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A common notion in the literature on labour market gender inequality is that women compromise their wage and career prospects by choosing jobs that make room for care responsibilities. The article investigated whether such trade-offs have a geographic dimension. Based on survey data of individuals raised in small towns/rural municipalities in Sweden (n≈2 200), the study analyzed how gender gaps in wages on the one hand and work-family conflict on the other differed between individuals who remained in small towns/rural areas and those who moved to large cities. The results show that the gender gap in wages was larger among stayers while the opposite was true for work-family conflict. Thus, work-family trade-offs are linked to the choice of geographic context. Meanwhile, initial occupational priorities were more complex than suggested in the literature. Female stayers prioritized family-friendly work conditions higher than male stayers and female movers but were not less career-oriented and occupational choices did not explain their lower wages and work-family-conflict. At the same time, they worked fewer hours than other groups, and reduced work hours explained the geographic variation in gender gaps.
Grönlund et al. (Sat,) studied this question.