Women in the Workforce What Everyone Needs to Know®

An accessible overview of the power of women in the economy and the obstacles they face

Women are joining the workforce in increasing numbers, making inroads as entrepreneurs and leaders, acquiring more education, marrying later, and having fewer children - all trends consistent with spending a far greater fraction of their adult lives in the labor force. And yet, even as women break the glass ceiling and challenge gender and sexual norms, they are told they need to "lean in" and powerful movements like #TimesUP and #MeToo are still necessary to expose and overcome endemic discrimination, exploitation, harassment, and worse.

Women in the Workforce: What Everyone Needs to Know ® provides an essential and accessible introduction to the significance of women in the economy and the obstacles they face in claiming equal status. Economists Laura M. Argys and Susan L. Averett tackle timely topics like the wage gap, "women's work," and gendered workplace interactions in an easy-to-read question and answer format. The book focuses on the choices people make and how these are framed by institutional impediments that create inequalities in the options available to men and women. Argys and Averett highlight how the experience of being a woman in the labor market varies, sometimes dramatically, by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. They also explore how living in cities, towns, and rural areas influence choices and outcomes.

Covering a range of topics, from breastfeeding and work, earnings penalties for women who have taken time away from work, and childcare while women work, to the gender pay gap and the distinctive challenges women face as they age and transition to retirement, this book answers the essential questions surrounding women in the workforce.

Laura M. Argys is Professor of Economics at University of Colorado Denver. Susan L. Averett is Professor of Economics at Lafayette College. They are co-editors, along with Saul Hoffman, of The Oxford Handbook of of Women and the Economy.

Preface
Introduction

Chapter 1. ARE WOMEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE ECONOMY?
a. How has women's attachment to the labor force changed over time?
b. How does labor force participation vary across countries?
c. Do women work as much as men?
d. Do women take jobs from men?
e. Does women's work count?
f. How much do women contribute to the economy?
g. How do recessions affect women?
h. Is women's work different in developing countries?
i. Do women influence spending decisions?
j. Is there a pink tax?

Chapter 2. IS THERE SUCH A THING AS WOMEN'S WORK?
a. How do economists view the evolution of gender roles?
b. When was it acceptable for women to work outside the home?
c. How did women progress from jobs to careers?
d. What jobs do women perform and how has that evolved over time?
e. How are gender differences in occupation related to women's family responsibilities?
f. Was WWII really a watershed for women's work lives?
g. How did birth control and abortion affect women's work and family trade-offs?

Chapter 3. HOW DO WOMEN BALANCE WORK AND FAMILY?
a. What is the gender division of labor within a household?
b. How do couples decide who does what?
c. Is the division of labor different for same-sex couples?
d. How did technology change the work women do?
e. How is the timing of births related to a woman's career?
f. Can women successfully combine breastfeeding and work?
g. How does women's work behavior reflect family responsibilities?
h. When does the caring end? Women in the sandwich generation.
i. How do employers and the government help with work-life balance?

Chapter 4. HOW DO MEN AND WOMEN INTERACT IN THE WORKPLACE?
a. Have women made inroads in business leadership?
b. Why are women underrepresented in the top business echelons?
c. Are there differences in how women and men network and does it matter for career success?
d. Does working for a female manager enhance women's careers?
e. Do women need mentors and if so, does it matter who they are?
f. How does having female representation on boards of directors help women?
g. Why aren't women always heard in the workplace?
h. Is there a gender gap in self-promotion? Does it matter?
i. How does sexual harassment (and the #MeToo movement) affect women in the workplace?

Chapter 5. WHY ARE WAGES HIGHER ON MARS THAN ON VENUS?
a. How are wages determined?
b. How do we measure the gender pay gap?
c. How big is the gender pay gap? Does it vary for women of color? For immigrants? By sexual orientation?
e. How does the pay gap vary across countries?
f. What can we measure that might explain the reasons for gender pay differences?
g. What is left to explain the pay gap?

Chapter 6. DO WOMEN EARN LESS BECAUSE MEN RULE THE WORLD?
a. What exactly is labor market discrimination?
b. What causes pay discrimination?
c. Why is it so hard to measure discrimination?
d. How do we measure discrimination?

Chapter 7. CAN'T THE GOVERNMENT JUST FIX THE PAY GAP?
a. What are the consequences of discrimination for the economy?
b. How can we justify the existence of anti-discrimination laws?
c. What laws protect women from discrimination?
d. Who enforces these laws and how are they enforced?
e. How effective are these laws?
f. What might the future hold with respect to closing the gender pay gap?

Chapter 8. HOW DO WOMEN FARE IN RETIREMENT?
a. How do people decide when to retire?
b. How long is retirement for men and women?
c. Where does retirement income come from?
d. How much income do people have when they retire? How does this vary by gender and race/ethnicity?
e. Are women destined to be poor as they age?
f. How do single women fare later in life?
g. What options have been suggested to increase retirement security for women?