Suzanna Nesom

Abstract

The research explores the geographic variation in Gender Pay Gaps within Britain, an aspect often overshadowed by international Gender Pay Gap comparisons. Using contemporary data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the paper reveals significant variation in Gender Pay Gaps across areas within Britain, akin to inter-country variations observed in the European context and obscured at more aggregate geographical levels. Decomposition analysis indicates that the majority of the observed variation in Gender Pay Gaps in Britain is attributable to gender differences in the distribution of individuals working across areas. The gap that remains unexplained is substantial and relatively consistent in magnitude across areas, suggesting that areas with lower unadjusted Gender Pays Gaps do not necessarily excel in terms of gender pay equality. Despite this, the analysis emphasises the importance of industrial composition and local labour market characteristics in elucidating the magnitude of unexplained Gender Pay Gaps across areas.

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Abstract

Many OECD countries have adopted policies aimed at reducing childcare costs and increasing accessibility with the aim of increasing labour force participation of parents, particularly mothers, of young children. This research evaluates the Childcare Offer for Wales, complementing the ongoing qualitative annual evaluations conducted by Welsh Government. The analysis exploits two sources of variation to identify the impact of the Offer using quasi-experimental methodologies commonly applied in the literature. First, a Regression Discontinuity design is employed to exploit the eligibility criteria for free childcare under the Offer, which depends upon the child's age. Second,  a Difference-in-Differences methodology, incorporating staggered treatment timings, capitalises on the Wales approach of piloting the Childcare Offer and subsequently it's staggered roll out  across Welsh wards from July 2017 to April 2019. 

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