Wuestenenk Nick, Begall Katia
Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Department of Sociology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525GD, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Soc Sci Res. 2022 Aug;106:102726. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2022.102726. Epub 2022 Apr 13.
The theory of compensating wage differentials may explain part of the motherhood wage gap if mothers are more likely than childless women and men to make a trade-off between monetary and non-monetary rewards when looking for a job. Whereas previous studies focus primarily on jobs that employees currently hold, we present a more accurate test of this theory by studying the extent to which childless (wo)men, fathers and mothers trade off wages and family-friendly working conditions (flexibility, no overtime) in looking for a new job. Using a unique vignette experiment in four European countries (N = 7040), we find that the theory of compensating wage differentials is not supported. When presented with fictional job-openings that vary randomly on family-friendly working conditions and wages, mothers are not more likely than fathers or childless men and women to choose jobs with more family-friendly working conditions and lower pay. Instead, we find that mothers are more likely to apply for jobs with lower wages regardless of other job characteristics. These results suggest that the motherhood wage gap may not be explained by compensating wage differentials, but by mothers' higher likelihood of applying for jobs with lower wages.
如果母亲在找工作时比无子女的女性和男性更有可能在货币和非货币回报之间进行权衡，那么补偿性工资差异理论可能会解释部分母亲工资差距的原因。以往的研究主要关注员工目前所从事的工作，而我们通过研究无子女的男性和女性、父亲以及母亲在寻找新工作时对工资和家庭友好型工作条件（灵活性、无加班）的权衡程度，对这一理论进行了更准确的检验。通过在四个欧洲国家进行的一项独特的情景实验（N = 7040），我们发现补偿性工资差异理论并不成立。当面对在家庭友好型工作条件和工资方面随机变化的虚构职位空缺时，母亲并不比父亲或无子女的男性和女性更有可能选择家庭友好型工作条件更好但工资更低的工作。相反，我们发现母亲更有可能申请工资较低的工作，而不考虑其他工作特征。这些结果表明，母亲工资差距可能无法用补偿性工资差异来解释，而是因为母亲申请低工资工作的可能性更高。
