Examining the evolution and heterogeneity of gender wage disparities across occupations, industries, education levels, and family characteristics.
How do gender wage disparities vary across workers and over time, and which economic and demographic characteristics are associated with these differences?
Rather than treating the gender wage gap as a single number, this chapter examines how wage disparities differ across important dimensions of the labor market and across groups of women.
The analysis uses micro-level data from the Statistical Center of Iran's Household Income and Expenditure Surveys covering the period from 1994 through 2019.
The long time span makes it possible to study both the magnitude and evolution of gender wage disparities while examining differences associated with occupation, industry, education, marital and family characteristics.
The analysis studies wage differences across several dimensions rather than relying exclusively on an aggregate comparison of average earnings.
Particular attention is given to heterogeneity associated with occupations, industries, educational attainment, and the presence of children at home.
This approach helps reveal how aggregate wage disparities can mask substantial differences across groups and labor-market settings.
The results show that the extent and evolution of gender wage disparities vary considerably across women rather than following a uniform pattern.
Differences in occupation, industry, education, and having children at home are important dimensions of the observed variation in gender wage disparities.
The findings therefore emphasize the importance of studying the distribution and heterogeneity of labor-market outcomes rather than relying only on a single economy-wide wage-gap statistic.