Fighting the gap: Does military service reduce the gender wage gap
LE3 .A278 2009
2009
Rippeyoung, Phyllis
Acadia University
Bachelor of Arts
Honours
Sociology
Research on the gender wage gap consistently demonstrates that women continue to earn less than men do despite equity laws, policies aimed at reducing the gap and women now surpassing men in educational attainment. This wage gap has continued to stagnate for the last twenty years. Drawing on data from the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 1.2 and the Canadian Forces Component of the CCHS, this thesis uses ANOVA and OLS regressions to examine the effect of human capital and family characteristics on the gender wage gap of civilians, reserves, and regular force members. Results show the gender wage gap is highest among civilians, smaller in the reserve force, and smallest in the regular force. There is little support that human capital alone explains these wage gaps. Moreover, contrary to previous research, females in the military do not suffer a wage penalty for marriage or children. These findings support the idea that military service plays a role in reducing the gender wage gap for women; however, more sensitive measures are needed to further examine these results.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:547
