RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Does the Gender Wage Gap Influence Intimate Partner Violence in Brazil?
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0421-11603R4
DO 10.3368/jhr.0421-11603R4
A1 Perova, Elizaveta
A1 Reynolds, Sarah
A1 Schmutte, Ian
YR 2023
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/06/01/jhr.0421-11603R4.abstract
AB Greater gender equality in wages may reduce Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) by improving women’s economic opportunities and enabling them to leave abusive relationships. On the other hand, increases in women’s income may trigger use of violence as an extractive mechanism or as an alternative way to assert superiority for men once economic superiority was challenged. Using panel data from Brazil, we test if the gender wage ratio influences IPV as measured in three types of administrative data: homicides, overnight hospitalizations for assault, and mandatory reports of IPV by health care providers. More wage equality leads to a reduction in violence against women in settings where income is likely to be a binding constraint for leaving abusive relationship: in low-income settings and among younger women.