The Effect of Geography,Education and Labor Market Segregation on Women’s Economic Status in New York State

Abstract

Using census data, the author looks at the relationships between gender earnings disparities and several dimensions, including geographic location, level of education, and employer type. White men's earnings are generally higher than that of all women and all minority men and that while men earn more than women within almost all population segments, the disparities between White women and White men are different from those between women of color and men of color. The greatest earnings parity between men and women exists within metropolitan areas. While earnings increase for both women and men as education increases, the earnings gap between women and men remains fairly consistent, with the category of professional degrees, where the gap is much larger being an exception. The greatest earnings disparities exist among the self-employed and within local government and the greatest gender earnings parity within the federal government, suggesting that where requirements for parity are institutional, they reduce the gender gap.

Keywords

women equity race pay equity gender income

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