Women’s preference for jobs that tend to pay less is the best explanation for the gender wage gap, according to new research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Gender differences in job preferences contributed more to the wage gap than what they studied, the number of hours worked, or previous employment.
The researchers found that most of the difference in men’s and women’s earnings could still not be explained, however, suggesting that bias might still be a factor. But, they concluded that, across the EU as a whole, gender differences in job preferences accounted for 10% of the gap.
“We find that women place greater value than men on jobs that are close to home and offer good security, and these job preferences are associated with lower wages,” said the research paper, which has been published in the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics.
The study used information from 48,000 adult employees across all 28 European Union countries. It focused on full-time employees only and found a gender wage gap of 13% across the EU, meaning full-time male employees earned an average of 13% more than their female counterparts. This varied from country to country, with Ireland’s gender wage gap standing at 18%. Of this, 6.6% could be explained while 11.4% could not be accounted for.
