Women's Occupations

Even if the distribution of women's occupations matched that of men-"if women were the doctors and men were the nurses"-she calculates that at most a third of the pay gap would disappear. The most important cause is that women curtail their careers as a part of a rational household response to labour markets, which generously reward anyone, male or female, who is willing to hold down what Ms Goldin calls a "greedy job". These are roles, such as those in law, accountancy and finance, that demand long and unpredictable hours. Parents need somebody to be on-call at home in case a child falls ill and needs picking up from school, or needs cheering on at a concert or football match.