The Gender Gap in Employment: What Holds Women Back?

This year's Nobel Laureate in the Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of women's earnings and labor market participation through the centuries. Her research reveals the causes of change and the primary sources of the remaining gender gap. The number of women is less in the global labor market; when they work, they earn less than men. Claudia Goldin trawled through the archives and collected more than 200 years of data from the US, allowing her to show how and why gender differences in income and employment rates have changed over time.

Goldin's pioneering work, based on over 200 years of data from the United States, unveiled significant trends. Contrary to expectations, female participation in the labor market did not follow a linear path but formed a U-shaped curve. The involvement of married women declined during the shift from agricultural to industrial societies in the early nineteenth century but saw a resurgence with the growth of the service sector in the early twentieth century. Goldin attributed this pattern to structural changes and evolving social norms regarding women's roles in home and family life.

During the twentieth century, women's education levels continuously increased, and in most high-income countries, they are now substantially higher than for men. Goldin demonstrated that access to the contraceptive pill played an essential role in accelerating this revolutionary change by offering new opportunities for career planning. 

Despite modernization, economic growth, and rising proportions of employed women in the twentieth century, the earnings gap between women and men hardly closed for an extended period. According to Goldin, part of the explanation is that educational decisions, which impact a lifetime of career opportunities, are made at a relatively young age. If the experiences of previous generations form the expectations of young women, for instance, their mothers, who did not go back to work until the children had grown up, then development will be slow.

 

Historically, much of the gender gap in earnings could be explained by differences in education and occupational choices. However, Goldin has shown that the bulk of this earnings difference is now between men and women in the same occupation and that it primarily arises with the birth of the first child.

Goldin's research helps policymakers understand the reasons behind gender disparities. Although it doesn't provide instant solutions, it gives valuable insights. This information guides policymakers in creating informed strategies addressing issues like historical trends and societal norms. Instead of ready-made solutions, Goldin's work forms the basis for policymaking. It helps design targeted plans that effectively tackle the deeply rooted gender gap.

Anjal Juman, Assistant Professor of Economics, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna