How unequally has equal pay progressed since the 1970s? A study of two British cohorts

This paper compares the gender gap in the pay of British, full-lime workers from two cohorts, born in 1946 and 1958 and observed in their early thirti es in 1978 and 1991 respectively. These dates are separated by 13 years of Equal Pay Legislation coupled with active labor market deregulation. Althou gh women's human capital endowments had improved on average more than men's , there may have been little improvement in the differential treatment of t he average woman in full-time employment. When the whole distribution of fe male earnings was considered, a general improvement in the treatment of wom en became apparent.