Lousy pay with lousy conditions: the role of occupational desegregation in explaining the UK gender pay and work intensity gaps

Abstract

The UK gender pay gap has fallen by around 7% during the 2000s. This is partly due to occupational desegregation, but largely due to a closing of the within-occupational gender pay gap. The article finds that men are more likely than women to be employed in jobs that require working to tight deadlines. These jobs are associated with higher pay, and the gender difference arises entirely as a consequence of such occupations being over-represented in male-dominated industrial sectors. However, the article also finds evidence of lower pay and higher work intensity (in terms of working at high speed) for women vis-a-vis men employed within the same occupations. These differences are not significant on labour market entry but emerge subsequently over the life cycle, most likely as a result of family-related responsibilities but also as a consequence of unexplained factors that could include gender discrimination.