Why Is There a Gender Wage Gap According to Occupational Prestige?

Abstract

Studies have shown that women receive lower wage returns to attained occupational prestige than do men. In this article, I examine whether the gender difference in wage return for attained occupational prestige can be explained by men’s and women’s different family obligations, and whether gender differences in work characteristics, which are difficult to combine with family duties, account for some of the gender wage gap in returns for attained occupational prestige. If women’s family obligations were a major cause of women’s disadvantage, the negative interaction between women and occupational prestige with regard to wages would be larger for mothers and married/cohabiting women than for single women without children. Results show a gender wage gap between married/ cohabiting men and women with children that increases with occupational prestige. However, the interaction between gender and prestige is insignificant among single women and men and among married/cohabiting respondents without children. Furthermore, when controlling for time-consuming work, the gender wage gap for married/cohabiting respondents with children according to occupational prestige narrows, especially in occupations with high prestige.