Comparable Worth Legislation Research Articles

No Rosy glasses in Bluesy Ghettos? Job satisfaction of pink and blue collar workers and the comparable worth legislations

ABSTRACTThe majority of studies using contemporary data report that women have a higher job satisfaction than men, and even more so in the occupations with a greater female share. This pattern, paradoxically given the lower pay of female-dominated jobs, is often attributed to women’s voluntary sorting into these occupations. In contrast, historical scholarship emphasizes the societal restrictions which shaped women’s vocational choices and the dissatisfactions with wages which led to the comparable worth movements around the world. During the 1980s, the Canadian comparable worth movement achieved momentum and instigated many legislative changes. By 1989, 6 out of 10 Canadian provinces had laws prescribing ‘equal pay for work of equal value.’ Using nationally representative Canadian data from 1989 to 1991, we examine how these legislations affected job satisfaction in pink and blue collar occupations. We find strong evidence for the higher job satisfaction of pink collar women in jurisdictions with a comparable worth legislation. The findings are discussed within the sociocultural context of the late twentieth century.

Decomposing the Male/Female Wage Gap: Within and Between Establishment Differences

ABSTRACT: Using Norwegian data from interviews with about 3,500 employees in 759 establishments, the male‐female wage differential is decomposed into its between and within establishment components. In the private sector, the gross wage differential of 23 percent is reduced to 13 by checking for human capital and job characteristics, and to 8 by (also) checking for industry and establishment affiliation. Only this within‐establishment differential will be affected by equal pay and comparable worth legislation. In the public sector the gross wage gap between men and women is smaller (17 percent). The inter‐establishment component is very small, probably due to centralized wage setting and standardized pay schemes. This has not, however, affected the within‐establishment differential which is as large as in the private sector.

Fixing Women's Wages: The Effectiveness of Comparable Worth Policies

The author discusses some problems that can prevent comparable worth legislation from achieving meaningful gender wage equity, which she defines as the elimination of gender as a factor in wage setting. She then tests the comparable worth policies of two Canadian provinces against the same set of job content data from a 1988 survey of health care workers. Whereas Manitoba's comparable worth policy, she finds, would achieve gender wage equity if applied to this set of jobs, Ontario's would not, and would even result in new and capricious instances of inequity. She argues that continual scrutiny, including comparative analysis, of comparable worth policies is needed not only in order to identify the most effective policy designs, but also to guard against efforts to undercut legislation through manipulation of implementation procedures.

COMPARABLE WORTH: CANADA'S EXPERIENCE

This paper discusses the design, implementation and administration of comparable worth legislation in Canada, focusing particular attention on the potential of comparable worth to close the male‐female earnings gap. The authors document the Canadian legislative initiatives, provide illustrative evidence on the impact of comparable worth, and identify the main policy lessons to be learned from the experience of Canada, where the comparable worth concept has evolved furthest.

Is There Any Truth to the Buzz Words “Feminisation of Poverty”?

“Feminisation of poverty” is a phrase heard frequently today, not only in the popular press, but also in professional groups concerned with women. It suggests that women living alone with their children bear a disproportionate share of the poverty burden. The following questions are discussed: Is this a crisis for American society? Is the standard of living getting worse for women and children, even as it improves for the general population? If it is, why is it happening? And finally, what could be done about it? Data are examined that show that “feminisation of poverty” is a significant problem in the United States. The reasons women are more likely to be poor include inadequate paying jobs, an expanding labourforce, and unique problems associated with female head‐of‐households. Solutions to feminisation of poverty include raising low income jobs via minimum wage and comparable worth legislation, establishing and enforcing realistic child support and spousal maintenance levels, significantly raising the level of public support programmes for children, making available reasonable education‐training‐retraining programmes for women, emphasising the prevention of poverty, and providing better health education and chemical dependency intervention.

Effect of Comparable Worth Policies on Earnings

The initial impact of comparable worth legislation on male and female earnings is estimated using five public sector comparable worth studies. We find that women would earn an average 17 per cent more if a comparable worth policy were implemented and men would earn an average 1 per cent more. In addition, about half of the earnings gap between women and men in the sample jurisdictions would be eliminated. We also discuss the limitations of previous analyses by examining Aldrich and Buchele's recent empirical work.

“Comparable worth” and rent seeking

Sex-based wage discrimination has attracted wide attention among economists and jurists alike. Decisions in cases brought under the US Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 establish that it is illegal to pay women less than men when both perform identical work. However, women continue to earn significantly less than men on average. In part, the earnings differential reflects the fact women tend to be crowded into relatively low-paying occupations. To address the alleged discrimination that occurs when men and women perform different jobs, it has been suggested that workers be paid according to the “comparable worth” of their jobs. Under this proposal women would be entitled to payments equivalent to men when their jobs require equal degrees of skill, training, experience, responsibility, and effort. A number of federal and state court cases in the US have sought, and continue to seek, interpretations of existing statutes to require equal pay for jobs of comparable worth. Extensive political activity is now underway at the state level seeking to enact new comparable worth legislation. Efforts to implement the comparable worth principle are undoubtedly motivated, in part, by considerations of equity and fairness. However, activities that promote the comparable worth doctrine impose both costs and benefits on diverse economic groups and individuals. This paper has two purposes. First, we use economic analysis to investigate the net welfare effects of seeking to implement the comparable worth principle. Second, we examine the economic implications of the analysis to determine how activities that promote the comparable worth doctrine will affect the current legal status of comparable worth at the federal, state and local levels. We show that implementing comparable worth policies would create artificial economic rents in the labor market. Efforts to promote the comparable worth

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPARABLE WORTH IN IOWA

This research describes and analyzes the implementation of comparable worth legislation in Iowa and focuses on two aspects of the issue: implementatlon of the job evaluation study mandated by the law, and implementation of the classification and compensation systems which resulted from the study. The paper argues that the General Assembly involved itself too directly and too long in the implementation process which led to confrontation with the executive branch and numerous problems in the implementation of comparable worth legislation.

NEGLECTED WOMEN AND OTHER IMPLICATIONS OF COMPARABLE WORTH

Comparable worth proposals presume that the gender wage gap is a result of occupational segregation. The proposals argue that females are channeled into “women's jobs” and that overcrowding depresses women's wages below the “value” of the work performed. Comparable worth legislation proposes replacing the idea of equal pay for equal work with a principle of equal pay for different work of comparable worth determined by job evaluations. Such job evaluations are feasible only for the public sector and large private employers. The analysis in this paper recognizes that comparable worth wage adjustments are to be limited to the large employers. It examines how employers in the covered sector tend to alter their pay packages and hiring standards. Comparable worth legislation also affects wages in the uncovered sector populated by small employers. The rationing of women's jobs and the changes in hiring standards for men's jobs in the covered sector tend to redound to the benefit of smart, energetic women and dull, indolent men.

COMPARABLE WORTH: SOME ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION

The comparable worth approach is a radical departure from market determination of wages. This paper considers some economic issues pertinent to the comparable worth dialogue and focuses on implications of comparable worth legislation at the state and local levels. We show that current sex differentials in wages could reflect voluntary labor supply choices and/or discrimination. We also discuss the reverberations of comparable worth and note that some women in an occupation targeted with a wage increase could be made worse off as a result of employer cutbacks. We discuss why state or local officials may be hesitant to adopt comparable worth and also offer possible explanations for their being receptive to it. The intent throughout is to provide a balanced discussion that will aid individuals in taking an educated stand on the issue.

SOME REFLECTIONS ON COMPARABLE WORTH

Despite its somewhat impudent tone, this paper examines a major controversy. “Comparable worth” has its proponents and detractors, but as in most debates, neither side fully appreciates the maintained hypotheses of the other. From an economic point of view, the disagreement seems to boil down to differences of opinion about whether the “excessive supply” of women to “women's jobs” is a result of their different utility functions or of their different constraints. There also has been a serious confusion of the “normative” with the “positive,” some oversight of the potentially large regulatory costs that would accompany comparable worth legislation, and a tendency to consider only the partial‐equilibrium consequences of these measures. Each of these considerations is examined in detail, with the conclusion that while comparable worth measures might alleviate some inequities in the short term, the long‐term consequences could seriously aggravate the very problem the policy was intended to solve.

Comparable worth, skill groups and market interactions

The following paper reviews the concept of comparable worth legislation when different skill groups are allowed. This extension of the traditional model suggests that if horizontal descrimination continues to exist, other legislation such as quotas and training programs will be needed to protect unskilled women from adverse market effects once comparable worth legislation is in place. The paper gives two cases where unskilled women may be worse off because of comparable worth legislation and suggests ways to ensure that this worse effect does not happen.