ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an evidence that, in order to move the explanation of gender inequalities in employment on, a conceptual shift is necessary. The identification of a minimum full-wage for a one adult household is a critical point, because it defines the boundary between those who are and those who are working for wages that cover their own reproduction costs. When the contrast between horizontal and vertical occupational segregation by sex was introduced to British research, it was suggested that the two phenomena are “logically distinct even if they often occur together”. The connection of horizontal segregation to work history characteristics and wages is a matter of considerable difference of opinion. To some, the phenomenon of horizontal segregation has a pivotal role in explanations of gender inequality. The connection between the sex composition of occupations and work history characteristics would be strongly denied by England and some of her American colleagues.
