Labor market discrimination means treating two individuals with equal qualifications (like abilities, education, training, and experience) differently for reasons unrelated to their productivity and are accorded inferior treatment with respect to hiring, occupational access, promotion, wage rate, or working conditions.
There are many types of labor market discrimination. Wage discrimination is about being paid less for doing the same type of work (frequently women and minorities). Employment discrimination is receiving inferior treatment in hiring, promotions, etc. Occupational job discrimination restricts the worker from entering some more desirable occupations, even though they are as capable as other workers. …show more content…
Here are some characteristics of male & female workers. Men and women have similar amounts of education. Also, men have more full-time experience and women have more part-time experience. Men are more likely to be in manual jobs and to work in mining, construction, or durable manufacturing but women are more likely to be in professional jobs and to work in the service industry.
The gender wage gap can be easily viewed in labor markets. About 30.8% of the gender gap in wages can be explained by differences in the labor market. Differences in educational attainment only explain about 0.3% of the gender wage gap. About 1.8% of the gender wage gap is explained by differences in the racial composition of the male and female full-time labor force.
According female-male wage ratio, women earn on average 72% what men earn. If women had the same education and experience as men, their wages would be 81% of men’s wages. Even if women had the same industrial and occupational distribution, and the same union coverage, their wages would still only be 88% of men’s wages.
Still, measuring discrimination accurately is problematic because it is not possible to take into consideration all the variables that can affect potential …show more content…
The main causes are the following. The wage gap is the result of rational choices made by certain groups. For example, women tend to have interrupted work careers to childbearing. Due to their shorter work careers, it is rational for women to invest less in education and training. Their stock of human capital will deteriorate when they are out of the labor force. Occupational segregation may be due to women choosing occupations, such as nursing and teaching, with skills that are useful in home production. The wage gap may be also the result of compensating wage differentials. Some may prefer safer jobs, less effort-intensive jobs, and shorter commute times. Moreover, differences in productivity characteristics, education, experience, industry, occupation, etc. will result in a wage gap