities, and valences with…

Cross-sectional and panel estimations of Swedish data reveal that different types of career interruptions have different effects on wages, varying by gender. Therefore, human capital depreciation does not entirely account for the negative effect of career interruptions on subsequent wages. (SK)

A study surveyed and synthesized available information about the employment and earnings of authors over the 1970-1990 period. Data came from United States and other government censuses, a variety of surveys of authors, and from records of writers' unions and professional organizations. Results indicated that: (1) the author occupation is growing…

In the last 20 years, an increase in the number of working women has been accompanied by changes in the female labor force and in the concentration of women in particular occupations and industries. These changes have a profound effect upon women's earnings. The Current Population Survey (CPS) shows a wide disparity in the median earnings of women…

This paper reviews some of the past literature on male-female wage differentials in order to determine the early hypotheses which are the historical roots of the current theoretical and empirical work analyzing male-female wage differentials. Part 1 reviews the discrimination hypotheses, which emphasize differences in the labor market conditions…

Examines the returns to subbaccalaureate credentials and coursework, using the postsecondary transcripts of the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972. Results indicate substantial variety in the returns and suggest clear differences between the subbaccalaureate labor market and that for individuals with baccalaureate degrees. (56…

Since 1979, the wage gap between women and men has narrowed significantly, falling by more than 10 percent overall. The closing of the wage gap has slowed considerably in the 1990's, however, with women's real wages (adjusted for inflation) stagnating in recent year and men's wages continuing to decline. The lack of growth in both women's and…

Uses regression substitution procedure to show skill differences between male and female occupations explain virtually none of the earning gap between the sexes. Female occupations systematically pay less than is predicted by their skill demands. Doing manual work, in which men predominate, has a negative effect on female earnings. (NEC)

Results of a census-sample study (model appended) of earnings differentials between men and women in three types of employment (government, private, and self-employment) indicate a need for policies to: (1) alter practices of financial institutions and suppliers toward self-employed women and (2) insure job-advancement for others. (Author/AJ)

This brief, part of a series on labor trends and their policy implications, uses data on wage rates and hours worked from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to look at two questions about wage inequality since the mid-1980s. One question is whether wage differentials are becoming more related to education and less to gender and…

Despite the great influx of women into the labor market, the gap between men's and women's wages has remained stable at 40 percent since 1950. Analysis of labor data suggests that this has occurred because women's educational attainment compared to men has declined. Recently, however, the wage gap has begun to narrow, and this will probably become…

Women have made slow, steady progress in the labor market since 1979, but the wage gap has not narrowed significantly. This briefing paper updates a September 1987 paper based on "Male-Female Differences in Work Experience, Occupations, and Earnings: 1984" (Current Population Reports, Household Economic Studies, Series P-70, No. 10, issued in…