Unpaid care and the gender pay gap: Literature review of recent evidence

5. Contributors to the Gender Pay Gap

This section provides an overview of the review’s findings on the impact unpaid childcare and unpaid care have on the determinants of the gender pay gap.

5.1 Gender norms and stereotypes

Gender norms and stereotypes have a negative impact on employment due to societal expectations to provide care:

• In families where the mother worked more than the father, their daughters incur smaller earnings penalties after having children, suggesting that the gender roles and employment history of maternal grandparents may impact their preferences regarding employment and childcare ^[12].
• Differences in working hours may reflect gendered preferences regarding the provision of childcare, gender norms, and labour market discrimination ^[12].
• There is an unspoken expectation that women should provide care, as highlighted by some female carers in a Northern Ireland focus group ^[26].
• The expectations and stereotypes that drive women to feel responsible for caring may then in turn contribute to gender imbalances in the distribution of care, leading more women to make choices regarding their employment which curtail earnings growth ^[26].

5.2 Access to formal and informal care

Access to formal and informal care can increase the number of hours worked and likelihood of employment for carers, in particular for women and mothers:

• A study from Turkey shows that women with access to formal care services were twice as likely to be employed compared to women who did not; while mothers with access to informal childcare were 27 times more likely to be in employment compared to mothers who did not ^[31].
• A Northern Ireland study shows 25% of women with unpaid caring roles reported their reason for giving up employment or reducing their working hours as not being able to find suitable replacement care. 19% highlighted not being able to afford care services to provide replacement care and 22% listed a lack of support from health and social services ^[26].
• One study suggests that carers are 2.6 times more likely to be in employment when they have access to informal adult care services, compared to carers who do not have access to informal care ^[31].

5.3 Caring intensity

High intensity or prolonged care can lead to an increase in the choice to terminate employment for both men and women:

• Several studies show that when the intensity of caring increases, this is found to increase the probability of carers, both men and women, terminating employment. Whereas less intensive care is associated with a reduction of hours ^[28,29].
• A systematic review shows that women who provide more intensive care are more likely to terminate their employment compared to women who provide less intensive care, who tend to reduce working hours ^[25].
• One UK study suggests there is no gender difference for high intensity carers on employment status. There is indication from one study that female carers have a high probability of leaving employment when providing more prolonged care, even when caring intensity is lower ^[23,30].

5.4 Onset of caring

Care can have negative impacts on career prospectives and entry to the labour market for young carers:

• Caring responsibilities can significantly impact lifetime earnings potential where they prevent young people from participating fully in employment or education.
• Young carers have a lower probability of obtaining university degrees and entering the labour market compared to individuals who do not provide care, with the likelihood decreasing as caring intensity increases ^[30].
• A Northern Ireland study found that by the age they are 46, half of women have been unpaid carers; with half of men having been carers by the age of 57, 11 years later ^[26].
• Young carers have reported turning down opportunities to develop their careers due to caring obligations and had not realised it was an opportunity until it had passed ^[26].

5.5 Education

The level of education mothers have impacts the likelihood of returning to full-time work or reducing hours after childbirth:

• Studies have found mothers without tertiary education reduced their working hours following childbirth substantially more than those with a degree ^[18]; were more likely to exit the labour market ^[21]; and take a longer time out of the labour market ^[13].
• A UK study found that in response to childcare, women with degrees are twice as likely to go back to work full-time as those with lower levels of education, while those with the lowest level of education were the least likely to return to work at all ^[17].