Occupational sex segregation and its effect on income determination

Abstract

This study attempts to identify the factors that account for the unequal distribution of paid labor. Using the Current Population Survey March 2007, variables included in my saturated model (age, education, rural, southern status, immigrant status, work hours per year, union membership, number of workers in company, employment in the good producing industry, level of occupational prestige, sex, occupational sex segregation, marriage status , children under 6, and minority status). Using univarite and bivarite analysis to determine a model for the multivariate use of a ordinal least squares regression to regress the independent factors of individual, structural, and gender level variables on annual earnings. The most important finding was that related to the hypothesis that as occupational sex segregation increased income decreased. It was found that women still suffer a loss of earnings net of other factors of $4,485.05. That marriage largely benefits men over women net them four times as much increased income. While this analysis showed that men suffer more grave effects by entering occupations where women are over-represented it is important to note that women are more likely to work in occupations that are sexual segregated. This provides a much greater harm to women in general than it does to men. As the literature states, male workers are interested in keeping as many as possible of their coworkers male, and therefore, men’s wages are raised by keeping women restricted to subordinate positions where they are less of a threat.