The Effects of Women's Labor Force Participation: An Explanation of Changes in Household Income Inequality

Sudo, Naoki

doi:10.1093/sf/sox011

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Although these findings might raise concerns about the unintended disequalizing effects of progress toward an egalitarian division of paid labor, this disequalizing contribution is small compared with the much larger disequalizing force of growing wage inequality, particularly among men. Our results are consistent with research showing that men’s earnings continue to be the primary driver of growing income inequality across households ( Harkness 2013 ; Sudo 2017 ). Thus, effective interventions to reduce family income inequality should focus on the drivers of inequality in men’s earnings (or directly on family income via taxation).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Recent research points instead to women’s employment as playing a pivotal role in explaining the rise of spouses’ economic similarity ( Boertien and Permanyer 2019 ; Breen and Salazar 2011 ; Gonalons-Pons and Schwartz 2017 ; Greenwood et al 2014 ). Further, the bulk of work on aggregate-level inequality has found no link between conventional measures of assortative mating (i.e., educational homogamy) and changes in economic inequality ( Boertien and Permanyer 2019 ; Breen and Salazar 2010 2011 ; Eika et al 2014 ; Hryshko et al 2015 ; Kremer 1997 ; Sudo 2017 ; Torche 2010 ; Western et al 2008 ; but see Fernandez and Rogers 2001 ; Greenwood et al 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in Couples' Earnings Following Parenthood and Trends in Family Earnings Inequality

2021

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The growing economic similarity of spouses has contributed to rising income inequality across households. Explanations have typically centered on assortative mating, but recent work has argued that changes in women's employment and spouses' division of paid work have played a more important role. We expand this work to consider the critical turning point of parenthood in shaping couples' division of employment and earnings. Drawing on three U.S. nationally representative surveys, we examine the role of parenthood in spouses' earnings correlations between 1968 and 2015. We examine the extent to which changes in spouses' earnings correlations are due to (1) changes upon entry into marriage (assortative mating), (2) changes between marriage and parenthood, (3) changes following parenthood, and (4) changes in women's employment. Our findings show that increases in the correlation between spouses' earnings prior to 1990 came largely from changes between marriage and first birth, but increases after 1990 came almost entirely from changes following parenthood. In both instances, changes in women's employment are key to increasing earnings correlations. Changes in assortative mating played little role in either period. An assessment of the aggregate-level implications points to the growing significance of earnings similarity after parenthood for rising income inequality across families.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Couples' Earnings Following Parenthood and Trends in Family Earnings Inequality

2021

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“…This ques tion concerns the lin e ar ity (or more ac cu rate ly, ho mo ge ne i ty) of the im pact of in come ho mog amy on be tween-cou ple in come in equal i ty. In a sim u la tion anal y sis, Sudo (2017) found that ris ing in come ho mog amy among men in the top 20% gen er ates more in equal ity be tween house holds (as mea sured by the Gini in dex) than ris ing in come ho mog amy among mid dleorlowin comemen.However,itisun clearwhyitisthecaseandwhetherthefind ingholds across in equal ity mea sures or so cial con texts.…”

Section: Limitations Of Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Nonlinear Linkage Between Earnings Homogamy and Earnings Inequality Among Married Couples

Shen

2021

Demography

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More married couples today consist of two high-earning or two low-earning partners (i.e., earnings homogamy), which leads to greater earnings inequality in married-couple families. Surprisingly few studies have examined this relationship by earnings level, leaving open the question of whether the increase in earnings homogamy at each level of earnings contributes equally to between-couple earnings inequality. I address this question using data on urban China during 1988–2013. Changes in earnings homogamy account for 6% to 11% of the increase in between-couple inequality, but importantly, decomposition reveals that 57% to 68% of the overall impact is driven by the growing earnings homogamy among the top 20% of husbands and their wives. I reach the same finding by replicating the analyses using data from the United States. Two explanations account for this finding: (1) earnings homogamy has increased more among high earners; and (2) all else being equal, increases among high earners are mechanically more influential in shaping the level of between-couple inequality. These findings have important theoretical and policy implications.

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“…Finally, in accordance with the hypothesis that informs this paper, the relation can be non-linear. According to Sudo, (2017), inequality in incomes increases along with a larger percentage of FLFP (Elveren, 2014), as the number of high-earning women has an inequality-widening effect on income inequality. In a second phase, inequality reduces with an increase in the percentage of FLFP, as the reduced inequality of a wife's income has an attenuating effect on household income inequality.…”

Section: Theory and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Gender Equality in Labor Participation Bring Real Equality? Evidence From Developed and Developing Countries

Alfani¹,

Clementi

Fabiani

et al. 2021

SSRN Journal

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The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

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The Effects of Women's Labor Force Participation: An Explanation of Changes in Household Income Inequality

Cited by 22 publications

References 24 publications

Changes in Couples' Earnings Following Parenthood and Trends in Family Earnings Inequality

Changes in Couples' Earnings Following Parenthood and Trends in Family Earnings Inequality

The Nonlinear Linkage Between Earnings Homogamy and Earnings Inequality Among Married Couples

Does Gender Equality in Labor Participation Bring Real Equality? Evidence From Developed and Developing Countries

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