Wages of men, women, and others

Wages earned by men are often used as an indicator of the material standard of living (MSoL). However, this indicator relies on several assumptions when used for comparisons across time and space. Considering these assumptions will improve estimates of the MSoL from wages. <br><br>One necessary assumption is that households in the compared populations relied on the primary income of the male head of household to a comparable degree. I demonstrate that the degree of reliance on the male income was closely associated with the complexity of households within the population. Nuclear households—typical of English-speaking countries—were more reliant on the male income than more complex households found elsewhere. Consequently, estimates based on male wages are less accurate for populations with complex households, likely underestimating their MSoL. <br><br>While the complexity of households in historical populations is seldom known, it can be predicted using demographic and economic indicators. I conclude that populations at similar stages of industrialization and the demographic transition are the most comparable when using male wages to estimate their MSoL. <br><br>Further, I use a reductive model to show that a household’s MSoL is determined by three factors: time spent on productive work, the market wage for men, and the female/male wage ratio. My analysis shows that including the female/male wage ratio does not change the ranking of the MSoL based on male wages. Nonetheless, I argue that there are compelling reasons to expect the wage ratio to be a useful addition when comparing the MSoL of historical populations.<br><br>(Abstract of the associated article.)

男性工资常被用作物质生活水平（Material Standard of Living, MSoL）的指标。然而，当用于跨时空比较时，该指标依赖若干假设。考量这些假设有助于优化基于工资的MSoL估算结果。<br><br>其中一个必要假设是，被比较群体中的家庭对男性户主主要收入的依赖程度具有可比性。研究表明，对男性收入的依赖程度与群体内家庭结构的复杂性密切相关。核心家庭（英语国家的典型家庭形式）比其他地区更为复杂的家庭更依赖男性收入。因此，基于男性工资的估算对拥有复杂家庭结构的群体而言准确性较低，可能低估其MSoL。<br><br>尽管历史群体的家庭结构复杂性鲜为人知，但可通过人口统计和经济指标进行预测。研究结论指出，当使用男性工资估算MSoL时，处于相似工业化阶段和人口转变阶段的群体具有最高可比性。<br><br>此外，通过简约模型分析发现，家庭MSoL由三个因素决定：生产性工作时长、男性市场工资及男女工资比。分析表明，纳入男女工资比并不会改变基于男性工资的MSoL排名。尽管如此，研究认为，在比较历史群体的MSoL时，有充分理由将工资比作为一项有益补充。<br><br>（相关文章摘要）