Faculty Publications

Self-Employment, Earnings, And Sexual Orientation

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Earnings, Self-employment, Sexual orientation

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Review of Economics of the Household

Volume

15

Issue

1

First Page

287

Last Page

305

Abstract

Although many studies document differences by sexual orientation in earnings and other labor-market outcomes, little is known about differences in self-employment. Our study contributes to both the self-employment literature and sexual-orientation literature by analyzing differences in self-employment rates and earnings by sexual orientation. Gay men are less likely to be self-employed than married men, whereas lesbians are equally likely to be self-employed as married women. We find that gay men earn less than married men. We do find, however, that for those gay men who are self-employed, there is little evidence of a further earnings penalty, at least among full-time workers. Lesbians earn at least as much as married women, but receive no further earnings premium—or penalty—by being self-employed, again among full-time workers.

Department

Department of Economics

Original Publication Date

3-1-2017

DOI of published version

10.1007/s11150-016-9351-z

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

Link to Full Text

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