Economics of Women, Men, and Work / Edition 6

by Francine D Blau

Overview

/*9095B-3, 0-13-090922-X, Blau, Francine D., Economics of Women, Men and Work, 4/E*/ This single, highly accessible volume explores the most current summary and synthesis of research and data from economics and the social sciences on women, men, and work in the labor market and household. Women and Men: Changing Roles in a Changing Economy. The Family as an Economic Unit. The Allocation of Time Between the Household and the Labor Market. Differences in Occupations and Earnings: Overview. Differences in Occupations and Earnings: The Human Capital Model. Differences in Occupations and Earnings: The Role of Labor Market Discrimination. Recent Developments in the Labor Market: Their Impact on Women and Men. Changing Work Roles and the Family. Policies to Balance Paid Work and Family. Gender Differences in Other Countries. Economists, Sociologists, Social Workers, Demographers, Policy Analysts, Labor Market Analysts. Also of interest to noneconomists and students who would like to learn about gender issues in the workplace and in the family but have little, if any, prior background in economics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900136084258
Publisher:	Prentice Hall
Publication date:	08/07/2009
Series:	Pearson Custom Business Resources Series
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Francine Blau

Francine D. Blau is the Frances Perkins Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Labor Economics at Cornell University. She is also a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Studies/Ifo Institute in Munich, Germany and of IZA in Bonn, Germany. She has served as President of the Society of Labor Economists, the Labor and Employment Relations Association, and the Midwest Economics Association; as Vice President of the American Economic Association (AEA); and as Chair of the AEA Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession. She is a fellow of the Society of Labor Economics, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the Labor and Employment Relations Association, and was the 2001 recipient of the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the AEA Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession. She is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Labor Economics, Feminist Economics, and The Annals and is an Associate Editor of Labour Economics; she was formerly an editor of the Journal of Labor Economics, on the Board of Editors of the American Economic Review, on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Professor Blau has written extensively on gender issues, wage inequality, immigration and international comparisons of labor market outcomes. She has published articles in leading economics journals and is the author of Equal Pay in the Office and, with Lawrence Kahn, of At Home and Abroad: U.S. Labor Market Performance in International Perspective (recipient of the Richard A. Lester Prize for the outstanding book in labor economics and industrial relations for 2002); and the editor, with David Grusky and Mary Brinton of The Declining Significance of Gender?, and with Ronald Ehrenberg of Gender and Family Issues in the Workplace.

Marianne A. Ferber

Marianne A. Ferber, Professor of Economics and Women's Studies, Emerita, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was born in Czechoslovakia in 1923, obtained her BA at McMaster University in Canada in 1944 and her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1954. She was Distinguished Visiting Professor at Radcliffe (1993-95), president of the Midwest Economic Association (1986-87) and president of the International Association for Feminist Economics (1995-97). She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from McMaster University (1996), the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (2002), and an honorary doctorate from the University of Eastern Illinois. 2002. She served for many years on the editorial boards of Feminist Economics, and of the Review of Social Economy. She is editor of Women in the Labor Market, 1998, co-editor of Work and Family, 1991; Beyond Economic Man, 1993 (translated into Korean); Academic Couples, 1997; Nonstandard Work, 2000, and Feminist Economics Today, 2003 translated into Spanish). She has published in economics, sociology, education and women's studies journals.

Anne E. Winkler

Anne E. Winkler is Professor of Economics and Public Policy Administration at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She is also a Research Affiliate at the National Poverty Center, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her undergraduate degree in economics from Wesleyan University. Professor Winkler’s main research interests are in the economics of gender, the economics of the family, and welfare and poverty. Her work has appeared in economics and broader social science journals including Journal of Human Resources, Research in Labor Economics, Monthly Labor Review, Demography, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and Journal of Urban Economics. Prof. Winkler previously served as 2^nd Vice President of the Midwest Economics Association and as President of the St. Louis Chapter of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.
2. Women and Men: Changing Roles in a Changing Economy.
3. The Family as an Economic Unit.
4. The Allocation of Time between the Household and the Labor Market.
5. Differences in Occupations and Earnings: Overview.
6. Differences in Occupations and Earnings: The Human Capital Model.
7. Differences in Occupations and Earnings: The Role of Labor Market Discrimination.
8. Recent Developments in the Labor Market: Their Impact on Women and Men.
9. Changing Work Roles and the Family.
10. Policies Affecting Paid Work and Family.
11. Gender Differences in Other Countries.
Author Index.
Subject Index.

Preface

We wrote The Economics of Women, Men, and Work because we saw a need for a text that would acquaint students with the findings of research on women, men, and work in the labor market and the household. We are extremely gratified on the publication of the 4th edition to reflect that this belief was justified, and hope that this expanded and updated new edition will serve as effectively as the first three.

OVERVIEW OF THE TEXT

The book is written at a level that should both utilize and enhance students' knowledge of economic concepts and analysis but do so in terms intelligible to those not versed in advanced theory. Even though we assume a knowledge of introductory economics on the part of the reader, an interested and determined individual wanting to learn more about the economic status of women as compared to men could benefit considerably from the material offered here. The book also draws upon research in the other social sciences. The text, used in its entirety, is primarily intended for courses specifically concerned with the economic status of women. However, this book could be used to good advantage in interdisciplinary women's studies courses, as well as introductory-level courses in economic problems. Selected readings would also make a useful supplement to round out a general labor economics course. In addition, it would also serve as a useful reference work for those not familiar with the rapidly growing body of literature on women, men, and work as well as for practicing economists looking for a single volume on this topic.

SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF THE 4TH EDITION

The 4th edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect thenumerous changes in the labor market and in the family that have occurred in recent years. All data and references have been updated to take into account the most recent research on each subject covered. Questions have been added at the end of each chapter to provide for review of major concepts and to stimulate further discussion among students and instructors. The other new features of the 4th edition as well as some of the changes previously incorporated in the 3rd edition are summarized here.

• As in the past, we thoroughly review trends in the labor supply of women and men to the market. In Chapter 4, we summarize these trends and provide some analysis of important recent developments including the large increase in labor force participation of single mothers in the late 1990s.
• Our consideration of the role of labor market discrimination in explaining gender differences in labor market outcomes in Chapter 7 now includes a more detailed discussion of issues surrounding the notion of a "glass ceiling."
• We highlight important recent developments in the labor market and their consequences for women and men. These include the decrease in the gender wage gap, as well as the declining employment prospects of less-educated men; growing wage inequality, the rise of nonstandard employment arrangements such as temporary and on-call workers and consultants, and changes in welfare policy that have moved greater numbers of welfare recipients, largely single mothers, into the labor force. Each chapter has been modified to some extent to reflect these changes as relevant, and Chapter 8, "Recent Development in the Labor Market," and Chapter 10, "Policies Affecting Paid Work and Family," focus specifically on these developments.
• We devote considerable attention to changes within married-couple families as well as to changing family structure and the implications of these shifts for labor market outcomes. Chapter 3, which focuses on nonmarket work, introduces a new discussion of trends in time spent with children, which is of interest, both in terms of its implications for time spent in nonmarket work and its potential implications for children's development. Further, this chapter takes a much closer look at alternatives to the standard economic approach, including the transaction cost approach and bargaining models, as well as an expanded discussion of the radical feminist and Marxist feminist views of decision making in the family.
• In keeping with the times, the discussion in Chapter 9 examines trends in marriage, divorce, and overall fertility, along with trends in births to unmarried mothers, teen births, and cohabitation. The discussion of cohabitation has been further expanded to include gay and lesbian couples. Chapter 9 also devotes considerable attention to the implications of the large increases in the number of dual-earner, married-couple families and single-parent families for children's outcomes.
• All discussions concerning policy have been thoroughly revised. In Chapter 7, we discuss affirmative action and findings regarding the effectiveness of antidiscrimination legislation. Discussions of policies that affect paid work and family have been updated, expanded, and consolidated into a single chapter, Chapter 10. This chapter focuses on three broad policy areas: (1) policies to alleviate poverty, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and child support enforcement; (2) government tax policies; and (3) policies that should better help workers and their families balance the dual demands of paid work and family responsibilities. Among the changes, the section on welfare has been revised to reflect recent evidence on the effect of the 1996 welfare legislation (TANF) on welfare caseloads and economic well-being. The discussion on child support has been considerably expanded, and now includes more information on the success of child support enforcement, as well as the particular difficulties of this policy for what have been termed "deadbroke" dads. The section on family leave has been expanded to consider recent findings regarding the effect of the 1993 federal family leave legislation and discusses related leave policies. The section on income tax policy now includes a more detailed discussion of how taxes affect women's labor force participation and how the so-called marriage penalty arises, along with a fuller discussion of available policy options.
• Finally, Chapter 11, which examines gender differences from an international perspective, has been completely updated. As in the 3rd edition, after considering differences in women's status across broad regions of the world, it compares the United States with a number of other economically advanced nations, especially Sweden and Japan, with respect to labor force participation, the gender pay gap, occupations, sharing of housework, and demographic trends. This chapter also specifically examines the situation of women in developing countries, highlighting the difficulties they face as well as the progress that they have made, and briefly considers the problems of women living in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet bloc.

Editorial Reviews

This text is designed to acquaint students with research findings concerning women, men, and work, both in the labor market and in the household. It is intended primarily for courses concerned with the economic status of women. Topics include the narrowing gender pay gap, the declining employment prospects of less-educated men, wage stagnation, corporate restructuring, and changing family structures. The authors assume a knowledge of introductory economics but not of advanced theory. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews