1. Nicole Fortin Department of Economics, UBC and Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being Program Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)

2.  The Slowdown in the Economic Progress of Women ◦ Despite progress in women’s preparation for the labour market ◦ Despite progress in gender equality policies  Is the Persistence of Traditional Attitudes about Women’s Roles at Play? 1)Evidence from differences across OECD countries using data from the World Value Surveys (1990,1995, 1999) 2)Evidence the evolution of these attitudes over the past 30 years in these attitudes in the United States  What about Women’s Subjective Well-Being? 2 Fortin - Toronto - November 2008

3.  Because women’s preparation for the labour market has seen a stupendous improvement, many expected that the gender pay gap would have closed by now 3 Fortin - Toronto – November 2008

4. 4 Source: Frenette and Coulombe (2007)

5. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 5  Percentage of young adults who indicated that “Being successful at work” was ``very important" to them in life

6. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 6  Percentage of young adults who indicated that “Having lots of money” was “very important" to them in life

7.  Percentage who mention that “Good pay” an important this aspect of a job Fortin - Toronto- 7 Source: World Value Surveys

8.  Percentage of young adults (age 20 in 1974) who indicated that the following values were “very important" in selecting a career Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 8

9.  Percentage who mention that “Good hours” an important aspect of a job” Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 9 Source: World Value Surveys

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13.  The relatively meager efficacy of pay equity policies is not surprising to economists. ◦ They have noted serious implementation issues with a complex legislation (Baker and Fortin, 2004)  The policy tackles legitimate fairness issues only in the ◦ “what you do” aspect of the gender pay gap, it leaves untouched the effects of the other sources of the gender pay gap Fortin - Toronto- 13

14.  “ where you work”: woman are more likely to work for small firms and for non-profit organizations  “who you are”: not only a woman, but also a “supportive wife”, a “soccer or hockey mom”, a “caregiver” to your elders Fortin - Toronto- 14

15.  Economists have long argued that gender differences in labour market experience accounted for a large part of the gender pay gap.  For example, O’Neill and O’Neill (2005) find that half of the gender pay gap (in the U.S. circa 2000) can be traced back to life-time differences in labour market experience. ◦ They find no significant gender pay gap among childless women who never married… Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 15

16.  Because of the double shift of home and workplace responsibilities, women may be less able or willing to put in the extra-effort at work that earn their male counterparts some extra money. ◦ In fact, about two times more women than men work part-time  Alternatively, employers anticipating this effect may practice some statistical discrimination and provide women with lower level of training for promotions. Fortin - Toronto- 16

17.  The debate now focuses on family-friendly policies both employer-provided and government supported ◦ such as extended maternity leaves ◦ subsidized child-care vs. child tax credit  At the center of that debate is the role or identity of women ◦ as childless career women ◦ as part-time/full-time “working (for pay) moms” ◦ as stay-at-home moms, “volunteering moms” Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 17

18. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 18 Source: Statistics Canada, LFS and U.S. BLS, March CPS

19.  In the United States, the leveling-off or slight retreat of women’s labour force participation has been described as “Opting Out” in the popular press and among sociologists ◦ The “Opting Out" phenomena is conceived as the labour market withdrawal of college-educated women when they have children, ◦ perhaps out of concern for the welfare of their offspring, and/or ◦ perhaps because of the stresses of living in two- earner families or succeeding in the labor market. Fortin – Toronto- November 2008 19

20. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 20 Source: Statistics Canada, LFS

21.  While we might hope the more family-friendly Canadian policies may be at play in explaining the Canada-U.S. differences in the leveling-off of FLP, more conservative views among our southern neighbours may be part of the explanation  In Quebec, concerns about different views regarding gender equality have been on the agenda at the recent commission on the accommodation of minorities. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 21

22.  I have studied the relationship between gender role attitudes and women’s labour market outcomes 1)Comparing differences in attitudes, both of women and of men, across OECD countries and over time (Fortin, 2005) using data from the World Value Surveys (1990,1995, 1999) 2)Following the evolution over the past 30 years in these attitudes in the United States using data from General Social Surveys (1977-2006) Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 22

23.  Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? ◦ “When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women”  Do you agree strongly, agree, disagree, or disagree strongly? ◦ “A working mother can establish just as warm and secure a relationship with her children as a mother who does not work” ◦ “Being a housewife is just as fulfilling as working for pay” Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 23

24. Percentage who agree with the statement Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 24 Source: World Value Surveys

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26. Percentage who strongly agree or agree with the statement Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 26 Source: World Value Surveys

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28. Percentage who strongly agree or agree with the statement Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 28 Source: World Value Surveys

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30.  Accounting for a complete host of factors, that include women’s education, volunteering activities, competitiveness, public expenditures on child care, the following effects stand out:  “Scarce jobs should to the men first” is the attitude that more robustly negatively associated with women’s employment rates ◦ It is stronger using lagged values ◦ Men’s attitudes still very significant  These views are however softening among recent cohorts. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 30

31.  The enduring perceptions of women’s main role as homemakers could also be implicated in the recent slowdown of the gender convergence in pay.  Finally, the unavoidable clash between family values and equalitarian views, that takes the form of an inner conflict for many women─ the so- called mother’s guilt─, is another obstacle in the path towards greater gender equality in the labour market. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 31

32. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 32 Source: U.S. BLS, March CPS

33. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 33 Source: US-GSS

34. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 34 Source: US-GSS

35. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 35 Source: US-GSS

36. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 36 Source: US-GSS

37. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 37 Source: US-GSS

38. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 38 Source: US-GSS

39.  How have these changes in labour market outcomes affected women’s well-being?  Many social scientists, and some economists, attempt to answer these types of questions using subjective measure of well-being, life-satisfaction or happiness. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 39

40.  While not an ideal measure, the GSS asks: ◦ “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days. Would you say that you are: Very happy, pretty happy or not too happy?” Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 40

41. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 41 Source: US-GSS

42. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 42 Source: Stevenson and Wolfers, 2008

43.  At the beginning of the 21 st century, more than 30 years after the beginning of the 1960’s Women Liberation Movement, the secular decline in traditional gender roles attitudes seems to have bottomed out.  Will the myth of “having it all”, both career and family, turned out to be a generational phenomenon?  Has it actually mostly mesmerized the pioneering boomer generation for whom it was largely an untested experience?  Has the reality of the “double shift” rung closer to home and felt less attractive to recent generations? Fortin - Toronto-November 2008 43

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47. Fortin - Toronto- November 2008 47 Source: Stevenson and Wolfers, 2008

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51.  Fortin, N.M. “The Gender Wage Gap among Young Adults in the United States: The Importance of Money vs. People,” Journal of Human Resources, 43 (Fall 2008): 886-920.  Fortin, N.M. “Gender Role Attitudes and Women’s Labour Market Outcomes Across OECD countries.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 21, No. 3 (November 2005): 416-438.  Fortin, N.M. “Gender Role Attitudes and Women’s Labor Market Participation: Opting-Out and The Persistent Appeal of Housewifery,” Working Paper, University of British Columbia, January 2008. Fortin - Toronto-November 2008 51