Industrial Segregation and the Gender Distribution of Fringe Benefits

Abstract

Fringe benefits have been neglected as a source of job-induced gender inequality. Among full-time, private sector workers in the United States in 1979, women's health insurance coverage rate was 12 percentage points lower than men's. This article considers three models to explain such gender differences in the receipt of fringe benefits: the direct discrimination model, the occupational segregation model, and the industrial segregation model. Using data from the May 1979 Current Population Survey Supplement, we found the magnitude of the gender gap in health insurance coverage in the United States to be related to industrial differences. We argue that industrial segregation of women workers may be more important than occupational segregation in determining gender differences in work rewards.

US family‐leave policy: the legacy of ‘separate spheres’

“…The foregoing employee benefits were intended not only for the individual employee, but also for family members (Mettler, 1998; Meyer, 1978; Perman & Stevens, 1989; Wiatrowski, 1990). Wiatrowski (1990: 28) states that “one function of employee benefits is to protect workers and their families from financial burdens.” In particular, the various types of health benefits, including hospitalization, surgical, medical, and major medical, are quite expensive.…”

Women's and Men's Access to Employer‐Provided Benefits: An Assessment of Women's Acceptance as Breadwinners

“…Decisions about how much of which benefits to offer to employees and dependents are likely to bring employers' values and prejudices about gender roles to the forefront, with quite pointed implications for employees in their roles as breadwinners. Such is the implication of existing cross-sectional studies, which have generally found that women have had restricted access to employer-provided benefits (DeViney, 1995;Hardy and Shuey, 2000;Nelson, 1994;Pearce, 1987;Perman and Stevens, 1989). As these benefits have constituted a growing portion of employeecompensation packages in the course of the last half-century (DeViney, 1995;Hardy and Shuey, 2000;Mettler, 1998;Meyer, 1978;Nelson, 1994;Pearce, 1987;Perman and Stevens, 1989;Regalia, Lefkowitz, Hawluns, and Lee, 1997)-the period corresponding with women's increased labor force participation-assessing the extent of equality in access allows for a good test of society's acceptance of a worker and breadwinner role for women.…”

“…Employer-provided benefits are a less explored but potentially more revealing component of compensation in terms of what the patterns may reveal about progress in gender equity and the extent of women's acceptance as breadwinners. As they emerged after World War 11, these benefits-including insurance, health, pension, vacation, and othershelp employees to address family concerns (Mettler, 1998;Meyer, 1978;Perman and Stevens, 1989), and, as such, require employers to make decisions not only about "how m u c h to compensate employees, but also "with what." Decisions about how much of which benefits to offer to employees and dependents are likely to bring employers' values and prejudices about gender roles to the forefront, with quite pointed implications for employees in their roles as breadwinners.…”

“…benefits-as they emerged in the post-World War I1 era, which corresponds to the period of women's large-scale entry into the work force. Patterns of access to these benefits could well be quite revealing of the extent of women's acceptance as breadwinners, as such benefits help employees to address family concerns (Mettler, 1998;Meyer, 1978;Perman and Stevens, 1989). I compared the largest-in terms of the total numbers of workers-majority women's and men's occupations that are generally comparable on size, pay level, and extent of unionization.…”

“…Given the importance of assessing whether growth in women's acceptance as breadwinners tracks women's increased labor force participation over the last half-century, I take up this task here. In this article I compare working women's and men's access to employer-provided benefits, which help working parents address family concerns (Mettler, 1998;Meyer, 1978;Perman and Stevens, 1989). I use an innovative research design, comparing access to benefits from 1940 to 1990 in "professional nurses," a modal women's occupation to "automobile mechanics and repairmen," a modal men's occupation.…”