MODELS OF CROSS-NATIONAL VARIATION IN OCCUPATIONAL SEX SEGREGATION

Abstract

Cross-national studies of occupational sex segregation have shown not only that industrial countries are markedly segregated by sex, but also that the level of sex segregation varies substantially between countries. The overall aim of this article is to study any association between patterns of cross-national variation in levels of sex segregation and the structuring of welfare states. It represents a new approach to comparative studies of occupational sex segregation as it uses log-linear modelling and comparable micro data from the Luxembourg Employment Study (LES) to describe patterns of sex segregation in the labour market. The results presented here demonstrate some cross-national variation in levels of sex segregation. However, considering substantial cross-national differences in the structure of the welfare state, the relative distribution of women and men in the occupational structure largely follows the same pattern in the Western countries included. Cross-national variation in the structure of the welfare state seems therefore to be of primary importance for understanding the cross-national variation in sex segregation between unpaid labour in the home and paid labour in the market.