Gary Becker attributed the gender wage gap to married women’s unpaid housework responsibilities.

Evidence

See, for example, this argument by Becker: “The responsibility of married women for childcare and other housework has major implications for earnings and occupational differences between men and women, even aside from the effect on the labor force participation of married women. I submit that this is an important reason why the earnings of married women typically are considerably below those of married men, and why substantial occupational segregation persists.” Becker, A Treatise on the Family, p. 78. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 557

Categorization

• XREF: Grounds the human-capital account of gender inequality Brown critiques; also resonates with the feminist critique in note 66 (England, McClosky).
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: how does Becker’s attribution of gendered inequality to household responsibility map onto, or dovetail with, Brown’s claim that homo oeconomicus feminizes all subjects?