The virtuous circle of reducing wage inequalities: from reducing domestic violence to potential intergenerational effects

According to the “Living environment and security” (FR) survey conducted jointly by INSEE, the French Ministerial Statistical Service of Internal Security and the National Observatory of Delinquency and Penal Responses, each year between 2011 and 2018, 0.8% of individuals aged between 18 and 75 (1 in 120) declare that they have experienced violence within their household. Women are overrepresented compared to men. Indeed, each year between 2011 and 2018, 1.1% of women aged between 18 and 75 reported having been a victim of violence in their household (compared to 0.6% of men in the same age group). As this article shows, there is a relationship between domestic violence and wage inequality.

>I - WOMEN WITH LOWEST INCOME AND THOSE AFFECTED BY PROFESSIONAL INACTIVITY ARE MORE EXPOSED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence is higher among the poorest households. According to the “Living environment and security” (FR) survey the average annual proportion of victims of violence between 2011 and 2018 was 1.2% in the poorest households (compared with 0.7% in the wealthiest).

Domestic violence is also particularly high among those who are not professionally active. Between 2011 and 2018, the average proportion of victims of violence each year was 1.3% among the unemployed, 1.3% among the inactive (including housewives) and 1.4% among students (compared with 0.9% for people in employment). This finding is consistent with the « Violences et rapports de genre » (FR) (Virage) survey carried out in 2015 by the INED, which is based on a large sample of 27 268 people. According to this survey, domestic violence is "strongly correlated" with the absence of professional activity. Thus, around 2% of women living in a household where one or both partners are out of work report being subjected to 'frequent or serious' abuse (compared with 1% of women living in households where both partners are working). In addition, around 1% of women living in households where one or both partners are out of the labour force report 'very serious' abuse (compared with around 0.5% of women living in households where both partners are in the labour force). These data concern women aged 20 to 69, living in metropolitan France and having been in a heterosexual relationship of at least 4 months during the 12 preceding months..

Thus, if women who are professionally inactive and women with lowest income are more exposed to domestic violence, could reducing the existing wage inequalities between men and women reduce this violence?

II - THE VIRTUOUS CIRCLE OF REDUCING WAGE INEQUALITIES: REDUCING PAY INEQUALITIES COULD LEAD TO A DECREASE IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND ULTIMATELY IMPROVE WOMEN'S HEALTH AND CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING

In a research paper published in 2010, Anna Aizer examines the links between domestic violence and wage inequality. Using a theoretical framework of household bargaining  (which takes violence into account), she finds that a reduction in the wage gap leads to a reduction in domestic violence against women.

The theoretical framework used by the researcher (that of bargaining within heterosexual households) suggests that a reduction in wage inequality within a couple allows the woman to increase her bargaining power and is associated with a decrease in potential violence (since it increases her 'exit options'). In order to test this theory, the researcher analyses the impact of wage gaps on domestic violence experienced by women, based on exogenous changes in the demand for labour in female-dominated sectors compared to male-dominated ones. 

To do so, the researcher measures domestic violence using administrative data on the rate of hospitalizations of women for assault in the state of California between 1990 and 2003. This new way of measuring domestic violence was an advance over previous research (which measured domestic violence using survey data which can sometimes lead to underreporting and which is not always collected continuously over time).

In her article, the researcher finds that the reduction in the gender pay gap explains 9% of the decrease in domestic violence observed between 1990 and 2003. These research results contradict the "male backlash" theory, according to which an increase in women's wages leads to an increase in domestic violence against women, as some men feel their traditional gender role threatened. The research results of the article (which show that domestic violence has decreased outside of working hours) also contradict the theoretical model of "exposure reduction", according to which the increase in women's participation in the labour market is associated with a decrease in violence against them since they spend less time with their abusive partner. Indeed, in her article, Anna Aizer found that domestic violence has decreased outside of working hours.

Anna Aizer's research results thus invite further investigation and exploration of the positive effects of reduced economic and wage inequalities on other aspects of women's lives, such as their health (or even the well-being of their children). If reducing the wage gap allows for a more equitable and fairer distribution of resources between men and women, it could also have positive impacts on the reduction of domestic violence, and therefore, on women's health. As domestic violence also has consequences on children's well-being, reducing it could have positive impacts on children's development. This virtuous cycle should encourage public authorities to intensify their efforts to further reduce the gender pay gap.