Children who break gender norms earn less money as adults, study finds

Breaking traditional gender norms could hurt an individual’s earning potential, according to a new study that found assertive girls and sensitive boys often earn less as adults.

Boys who were overly dependent on their parents had a 6% decline in earnings as young adults, according to the study “Headstrong Girls and Dependent Boys” from the National Bureau of Economic Research, while girls who were considered overly assertive as children had a 10% decline in income when they entered the workforce.

The earnings gap was most pronounced in blue-collar occupations versus white-collar jobs, the study found. For instance, assertive women in white-collar jobs experienced less of an earnings loss than headstrong women in blue-collar occupations.

“This might be due to greater workplace prejudice to gender nonconforming behavior in blue-collar occupations than white-collar occupations, and in occupations more frequently held by less educated individuals,” one of the study’s authors, Professor Ofer Malamud of Northwestern University, told Yahoo Money. “Whether that is a result of the types of occupations that are represented in these sectors, or the types of people who are employed in these occupations, is an important question for further research.”

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While there were differences based on gender norms, there were other behaviors that didn’t create gender wage gaps for adults. There weren’t gender wage gaps for men and women who were anxious or hyperactive as children. Malamud said that may be because anxious and hyperactive behaviors in men and women don’t affect as many coworkers.

“One possible explanation is that anxiety and hyperactivity are behavioral problems that are more inwardly directed, and less likely to affect others, whereas headstrong and dependent behavior are more likely to play a role when interacting with others,” Malamud said. “To the extent that workplace prejudice arises due to behaviors that affect interactions with others, anxiety and hyperactivity are not associated with gender differences in wages penalties.”

The participants in the study were older millennials born between the years of 1981 and 1990. They were observed as adults between the ages of 24 and 30 from 2006 to 2014.

Older millennials were more likely socialized to fit into gender norms than the current young adults of Generation Z, Malamud noted. He hopes that workers may not suffer financially as much today if they exhibit gender nonconforming behavior.

“I believe that educational interventions can help address gender prejudice, including that associated with gender nonconforming behaviors,” Malamud said. “More generally, I believe that today’s society is more accepting of gender nonconforming behavior than in previous periods, and I expect this trend to continue as more women continue to enter traditionally male occupations and vice versa.”

Ella Vincent is the personal finance reporter for Yahoo Money. Follow her on Twitter @bookgirlchicago.

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