
We ask why the gender pay gap opens up, whether things have improved in recent years, and talk about one key factor affecting women’s pay - kids.
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Over the past decades, women have drawn closer to men in a variety of areas - education, university degrees and workforce participation. But, women still earn less on average than men.
In this episode, we ask why this pay gap opens up, whether things have improved in recent years, and talk about one key factor affecting women’s pay - kids.
Joining us are Alison Andrew, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford, Christine Farquharson, Senior Research Economist at IFS and Lucinda Platt, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the LSE.
Zooming In: discussion questions
Every week, we share a set of questions designed for A Level economics students to discuss, written by teacher Will Haines.
- How do the percentage of woman and men who work for pay in heterosexual partnerships change after the birth of their first child?
- Analyse the potential macroeconomic impacts of subsidising childcare.
- Assess the view that childcare reforms will pay for themselves.
Participants

Economics Columnist Financial Times

Research Fellow
Alison is a Senior Research Economist of our Institute with research interests in the economics of gender, marriage and education.

Associate Director
Christine's research examines inequalities in children's education and health, especially in the early education and childcare sector.

Research Fellow London School of Economics
Lucinda Platt is a Research Fellow of the IFS and Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Podcast details
- DOI
- 10.1920/pd.ifs.2023.0014
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
Suggested citation
. (2023). Still a man’s world? Gender inequalities, parenthood and the workplace [Podcast] Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/still-mans-world-gender-inequalities-parenthood-and-workplace (accessed: 21 May 2025).
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