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The Gender Wage Gap on an Online Labour Market: The Cost of Interruptions

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  • Adams-Prassl, Abigail

Abstract

This paper analyses gender differences in working patterns and wages on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Using information on 2 million tasks, I find no gender difference in task selection nor experience on the platform. Nonetheless, women earn 20% less per hour on average. Half of this gap is explained by differences in the scheduling of work; women have more fragmented work patterns with consequences for their task completion speed. A follow up survey shows that the wage gap is concentrated amongst women with young children, who also report that domestic responsibilities affect their ability to plan and complete work online.

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  • Adams-Prassl, Abigail, 2020. "The Gender Wage Gap on an Online Labour Market: The Cost of Interruptions," CEPR Discussion Papers 14294, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14294
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    2. Almudena Sevilla & Sarah Smith, 2020. "Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 169-186.
    3. Tubaro, Paola & Coville, Marion & Le Ludec, Clément & Casilli, Antonio A., 2022. "Hidden inequalities: The gendered labour of women on micro-tasking platforms," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26.
    4. Alison Andrew & Sarah Cattan & Monica Costa Dias & Christine Farquharson & Lucy Kraftman & Sonya Krutikova & Angus Phimister & Almudena Sevilla, 2022. "The gendered division of paid and domestic work under lockdown," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 325-340, December.
    5. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Should we cheer together? Gender differences in instantaneous well-being during joint and solo activities: An application to COVID-19 lockdowns," GLO Discussion Paper Series 736, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Abi Adams‐Prassl & Teodora Boneva & Marta Golin & Christopher Rauh, 2020. "Furloughing," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 591-622, September.
    7. Sevilla, Almudena, 2020. "Gender Economics: An Assessment," IZA Discussion Papers 13877, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla, 2023. "Should We Cheer Together? Gender Differences in Instantaneous Well-being: An Application to COVID-19 Lockdowns," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 529-562, February.
    9. Fangzhi Wanga & Hua Liao & Richard S.J. Tol, 2023. "Baumol’s Climate Disease," Working Paper Series 0723, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Daniel Stockemer & Friedrich Plank & Arne Niemann, 2021. "The COVID‐19 pandemic and government responses: A gender perspective on differences in public opinion," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2383-2393, September.
    11. Natalia Emanuel & Emma Harrington, 2023. "Working Remotely? Selection, Treatment, and the Market for Remote Work," Staff Reports 1061, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    12. Céline Piton, 2022. "The labour market performance of vulnerable groups: towards a better understanding of the main driving forces," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/352519, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Sevilla, Almudena, 2021. "Temporal Flexibility, Breaks at Work, and the Motherhood Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 14578, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender difference; Flexibility; Multitasking; Telework; Gig economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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