Working Paper: NBER ID: w26548
Authors: German Cubas; Chinhui Juhn; Pedro Silos
Abstract: Using U.S. time diary data we construct occupation-level measures of coordinated work schedules based on the concentration of hours worked during peak hours of the day. A higher degree of coordination is associated with higher wages but also a larger gender wage gap. In the data women with children allocate more time to household care and are penalized by missing work during peak hours. An equilibrium model with these key elements generates a gender wage gap of 6.6 percent or approximately 30 percent of the wage gap observed among married men and women with children. If the need for coordination is equalized across occupations and set to a relatively low value (i.e. Health care support), the gender gap would fall by more than half to 2.7 percent.
Keywords: Gender Wage Gap; Coordinated Work Schedules; Household Care Responsibilities
JEL Codes: E24; J2; J3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Higher degree of coordinated work schedules (J29) | Higher wages (J39) |
| Higher degree of coordinated work schedules (J29) | Larger gender wage gap (J79) |
| Household care responsibilities + Occupational coordination needs (D13) | Gender wage gap of 66% (J31) |
| Equalizing coordination needs across occupations (J29) | Decrease in gender wage gap (J79) |
| Married men with full-time working spouses (J12) | Earnings penalty in high coordination occupations (J31) |