Economics 12th Edition by William Baumol, Alan S Blinder

Exercise 6

From 2000 to 2010 in the United States, the number of working men fell by 0.6 percent, while the number of working women grew by almost 4 percent. During this time, average wages for men grew by roughly 3 percent, whereas average wages for women grew by slightly more than 6 percent. Which of the following two explanations seems more consistent with the data a. Women decided to work more, raising their relative supply (relative to men).
B) Discrimination against women declined, raising the relative (to men) demand for female workers.