Career lesbians. Getting hired for not having kids?

2014/11/01 by Stijn Baert · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy #Discrimination and Equality Law

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/irj.12078

openalex publication_date 2014/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Abstract Using a field experiment, we investigate whether discrimination based on women's sexual orientation differs by age and family constraints. We find weakly significant evidence of discrimination against young heterosexual women. This effect is driven by age (and fertility) rather than by motherhood. We do not find any unequal treatment at older ages. This age effect is consistent with our theoretical expectation that, relative to lesbian women, young heterosexual women are penalised for getting children more frequently and taking on, on average, more at‐home‐caring tasks.

Citations

• Sexual orientation discrimination in the Cypriot labour market. Distastes or uncertainty?
• Evidence of ethnic discrimination in the Swedish labor market using experimental data
• Women's Sexual Orientation and Labor Market Outcomes in Greece
• Gay Pay in the UK
• Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination

Cited by

• Discrimination [wikipedia]