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Title: How the 1963 Equal Pay Act and 1964 Civil Rights Act Shaped the Gender Gap in Pay

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2022

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Abstract: In the 1960s, two landmark statutes-the Equal Pay and Civil Rights Acts-targeted the long-standing practice of employment discrimination against U.S. women. In their aftermath, the gender gap in median earnings among full-time, full-year workers remained stable for 15 years, leading many scholars to conclude the legislation was ineffectual. This paper revisits this conclusion using variation in legislative incidence across states and occupation-industry-state job classifications. We find that women's wages grew by 4-12 percent more on average in places or jobs where the legislation was more binding, with the effects concentrated among the lowest-wage employees. We find no evidence of short-term changes in employment but some suggestive evidence that firms reduced their hiring of women in the long-term.

Url: https://bryan-stuart.com/files/Bailey_Helgerman_Stuart_21March2022.pdf

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Authors: Bailey, Martha J.; Helgerman, Thomas; Stuart, Bryan A.

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS

Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity

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