How care‐work employment shapes earnings in cross‐national perspective

This article investigates the wage effects of employment in care work – conceptualized as work providing face‐to‐face client services that strengthen the health, skills or safety of recipients – in 12 countries representing a range of economic and policy contexts. While previous research has found an earnings penalty for care work, this article finds remarkable cross‐national variation in that effect. The authors find that worker characteristics and job characteristics shape the effect of care employment on earnings. They also consider how country‐level factors – earnings inequality, size of public sector, and trade union strength – impact upon cross‐national variation in the effect of care employment on earnings.