Work experience and the gender earnings gap

Abstract

Although the gender wage gap has narrowed somewhat during the past two decades, concerns are often expressed about its size and persistence. This paper explores the components of the gap in 1997–98, giving particular attention to the contribution of male‐female differences in past paid work experience. Two new methods are used to impute measures of women's work experience within HES and NZIS employee samples. Results from wage gap decompositions suggest that between one‐quarter and two thirds of the gender gap in average hourly earnings is due to male‐female differences in educational level and work experience. Between 40 and 80 percent of the gap can be accounted for when information on occupation and industry of employment is also included.

Notes

Sylvia Dixon, Labour Market Policy Group, Department of Labour, Wellington

Labour Market Policy Group, Department of Labour. The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the Department of Labour. The author would like to thank Dave Mare, Michael Kidd and Tim Maloney for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this research. She also thanks the staff of the Population Studies Centre of the University of Waikato, who provided access to data from the New Zealand Women: Fertility, Employment and Education Survey.

Access to the official data used in this study was provided by Statistics New Zealand under conditions designed to give effect to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act 1975. The results presented in the paper are the work of the author, not Statistics New Zealand.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sylvia Dixon

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