Women's Wages in Full- and Part-Time Jobs in Great Britain

An analysis of hourly pay that allows for the choice of whether to work full-time, part-time or not at all (using the 1980 Women in Employment Survey) finds significant sample selection bias for women in full-time jobs. Part of the observed differential between the hourly pay of full-timers and part-timers arises because of self-selection of women who can command higher pay into full-time employment. A significant part also arises because work experience and education are found to be remunerated at a lower rate in part-time than in full-time employment. Thus, the larger proportion of women than men in part-time jobs contributes to women's lower pay separately from gender differences in human capital attributes.