Intra-household gender inequality and economic development: Evidence from Data, 1973
Description
Intra-household inequality remains a neglected concept despite the renewed focus on income and wealth inequality. Using a global micro dataset (the LIS microdata), we present evidence that such neglect is equivalent to ignoring up to one-third of total inequality. Across a wide range of countries and over four decades, we show that at least 30 percent of total earnings inequality is attributable to gender-based disparities in earnings within households. Using a simple normative measure of inequality, we comment on the welfare implications of these trends. Drawing on data from over three million households worldwide, we provide preliminary empirical evidence supporting a non-monotonic relationship between intra-household gender inequality and household economic status. We discuss the historical political economy underpinning this evidence, which supports what we term the micro-Kuznets hypothesis.
Copyright Date
January 2017
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Keywords
Labour force participation, Gender inequality, Intra-household, Inequality decomposition, Household welfare, Micro-Kuznets hypothesis
Conference
Development in the Face of Global Inequalities, Barcelona, Spain, Co-organized by the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), the World Society Foundation (WSF), and the Sociology of Development Section of the American Society, 11-13 May, 2017
