Differences in the Income Distribution of Households Run by Men and Women by Voivodeships

Abstract

Abstract Research background: Household income depends on its demographic composition, age and education of its members, place of residence and many other factors. In our work, we concentrate on the income distribution of Polish households. Purpose: The study aims to compare the household income distributions in Polish voivodeships, taking into account the gender of the family head. We provide evidence on the magnitude and determinants of regional differences in gender-specific income disparities. Research methodology: In order to move beyond estimation based on mean values, we apply the Residual Imputation Approach and extend the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition procedure to different quantile points along the income distribution. To describe the differences between two income distributions we construct a counterfactual distribution and decompose the inequalities into explained and unexplained components. Results: The regional variation of the gender income gap has been explained with individual and jobrelated characteristics. There exists an important diversity in the size of the gender income gap across the Polish provinces. The results obtained for 16 voivodeships allowed us to group them into four clusters: heavily industrialized voivodeships with a large income gap, weakly industrialized with a low income gap, voivodships with large agglomerations characterized by a low gap, and medium-developed voivodeships with a large, U-shaped gap. Novelty: Our results provide novel insights into the regional dimension of the income gap.