Equal pay legislation and the gender wage gap

Artikel

Despite equal pay legislation dating back 50 years, American women still earn 18% less than their male counterparts. In the UK, with its Equal Pay Act of 1970, and France, which legislated in 1972, the gap is 17% and 10% respectively, and in Australia it remains around 14%. Interestingly, the gender pay gap is relatively small for the young but increases as men and women grow older. Similarly, it is large when comparing married men and women, but smaller for singles. Just what can explain these wage patterns? And what can governments do to speed up wage convergence to close the gender pay gap? Clearly, the gender pay gap continues to be an important policy issue.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: IZA World of Labor ; ISSN: 2054-9571 ; Year: 2019 ; Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination ; Value of Life; Forgone Income ; Labor Discrimination ; Labor Discrimination: Public Policy
• Subject: gender ; wage inequality ; human capital

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Polachek, Solomon W.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2019

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.15185/izawol.16.v2
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/206575
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET