The consequences of economic restructuring for the gender earnings gap in Israel , 1972 – 1995

This article adopts a ‘structural perspective’ of earnings determinants to examine changes over time in the gender earnings gap in Israeli society. It studies the combined effect of the expansion of the services and public sector employment on the gender earnings gap, utilizing data from the 1972 and 1995 censuses in Israel. It shows that within the context of an advanced legislation system regarding women’s payment and rights, Israeli women are in disadvantaged economic positions relative to men in all segments of the economy. However, Israeli women are in a relatively better economic position in 1995 than in 1972. It also shows that some segments of the economy are more ‘women friendly’ than others. Women in the private sector experience the highest level of pay discrimination, while women in the public sector experience the lowest. Finally, it shows that pay discrimination against women is similar in both industrial sectors – service and transformative. It thus concludes that despite the impressive growth in service employment over the years, the division of the economy into public and private sectors is a more useful feature in explaining the gender earnings gap in Israel.