| dc.description.abstract |
This investigation of the effect of sexual orientation on earnings employs General
Social Survey data from 1989-96. Depending largely on the definition of sexual orientation
used, earnings are estimated as having been between 14% and 16% lower for gay men
than for heterosexual men, and between 20% and 34% higher for lesbian women than for
heterosexual women. This evidence, the authors suggest, is consistent with either
of two complementary constructions: Gary Becker's argument that male/female earnings
differentials are rooted in specialization within households and in optimal human
capital accumulation decisions individuals make when they are young; and Claudia Goldin's
observations about marriage-based gender discrimination, according to which the paternalistic
"protection" of wives and mothers from the world of work has tended to overlook lesbians.
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