Because Robots Mainly Replace Men's Work... Increasing Women's Labor Participation Also Affects Marital Relationships and Childbirth
[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Jinsoo Lee] It has been revealed that robots play a role in reducing the wage gap between men and women in certain industrial sectors. This is analyzed to be because robots mainly replace jobs held by men.
According to a research report by American researchers, first published online on the 15th (local time) in the academic journal Journal of Human Resources, robots generally replace men's jobs, resulting in a decrease in both women's marriage rates and birth rates.
Nowadays, when equality is highly emphasized, there are more cases where men and women have the same jobs and receive the same level of wages. The researchers confirmed that the wage gap between men and women significantly decreased in 741 regions in the United States where industrial robots are used.
It was found that for every additional 1.9 robots per 1,000 workers, the wage gap between men and women decreased by 4.2%, and the gender ratio gap in the workforce decreased by 2.1%. However, even in the United States, the average wage of female workers remains at only 84% of that of male workers.
The researchers found that as robots gradually enter the labor market, changes are also occurring in family relationships and childbirth.
Overall, there was no change in the number of newborns. However, newborns born within official marriages decreased by 12%, while those born outside of marriage increased by 15%. As robots increased in the labor market, the marriage rate fell by 1%, divorces increased by 9%, and the number of unmarried cohabiting couples increased by 10%.
Assistant Professor Osea Guentella of the Department of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, who participated in this study, said, "There has been intense debate about the impact of robots and factory automation on the labor market," adding, "However, little is known about how these structural changes in the economy affect important life choices."
What is clear is that as humans compete with robots, changes have occurred in the labor market. The wage gap between men and women is rapidly decreasing. Moreover, as robots gradually increase in the labor market, female labor participation has significantly increased, while there has been no change in male labor participation.
The researchers concluded that as robots influence the labor market, there are ripple effects on men's marriageability and women's willingness to marry, leading to a decrease in the number of marriages as well as births within marital relationships.
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