Does Working from Home Increase the Gender Wage Gap? Insights from an Italian Survey of Occupations

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates to what extent the working from home (WFH) feasibility of occupations can influence the gender wag gap (GWG) at the mean and along the wage distribution. Based on Oaxaca–Blinder decompositions and unconditional quantile regressions, results show that the GWG is greater among women working in an occupation with a high level of WFH feasibility. We find evidence of both sticky floor and glass ceiling effects for employees with high WFH feasibility and only a sticky floor effect for the group with low WFH feasibility. The positive association revealed between the level of WFH feasibility and the GWG appears particularly strong among older and married women employees. These results underscore that the WFH feasibility may play an important role in exacerbating future gender gaps in wages, as WFH is expected to remain a normal practice beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. HIGHLIGHTS Working from home (WFH) feasibility of occupations influences the gender wage gap (GWG) in Italy. GWG is overall wider among employees with high WFH feasibility than employees with low WFH feasibility. The GWG is higher among older and married women employees. A possible explanation is Italy’s ungenerous work–family policies and poor childcare availability. There is a need for policies aimed at regulating WFH from a gender-equality perspective.