Gendered dimensions of educational premium disadvantage in earnings in USA, 2019

Abstract

The relationships between gender-based earnings disparity and gendered dimensions of human capital gains and labor market changes are quite complex. Some scholars have argued that gender bias improves the over economy of a country/society. Others, however, have argued otherwise, adding to the narrative that despite an overall positive role of educational/human capital gains by women, the benefits reaped by them is non-linear, often with declining premiums for educational progress. This research investigates gendered earnings disadvantage and (dis)parity across US counties by employing GIS-based maps, descriptive statistics, correlations and regression analyses wherein female earnings and female-versus-male earnings ratios are regressed against select explanatory variables representing educational attainments, gender-based work-status, and their occupational over/under-representation in the labor market. Five-years estimates data (2015–2019) from the NHGIS are used for computing location quotients for major occupation-types by gender and additional statistical analyses. Females with professional, Master’s and doctoral degrees have improved earnings, even though gender parity is better for both genders among the less educated. Sadly, gender disparity in earnings is higher when male-versus-female ratio increases for those majoring in science/engineering, science and engineering-related and business degrees. Greater gender parity, however, is noted when more men major in Education—a sub-field largely deemed as feminine . This research calls for focused policy interventions toward encouraging more women in STEM and science/engineering disciplines, along with strategic programs to help attract more women into working full-time—one of the several ways toward bridging the earnings gap.

Poverty and Gender: Determinants of Female- and Male-Headed Households with Children in Poverty in the USA, 2019

“…The LQs in management, service, sales/office, and production/transportation-type occupations are associates with positive Betas, implying higher poverty levels among women engaged in these occupations. Some of these findings point toward the relative lower pay in these occupations, as noted in other work [6][7][8]. However, this new finding points toward the working poor-that section of society-largely the women who comprise an active labor force in the new econony and are living in poverty.…”

“…Higher poverty rates also corroborate strongly with the poverty clusters in Figure 1. Additionally, females with lower levels of educational skills are likely unable to translate them into better-paid jobs and financial well-being, and as noted in other research as well, having children pushes them further into poverty [8]. However, the share of females with a master's degree also receives positive Beta for female-headed households in poverty, with and without children.…”

“…This occurs not because Latina and black women have made more progress toward equity; instead, this occurs because the average pay for men in these groups is far below those of whites and Asians, even in 2020 [21]. Further, women generally end up doing a considerably higher amount of unpaid work-from housekeeping to caring for children and the elderly, cooking, cleaning, and everything else, voluntarily or involuntarily, that needs to be carried out to efficiently manage their homes and their household finances [6][7][8]13,14,22]. Recent research has shown that women working in professional/management types of jobs tend to earn a better income [17].…”

“…Based on the US Census Bureau, there seems to be a strong "motherhood penalty" [1]. Despite reasonable success in educational and occupational attainment, women have still been unable to fully translate their human capital skills and credentials into economic success [6][7][8]. Globally, never-married women are the fastest-growing cohort in the labor market, yet their median earning is 92.1% of what never-married men make, and this gap has increased during the last decade, when they earned 95.8% of what men earned [1].…”