Women’s employment rates and wages are still lagging those of men across OECD countries, with average employment and wage gaps now around 15% and 12% respectively. Gaps narrowed at a relatively modest pace over the past decade, calling for further policy action. A lack of affordable...

Supporting working mothers to balance their work and childcare responsibilities is a central objective of maternal and parental leave policies. Nearly all countries offer some forms of maternity and family leave programs for childbearing on a national basis. This chapter reviews various types of...

In contrast to their relative standing in today's labor market, in 1960 U.S.-born men in all Asian groups earned substantially less than comparable whites. We explore explanations for the wage gap and find that all of the variables that might plausibly account for it, such as Asian/white...

This paper uses Social Security longitudinal earnings records matched to Current Population Survey data to examine changes in the relative earnings of Hispanic men during a period of dramatic change in public and private policies toward race and ethnicity characterized by, but not limited to,...

We examine immigrant self-employment in Sweden during 2011-2021 - a turbulent decade with a large influx of refugees into the country and the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Four outcome variables are investigated: the probability of self-employment, the probability of entry into and...

I assess the impact of fully paid maternity leave on leave taking, continued employment, and promotion by exploiting a sudden expansion of paid leave from 6 to 12 weeks in the United States Air Force and Army. I estimate impacts under regression discontinuity and difference in differences...

An important underlying determinant of wage discrimination, as well as the gender wage gap is the way the labor market rewards individual physical attractiveness. This article surveys the extensive empirical literature of the effect of physical attractiveness on labor market outcomes. Particular...

Although the EU has been influential in the development of equalities legislation, Brexit would be unlikely to put these rights in jeopardy. Historically, the UK has led the way when it comes to women’s rights and workplace and family protections, and this will surely continue. The worry that...

Research investigating the relationship between firm performance and gender diversity has so far reported conflicting evidence: Some studies find firm performance to benefit from gender diversity, others find negative results or no effect at all. Taking this inconclusive evidence as a sign for...

In many countries, women are over-represented among low-wage employees, which is why a wage floor could benefit them particularly. Following this notion, we analyse the impact of the German minimum wage introduction in 2015 on the gender wage gap. Germany poses an interesting case study in this...