Wide disparities persist in the wages and economic power of men and women in nearly all countries. Women still make different educational decisions to men, are under-represented in high-paying jobs, and suffer the majority of the financial penalty related to having children. Notably, the disproportionate role women play in unpaid work in the home or family businesses more than makes up for the gap in paid work in the labour market, usually leading to less leisure time and possibly lower social prestige. This chapter argues that both justice and efficiency considerations support the case for tackling gender inequalities in the labour market. The chapter reviews evidence on existing disparities, on the mechanisms underpinning them - including related to novel explanations based on group identity and social norms - and on the policies promising to close these persistent gaps.

This chapter includes responses to Oriana Bandiera and Barbara Petrongolo by Ashwini Deshpande and Almudena Sevilla.

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16 October 2025

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Published in The London Consensus (2025), Eds. Tim Besley, Irene Bucelli and Andres Velasco., pp. 281-309, LSE Press

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Labour markets and gender inequality

Link To Website

DOI: 10.31389/lsepress.tlc.i

This Chapter is part of the centre's Labour programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Gender in the labour market