“Leave me out of it and raise my salary”: Invisible work in the labor market and the gender wage gap

Abstract

While the literature shows that “invisible work” – work that is neither defined nor recognized as labor – persists in the workplace, its relation to labor market outcomes, especially wages, remains relatively underexplored. This study examines the connection between invisible work and wages through a gendered perspective. Utilizing mixed-methods sequential analysis, we conducted 12 group interviews with employed women and men in Israel, uncovering four types of invisible work: physical care work, emotion labor, administrative work, and teamwork. Subsequently, we surveyed a representative sample of the Israeli labor force (n = 964). Regression analyses revealed significant relations between three types of invisible work and wages: doing physical care work correlated negatively with wages for all, while performing emotion labor and administrative work rewarded men more than women. Insights from the interviews elucidated gendered mechanisms linking wages to each invisible work type. The study emphasizes the need for gender-sensitive measures to address labor market inequality.