Gender Inequality in the Labor Market: Continuing Progress?

Please join us for the 2022 ILR School Distinguished Lecture in Honor of Alice H. Cook and Lois S. Gray

"Gender Inequality in the Labor Market: Continuing Progress?"

Francine Blau
Frances Perkins Professor of ILR and Professor of Economics, Cornell University

For a half-century after World War II, U.S. women increased their participation in the labor market and, cumulatively, these year-on-year increases worked to redefine the role of market work in women’s lives.  Beginning in the 1970s, the labor force gains were accompanied by advancements in women’s occupational attainment and, in the 1980s, the long-standing gender pay gap started to close.  Much of importance was accomplished during this period and we continue to see its effects today.  

However, beginning in the 1990s, women’s labor force participation rate began to plateau and their occupational and relative wage gains also eventually slowed.  The U.S. went from a leader in female labor force participation rates among economically advanced nations, to having one of the lowest rates.  In this talk, Professor Blau will survey these developments and consider the prospects for the future, including policies that might be useful to get us back on track.

Co-sponsored by:
The Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
The Center for the Study of Inequality
The Cornell Center for the Social Sciences
The Cornell Population Center
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Hybrid event