The labour market outcomes of transgender individuals

Matthew Shannon

doi:10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102006

The labour market outcomes of transgender individuals

Matthew Shannon^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)

194 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper uses the 2015 United States Transgender Survey of 27,715 transgender respondents to study the relationship between minority gender identity status and income, employment, and poverty rates. All transgender groups have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to be in poverty, unemployed or working part-time, when compared with men in the American Community Survey. Within the transgender sample, those who were assigned female at birth have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to work part-time than those assigned male at birth. These income results are sensitive to the degree to which respondents have socially transitioned. The younger transgender people transition and the greater their ability to ‘pass’, the more their income profiles reflect that of their gender identity rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. Together, these findings provide descriptive evidence in support of a traditional cisgender income gap, with ‘maleness’ being associated with an income premium in the workplace over ‘femaleness’.

Original language	English
Article number	102006
Number of pages	26
Journal	Labour Economics
Volume	77
Early online date	24 May 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102006
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 1 No Poverty
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Keywords

Economic outcomes
Transgender status
Gender identity

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10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102006Licence: CC BY

Final published versionFinal published version, 1.71 MBLicence: CC BY
Advance online versionFinal published version, 1.69 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "The labour market outcomes of transgender individuals",

abstract = "This paper uses the 2015 United States Transgender Survey of 27,715 transgender respondents to study the relationship between minority gender identity status and income, employment, and poverty rates. All transgender groups have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to be in poverty, unemployed or working part-time, when compared with men in the American Community Survey. Within the transgender sample, those who were assigned female at birth have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to work part-time than those assigned male at birth. These income results are sensitive to the degree to which respondents have socially transitioned. The younger transgender people transition and the greater their ability to {\textquoteleft}pass{\textquoteright}, the more their income profiles reflect that of their gender identity rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. Together, these findings provide descriptive evidence in support of a traditional cisgender income gap, with {\textquoteleft}maleness{\textquoteright} being associated with an income premium in the workplace over {\textquoteleft}femaleness{\textquoteright}.",

keywords = "Economic outcomes, Transgender status, Gender identity",

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note = "Funding Information: I would like to thank Christopher Jepsen, Ian Burn, Christopher Carpenter, Liam Delaney, Kevin Devereux, Paul Devereux, Benjamin Elsner, Gary Gates, Stefanie Haller, David Madden, Matthew Notowidigdo, Sergey Popov, and Lisa Ryan for their assistance and helpful comments on this paper. I am also thankful to the participants of the EALE SOLE AASLE World Conference 2020; the PhD economics seminar series, University College Dublin; the 2019 Irish Postgraduate and Early Career Economics Workshop, NUI Galway; and the 2019 Conference on the Economics of Sexual Orientation in Linnaeus University, for their comments and suggestions. I acknowledge funding from the Irish Research Council.",

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N2 - This paper uses the 2015 United States Transgender Survey of 27,715 transgender respondents to study the relationship between minority gender identity status and income, employment, and poverty rates. All transgender groups have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to be in poverty, unemployed or working part-time, when compared with men in the American Community Survey. Within the transgender sample, those who were assigned female at birth have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to work part-time than those assigned male at birth. These income results are sensitive to the degree to which respondents have socially transitioned. The younger transgender people transition and the greater their ability to ‘pass’, the more their income profiles reflect that of their gender identity rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. Together, these findings provide descriptive evidence in support of a traditional cisgender income gap, with ‘maleness’ being associated with an income premium in the workplace over ‘femaleness’.

AB - This paper uses the 2015 United States Transgender Survey of 27,715 transgender respondents to study the relationship between minority gender identity status and income, employment, and poverty rates. All transgender groups have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to be in poverty, unemployed or working part-time, when compared with men in the American Community Survey. Within the transgender sample, those who were assigned female at birth have significantly lower incomes and are more likely to work part-time than those assigned male at birth. These income results are sensitive to the degree to which respondents have socially transitioned. The younger transgender people transition and the greater their ability to ‘pass’, the more their income profiles reflect that of their gender identity rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. Together, these findings provide descriptive evidence in support of a traditional cisgender income gap, with ‘maleness’ being associated with an income premium in the workplace over ‘femaleness’.

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The labour market outcomes of transgender individuals

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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Corrigendum to “The labour market outcomes of transgender individuals” (Labour Economics, (2022), 77, C, (102006), (S0927537121000415), 10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102006)

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