Family, firms and the gender wage gap in France

Elise Coudin
Sophie Maillard
Maxime To

Published on 3 January 2018

In France, in 2014, women’s hourly wages were on average 14.4 % lower than men’s. Beyond differentials in observed characteristics, is this gap explained by segregation of women in low-wage firms, or by gender inequality within a given firm?

This paper explores how two main channels explaining the gender wage gap, namely the heterogeneity of firm pay policies and sex-specific wage consequences of parenthood, interact. We perform Card et al. (2016) decompositions all along workers’ life cycle to evidence a sorting mechanism of French private sector female workers into lower-paying firms that activates shortly after births of children. Mothers tend to work in firms with more flexible work hours and close to home. Gender-specific firm choices generate wage losses all along mothers’ careers, in addition to direct child penalties. Young mothers with low wage expectations exiting the labor market after births leads to underestimate these effects.

This working paper was updated on 31/07/19.