Trends in the male-female wage gap: The 1980s compared with the 1970s

Despite a more rapid increase in female work behavior in the 1970s than in the 1980s, the male-female wage gap in the 1970s narrowed one-eighth as qui ckly as in the 1980s. This paper uses 1972 through 1988 Panel Study of Inco me Dynamics data to explain why women's wages rose less quickly in the 1970 s. It illustrates how new female labor market entrants in the 1970s brought down mean female wages, thereby driving down female wage growth. This decl ine played itself out in the 1980s as the relative growth in female labor m arket entrants diminished and as the proportion of women's potential work y ears actually worked increased.