Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to investigate the differences in male– female labour market differentials between Scotland and the rest of the UK using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) dataset. The year 1999 is a particularly opportune one for the examination of the Scottish dimension since it is the first one for which the Scottish over-sampling component of the BHPS is available.

The BHPS data set with the Scottish over-sampling since 1999 has a major advantage over other published data sets regarding the study of male–female wage differentials, in that it allows the sufficiently detailed comparison of earnings and other important labour market indicators such as industry, occupation, educational attainment, and so on, between Scotland and the rest of the UK. This is because it contains a very rich set of variables along with a sufficiently large sample size for (over-sampled) Scotland. As its panel use will start becoming feasible in the next years, it is bound to develop into one of the major research tools in this area of study for Scotland.

The BHPS's extensive information should enable one to detect much more clearly the extent to which there may be regional differences in job segregation by gender and to measure the degree to which this depresses female relative to male pay and opportunities. The BHPS also provides good information on length of service, another variable that may affect male–female differentials. There is data on those who have been employed by the same firm along with the number of years spent with the firm. There is also detailed information on the makeup of pay, including overtime premium payments, which guarantees the high statistical accuracy of results using this data set.

This chapter sets out to study some of the main labour market indicators that may be related to male–female differentials. Before starting, the expectation was that few differences between Scotland and England would be found, mainly due to the almost non-existent mobility barriers between Scotland and the rest of the UK. This expectation has been confirmed in part: indeed the position of females in Scotland is very similar to that of their counterparts in England. Nonetheless, several important points have emerged:

• • there are significant participation differences between Scotland, England and Wales;

• • there are differences in occupational segregation, but they are not all of the same direction;