DO WOMEN PREFER WOMENS WORK

A new methodology is implemented to determine whether job characterist ics can explain why women are concentrated in low-paying, female-domin ated occupations. Extensive information on jobs and labour market hist ories are collected from the 1982 National Longitudinal Survey, Youth Cohort, for women and men characterized by substantial labour market a ttachment. Significant differences in nonpecuniary job characteristics between the male and female samples are found to exist. Nevertheless, we find no evidence that women differentially favour those job charac teristics commonly associated with 'women's work'.