Beyond the Gender Binary: Transgender Labor Force Status in the United States 2014-2017

Abstract

Following the recent acknowledgment of and debates around transgender people in the United States, there has emerged a small but growing literature on the economic implications of being transgender. However, this literature has either failed to account for major components of gender by only including gender identity or has been belied by sampling bias, both of which may entail drastic mischaracterizations of transgender labor market outcomes. This paper builds from social identity theory to provide a formal model of gender - the interplay between gender identity, expression, and perception. We apply this model using the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance Systems 2014-2017 and find evidence of labor market penalties associated with feminine identities, expressions, and perceptions.