Part-time by Gender, not Choice: Involuntary Part-time Hours and the Gender Pay Gap.

Social scientists have studied gender wage inequality for decades. However, for most workers, pay is determined by wages multiplied by hours worked. In the contemporary economy, workers are increasingly working part time, not by choice, but at their employers' discretion, creating an important and understudied axis of stratification in labor markets. Because women are disproportionately represented in involuntary part-time employment and may have less scheduling control than their male counterparts, involuntary part-time work may be a contributor to the economic devaluation of women. This article evaluates how well current theories of the gender wage gap apply to the gender gap in involuntary part-time work. We test comparable worth and care work penalty theories. Using Current Population Survey data, we find that neither the comparable worth nor care work penalty literature satisfactorily explains the gender gap in involuntary part-time work. Additionally, contrary to established notions of gender economic devaluation, we find men and Whites are more strongly penalized by female occupational representation than women and racial/ethnic minorities. These findings suggest we must move beyond a gender wage gap and toward a more fully theorized gender pay gap incorporating wages and hours worked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]