Women in the labor market

The rapid influx of women into the labour market has come to be recognised as one of the most important economic and social developments of the latter half of the 20th century. Women in the Labor Market is an authoritative collection of those papers which have made the greatest contribution to our understanding of this development and its causes. The emphasis is on empirical work which has served either to support or undermine the theoretical foundations of this field, but also included are papers by sociologists who provide insights on economic issues not found in the work of economists.

The opening section explores the causes of women's participation in the labour market. The following section investigates the nature of the work in which women are involved and the explanations for this occupational distribution. The question of earnings differentials between male and female occupations and the trends and explanations for this gender wage gap are addressed in the third section, while the penultimate section offers an exploration of the policies which have been proposed in order to improve the status of women in the labour market. In conclusion, the impact of women's work on their lives and families is evaluated.