Gender, Parental Status, and Financial Premium

• In Event: 451 - Regular Session. It’s All About the Money: Gender Pay Disparity

Abstract

Previous studies document an exponential growth in wage premium for elite financial workers since the 1980s. This article provides both a theoretical and empirical examination of how the financial premium may vary along the lines of gender and parental status. We argue that the institutional settings in finance—namely a culture of risk, a premium for social capital, and an exceptional expectation for dedication—are gendered, which facilitate men and women to make more effective claims about their worth at different locations of the financial sector. Our findings indicate that women earn a greater premium than men among low-wage jobs, while almost all of the increase in financial premium at the upper end is captured by elite male workers, particularly fathers. We discuss the implications of these findings to the growing income inequality in the United States.

Authors

• Ken-Hou Lin, University of Texas-Austin

• Megan Tobias Neely, University of Texas-Austin