TY - JOUR AU - Blau,Francine D. AU - Ferber,Marianne A. TI - Women's Work, Women's Lives: A Comparative Economic Perspective JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 3447 PY - 1990 Y2 - September 1990 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3447 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3447.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Francine D. Blau ILR School Cornell University 268 Ives Hall Ithaca, New York 14853-3901 Tel: 607/255-4381 Fax: 607/255-4496 E-Mail: fdb4@cornell.edu AB - This chapter provides a broad overview of women's economic status in all parts of the world, with special emphasis on their position relative to men. Large differences are found among countries and regions in the size of the gender gap with respect to such measures as labor force participation, occupational segregation, earnings, education, and to a some what lesser degree the amount of time spent on housework. Two generalizations, however, hold. Women have not achieved full equality anywhere, but particularly in the advanced industrialized countries for which data on the relevant variables are more readily available, there is evidence of a reduction of gender differences in economic roles and outcomes. ER -