Search

Extant research on the gender pay gap suggests that men and women who do the same work for the same employer receive similar pay, so that processes sorting people into jobs are thought to account for the vast majority of the pay gap. Data that can identify women and men who do the same work for the same employer are rare, and research informing this crucial aspect of gender differences in pay is several decades old and from a limited number of countries. Here, using recent linked employer-employee data from 15 countries, we show that the processes sorting people into different jobs account for substantially less of the gender pay differences than was previously believed and that within-job pay differences remain consequential.

It is well documented that earnings inequalities have risen in many high-income countries. Less clear are the linkages between rising income inequality and workplace dynamics, how within- and between-workplace inequality varies across countries, and to what extent these inequalities are moderated by national labor market institutions. In order to describe changes in the initial between- and within-firm market income distribution we analyze administrative records for 2,000,000,000+ job years nested within 50,000,000+ workplace years for 14 high-income countries in North America, Scandinavia, Continental and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. We find that countries vary a great deal in their levels and trends in earnings inequality but that the between-workplace share of wage inequality is growing in almost all countries examined and is in no country declining. We also find that earnings inequalities and the share of between-workplace inequalities are lower and grew less strongly in countries with stronger institutional employment protections and rose faster when these labor market protections weakened. Our findings suggest that firm-level restructuring and increasing wage inequalities between workplaces are more central contributors to rising income inequality than previously recognized.

It is well documented that earnings inequalities have risen in many high-income countries. Less clear are the linkages between rising income inequality and workplace dynamics, how within- and between-workplace inequality varies across countries, and to what extent these inequalities are moderated by national labor market institutions. In order to describe changes in the initial between- and within-firm market income distribution we analyze administrative records for 2,000,000,000+ job years nested within 50,000,000+ workplace years for 14 high-income countries in North America, Scandinavia, Continental and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. We find that countries vary a great deal in their levels and trends in earnings inequality but that the between-workplace share of wage inequality is growing in almost all countries examined and is in no country declining. We also find that earnings inequalities and the share of between-workplace inequalities are lower and grew less strongly in countries with stronger institutional employment protections and rose faster when these labor market protections weakened. Our findings suggest that firm-level restructuring and increasing wage inequalities between workplaces are more central contributors to rising income inequality than previously recognized.

Using an intersectional approach, we explore how parents in the Czech Republic coped with the increased demands of childcare and how their perceptions of childcare changed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on Nancy Fraser's theory of the social contradiction of capitalism, we address the question of whether the pandemic situation can be viewed as an opportunity to increase recognition of care. Qualitative interviews with parents from various socioeconomic backgrounds conducted from spring 2020 to summer 2021 demonstrate ambivalent experiences of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first school closure in spring 2020 was perceived as a rather positive interruption to everyday affairs. As the pandemic became protracted, the long-term negative effects of care under lockdown arose, especially among mothers, which included weakening labour market position, deteriorating economic situation, and growing dependence on a male breadwinner or social welfare. Our research shows the temporality of the COVID-19 care crisis. In the first stage of the pandemic, care was (also) assessed as an opportunity, a source of purpose, and a new value. In the next period, the experiences and expectations were rather negative. Over time, gender inequality at home increased as women took on most of the increased care burden and the social inequalities deepened, with some using their resources to compensate for the risks associated with the care crisis and others facing further exhaustion and income losses. Overall, parental care did not win greater societal recognition during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has pointed to the significant role of the characteristics of companies and workplaces in explaining differences in individuals' income. The gender pay gap (GPG) is most often analysed from the perspective of the personal characteristics of men and women and the characteristics of their work, but little attention has yet been paid to organisational characteristics. In this study, we focus on this less explored context influencing the GPG and ask the following questions: (1) What organisational characteristics are significant and how are they related to the average GPG in the company/workplace? (2) Do these characteristics act differently in the public and private sectors of the labour market? (3) Are the differences found according to organisational characteristics of a long-term nature?; and (4) Have there been significant changes in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic? We use data from the Information System on Average Earnings (ISPV) for the years 2010, 2020, and 2021 and apply multiple linear regression, where the dependent variable is the GPG in the company/at the workplace. We conclude that the GPG is significantly lower in the public sector than in the private sector. The classification of economic activities by NACE, the size of the company/workplace, the degree of gender segregation into positions within workplaces, but also the region and other characteristics prove to be important. These effects appear to be long-term but more subtle changes can be observed between the private and public sectors. The analysis confirms that organisational characteristics are significant when analysing the GPG and points to other areas of research that need to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The upswing in finance in recent decades has led to rising inequality, but do downswings in finance lead to a symmetric decline in inequality? We analyze the asymmetry of the effect of ups and downs in finance, and the effect of increased capital requirements and the bonus cap on national earnings inequality. We use administrative employer–employee-linked data from 1990 to 2019 for 12 countries and data from bank reports, from 2009 to 2017 in 13 European countries. We find a strong asymmetry in the effect of upswings and downswings in finance on earnings inequality, a weak, if any, mitigating effect of capital requirements on finance's contribution to inequality, and a restructuring but no absolute effect of the bonus cap on financiers' earnings. We suggest that while rising financiers' wages increase inequality in upswings, they are resilient in downswings and thus downswings do not contribute to a symmetric decline in inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although international comparisons point to the gender pay gap (GPG) as a significant problem in the Czech labour market, until recently the GPG has not been the subject of deeper research or political attention. Using linked employer--employee data, the article answers the question of whether men and women were paid an equal wage for equal work in 2005--2020 and what part of the total GPG is caused by the segregation of women and men into different occupations, workplaces, and jobs. We also pose these questions separately for the public and private spheres, for selected industries, and for workplaces according to size. Throughout the monitored period, the GPG for equal work is around 10% and another roughly one-half of total GPG is caused by gender segregation. There has been a slight decrease since 2018, especially in workplaces with more than 5000 employees, where, however, the significance of women's segregation into lower-paid positions is growing. The research confirmed that in more regulated, and therefore more transparent, contexts, such as the public sphere and in large workplaces (but also in small companies with up to 50 employees), the GPG for equal work is smaller than elsewhere. The results point to the need to systematically monitor the GPG and increase the transparency of remuneration systems in the workplace. In connection with the GPG, it will also be necessary to analyse the organisational processes that lead to women's segregation into occupations, workplaces, and jobs that have lower wages, as well as the growing precarity of the Czech labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on how parents of school and younger children experienced school closures associated with the Covid-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic. Using an intersectional approach in qualitative research, we examine how parents coped with the increased demands of childcare and how their perception of childcare changed during the pandemic. More generally, we ask whether the pandemic situation was an opportunity for greater recognition and valuation of care. We present an analysis of serial qualitative interviews with 32 solo mothers and 19 parents living in couples that were conducted between the spring of 2020 and the summer of 2021. Parents had a both positive and negative experience of care during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first school closure in the spring of 2020 was perceived as a rather positive opportunity to step outside the course of everyday life. However, as the pandemic continued, the long-term negative effects that the increased care duties during lockdown had on people and especially mothers became apparent: a worsening labour market position, a deteriorating economic situation, and an increasing dependence of women on male breadwinners or on the social support system. The pandemic highlighted the paradox of reproductive work in late capitalism and showed how childcare has no market value in itself. Although in the first period of the pandemic parents experienced care to some extent as an opportunity, a source of meaning, and a rediscovered value, overall the pandemic did not lead to a greater recognition or valuation of care in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]