Economic Development and the Gender Wage Gap

Economic inequality between men and women is an important problem deserving of in-depth study because of the large number of people it affects. Not only do current gender wage gaps affect women, they also likely affect their children and future generations. A number of studies have found evidence that women tend to spend income differently then men, with greater shares being put back into the household and more equally allocated between children of both sexes (Blau, Ferber, and Winkler, 2001). This in tum improves equality between genders if both girls and boys receive similar benefits and education. This study will examine the relationship between the gender wage gap and the degree of economic development of a country as measured by the gross domestic product per capita. A second model uses the United Nations Human Development Index as a more comprehensive measure of development. It also analyzes the relationship of educational attainment and general wage inequality to the size of the gender wage gap