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IZA
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Employment Patterns of Husbands and Wives and Family Income Distribution in Italy (1977-1998)
by
Daniela Del Boca, Silvia Pasqua
(April 2002)
published in: Review of Income and Wealth, 2003, 49 (2), 221-245
Abstract:
The pattern of employment among men and women has changed remarkably over the past
decades. While the employment rate of women has risen, that of men has continued to
decline. Disproportionate growth in the participation in the labor market of women with highincome
husbands has heightened concerns that wives’ earnings may increase income
inequality among married couples. Questions about the implications for income distribution
have also been raised, especially in countries like Italy, the UK, and the US, where more
noticeable growth of income inequality during the last decade has accompanied changes in
employment levels. In this paper we attempt to measure the impact of the changes of women
and men’s employment patterns on the distribution of income among Italian households.
Using microdata from the Historical Archive of the Bank of Italy Survey of Household Income
and Wealth (SHIW), a repeated cross-sectional survey that covers the period 1977-1998, we
examine the impact of employment changes on inequality in family income distribution and
how this relationship has changed over time and across regions. Our preliminary results
show that the increase in the employment of women during the period of observation had the
effect of reducing inequality in family incomes, while the decline in men's employment had
the opposite effect. The equalizing impact of wives' work on income inequality has become
increasingly important over time and has been greater among Northern households.
Especially since the mid-nineties, wives' earnings have reduced inequality in as much as the
distribution of income would have been less equal in their absence. More conclusive results
could be achieved by analyzing a more structural approach where the labor supply of
husbands and that of wives are determined simultaneously.
Text: See Discussion Paper No. 489
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