Why earnings differentials are different for men and women in retailing

Citation

Broadbridge A (1997) Why earnings differentials are different for men and women in retailing. Service Industries Journal, 17 (2), pp. 221-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069700000012

Abstract
Why Earnings Differentials are Different for Men and Women in Retailing In 1993 female sales assistants and checkout operators gross weekly wages were just four-fifths of their male counterparts. This paper examines some of the theoretical considerations for the continuation of earnings differentials between men and women in retailing, 20 years since the enforcement of the Equal Pay Act. Drawing on the work of Robinson and Wallace in the 1970s and Broadbridge in the 1990s, the paper suggests that differentials between men and women S earnings in retailing remain, and that exp[anations for these differences are not dissimilar to those found by Robinson and Wallace in the 1970s. The paper suggests that economist and labour segmentation theories are partially useful as explanatory measures for the differential earnings between men and women in retailing. Howevel; they do not provide an exhaustive explanation. An historical perspective tracing women's involvement in the retail trade shows how trade union activity and skill levels were constructed against women, and provides a fuller understanding for the persistence of existing. pay diflerentials between men and women.

Journal
Service Industries Journal: Volume 17, Issue 2