Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/110156 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8935
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using newly collected data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, this study presents new estimates of the earnings effects of sexual orientation in Australia and offers the first empirical investigation of the labour market trajectories of lesbian/gay/bisexual individuals. Our results show that gay males are: (i) less likely to be continuously employed than their heterosexual counterparts, and (ii) face an earnings penalty of approximately 20 percent, driven, in part, by a longer-run earnings growth penalty relative to heterosexuals. Individual fixed effects estimates show that males entering into same-sex partnerships experience earnings declines relative to those entering into opposite-sex partnerships. For lesbians, we find evidence of an earnings premium, explained largely by increased labour supply on the intensive margin and, to a lesser extent, greater earnings growth over time.
Subjects: 
sexual orientation
labour market dynamics
earnings trajectories
HILDA Survey
JEL: 
J31
J71
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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