Can pay gaps between gay men and lesbians shed light on male–female pay gaps?

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the relative importance of gender discrimination and differences in household responsibilities as determinants of the male–female pay gap.

Design/methodology/approach

It parses out the relative importance of those two factors by using the pay between gay men vs lesbian women as a comparison group that should reflect only gender discrimination. Subtracting the pay gap between gay men and lesbians (reflecting only gender discrimination) from the male–female pay gap for their heterosexual counterparts (reflecting both gender discrimination and household responsibilities) provides evidence of the relative importance of gender discrimination and household responsibilities in explaining the male–female pay gap.

Findings

The results show that essentially all of the male–female pay gap is attributed to differences in household responsibilities.

Originality/value

This paper advances the literature of gender wage gap by using a novel comparison group – gay men vs lesbian women – to estimate the relative importance of gender discrimination and differences in household responsibilities as determinants of the male–female pay gap.