Working Paper: NBER ID: w1501
Authors: Victor R. Fuchs
Abstract: This paper describes changes in hours of work and income between 1959 and 1979 of women and men ages 25-64. It includes attempts to measure and value nonmarket production and leisure as well as market work, to take account of possible income-sharing within households, and to allow for economies of scale in household production. The most important empirical result is that, relative to men, women's access to goods and services and leisure was lower in 1979 than in 1959. Changes in hourly earnings, hours of work, and household structure contributed to this result. The sex differential in hourly earnings is explored in detail.
Keywords: gender differences; work hours; income; household structure
JEL Codes: J16; J31; J71
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| women's access to goods and services and leisure (J16) | lower in 1979 than in 1959 (N12) |
| increase in women's market work hours (J29) | did not fully compensate for declines in their nonmarket work hours (J29) |
| declines in nonmarket work hours (J29) | decrease in overall effective income relative to men (J31) |
| sex differential in hourly earnings (J31) | fell slightly during this period (P27) |
| increase in single-parent households (J12) | affected women's economic standing (F63) |