If women earned less than men, would it be their fault? In any case, this is the thesis defended by Claudia Goldin, awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics on Monday 9 October for her work on wage inequality.
Read also: Who is Claudia Goldin, Nobel Prize winner for economics?
In her work begun in the 1970s, the Harvard University professor highlights a dynamic of progressive convergence between genders in the labor market: if women earn less than men, with similar skills and CVs, it is because they do not invest enough in their careerwho would give priority to family life and who would not be able to take on both the burden of a career and domestic work.
According to Claudia Goldin, motherhood promotes wage inequalities
The theory might seem crude at first, but not so fast. To understand the mechanisms of wage inequalities, Claudia Goldin’s approach is based on a very orthodox economist vision. She believes that the wage differences can be explained by inequalities in access to educationwhich would affect the productivity of women related to what she calls “ personal choices » largely worrying “expectations” various, in particular related to maternity.
Because from the 70s to the 80s, women benefited from social progress, such as access to the contraceptive pill. Claudia Goldin is therefore one of the first to work on the impact that this contraception can have on wage gaps and women’s access to work.
Therefore, with equal skills, if there is a pay difference between men and women, this could be explained by a lower investment on the part of the latter, whether suffered or desired. To the extent that they would prioritize their role as mothers in a society that encourages motherhood, they would offer less time to their employer and their work and, as a result, obtain lower remuneration than their male colleagues.
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And Claudia Goldin demonstrates this with an example, highlighted in her research: if women who have had access to higher education are paid better than those of another era, the most qualified among them are still less well paid than men if they have children, since in this case they would generally choose an investment more substantial with family and in career.
Another example: in her most recent work, in which she analyzed the statistics of students graduating from law or business school, Claudia Goldin demonstrated that “the wage gap between men and women in legal, commercial and financial jobs, which is low at the beginning of the career, they are growing dramatically because these companies value long, flexible hours, which favor men »reported to our colleagues at World the specialist in gender inequalities at work Thomas Breda.
To remedy this, Claudia Goldin advocates for public policies for parental equality
In addition to theory, the new Nobel Prize winner in economics provides solutions. For her, nothing is feasible without action by public authorities in favor of parental equality, such as long-term paternity leave. Otherwise inequalities will persist. Once these public policies are put in place, the wage gap would be directly attributable to employers only to them.
Listen to Apéro des Daronnes, Madmoizelle’s show that aims to break down taboos on parenting.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
