Research Conducted at University of Wisconsin Has Provided New Information about Gender Research (Do Female Occupations Pay Less but Offer More Benefits?)

2020 APR 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Global Views - Gender Research. According to news reporting originating in Madison, Wisconsin, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Workers in predominantly female occupations have, on average, lower wages compared to workers in predominantly male occupations. Compensating differentials theory suggests that these wage differences occur because women select into occupations with lower pay but more fringe benefits.”

Funders for this research include University of Missouri Population, Education, and Health Center, Institute for Research on Poverty, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Federal Statistical Research Data Centers network.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Wisconsin, “Alternatively, devaluation theory suggests that these wage differences occur because work performed by women is not valued as highly as work performed by men. One theory assumes that workers choose between wages and benefits. The other assumes that workers face constraints that restrict their wages and benefits. To examine whether female occupations pay less but offer more benefits, I used individual-level data from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey and occupation-level data from the American Community Survey and from the Occupational Information Network. Contrary to compensating differentials theory, results from multivariate regression analysis provide little evidence that benefits explain wage differences between male and female occupations.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Instead, consistent with devaluation theory, workers in female occupations are less likely to be offered employer health insurance coverage and are less likely to have retirement plans compared with workers in male occupations.”

For more information on this research see: Do Female Occupations Pay Less but Offer More Benefits? Gender & Society, 2020;():. Gender & Society can be contacted at: Sage Publications Inc, 2455 Teller Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA. (Sage Publications - http://www.sagepub.com/; Gender & Society - gas.sagepub.com)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting L. Hodges, University of Wisconsin, Inst Res Poverty, Madison, WI 53706, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220913527. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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