Effects of Age, Length of Work Interruption and State of the Economy on the Reentry Wages of Women

摘要

The study uses data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Work Experience of Mature Women to examine changes in the wages of women who left and reentered the labor force between 1967 and 1979. Age at the time of reentry had no effect on the reentry wage, but the unemployment rate had a significant negative effect. The length of the work interruption showed a smaller impact on the wage than that found in previous research. Failure to take into account the amount of work experience that had been accumulated in the period after the reentry up until the point when the new wage was observed may have led to biased estimates of the effects of work interruptions on wages in past research.