Efrat Herzberg-Druker
I am a Lecturer (tenure-track) in the Labor studies department at Tel-Aviv University. Previously (2018-2019) I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Sociology department and the Center of Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and postdoctoral fellow in the Sociology department at the University of Haifa (2017-2020).
I received my Ph.D. in Labor studies at Tel-Aviv University in 2018.
My research interests include income inequality, family demography, gender, and labor markets.
You can view my CV here
Here are my ongoing research projects: some of these projects are still in progress. If you are interested in one of these projects - feel free to contact me
Families and Inequality in the Coronavirus Outbreak
Work and Families in Times of Crisis: The Case of Israel in the Coronavirus Outbreak
This research deals with the effect of the coronavirus outbreaks on families in Israel. We use the first wave of a longitudinal survey of 2,040 adult Israeli men and women (age 18+), Jews and Arabs, who were employed or self-employed in the first week of March, prior to the lockdown of the economy. In this preprint we ask two main questions: (1) To what extent does the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis following it affect inequality between families? and (2) To what extent did the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis following it affect inequality within the family.
see the project website here
Media coverage: Haaretz in Hebrew; Haaretz in English
Family Demography and Income Inequality
Family Matters: The Effect of Demographic Changes in Family Patterns on Rising Income Inequality:
My Ph.D. research focused on the rise in income inequality in Israel in recent decades.
Most research in income inequality focuses on the industrial and economic transformations that most Western labor markets have experienced; however, my research combines institutional and economic aspects of income inequality with demographic changes, especially those that are family-related. More specifically my dissertation concentrates on how educational assortative mating, the rise in women’s participation in the labor market, fertility, and household composition have contributed to the increase in income inequality in Israel in recent decades. Some of my doctoral research findings were published in a paper in Social Science Research.
Media coverage: Calcalist
Changes in Employment Patterns and Income Inequality – What Do We Learn From Households?
In this research, I examine whether and how changes in household composition regarding labor-force participation have contributed to rising inequality levels in different countries with a specific focus on couples' intensity of employment.
Using the LIS dataset, I describe changes in the employment patterns of households during the last couple of decades (1990-2013). Moreover, I calculate the Theil index in different countries and use counterfactual analysis in order to examine the extent to which changes in employment patterns were the explanatory mechanism behind the rise in income inequality.
Gender and Inequality in the Labor Markets
Computer use and gender inequality in the labor market
In my Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Haifa I worked with Tali Kristal on the relation of computer use at the workplace with gender inequalities in the labor markets:
Currently, we focus on two aspects of gender inequalities in the labor market - the gender wage gap and gender occupational segregation.
For both papers, we utilize US census and CPS data, as well as O*NET data, and we employ linear regressions, multilevel analysis and decomposition methods to identify these relations.
Expansion of higher education and gender inequalities in the labor market
In this project, together with Haya Stier, I deal with the rise in educational attainment and its relation with gender inequalities in the labor market. We have published a paper in Social Indicators Research that examines how the rise in educational attainment has affected gender inequalities in the Israeli labor market between 1983 and 2008. We also published a chapter in Taub Center’s annual publication - the 2013 State of the Nation Report – Society, Economy and Policy titled: "Women In The Labor Force: The Impact of Education On Employment Patterns and Wages".
We are currently working on a paper that examines these questions comparatively, in light of the expansion of higher education in different countries.
Gender gaps in pension literacy
Together with Lilach Lurie, I am working on a paper that examines gender gaps in pension literacy. We use Israeli social surveys and investigate the extent to which changes in pension laws in Israel have contributed to understanding yet another aspect of the gender gap.
Publications
Herzberg-Druker, E., Yaish, M. & Kristal, T. (2022). Does the Pandemic Affect Inequality Within Families? The Case of Dual-Earner Couples in Israel - Gender and Society
Herzberg-Druker, E., Yaish, M. & Kristal, T. (2021). Work and Family in the Corona Crisis: The Double-Disadvantaged Position of Women - Israeli Sociology.
Herzberg-Druker, E., & Stier, H. (2019). Family Matters: The Contribution of Households’ Educational and Employment Composition to Income Inequality – Social Science Research.
Stier, H., & Herzberg-Druker, E. (2017). Running Ahead or Running in Place? Educational Expansion and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market - Social Indicator Research.
Weitz, E., Herzberg-Druker, E., & Stier, H. (2015). Too Old to Work–Too Young to Retire: Preface - Research in Social Stratification and Mobility.
Stier, H., & Herzberg, E. (2013). Women in the Labor Force: The Impact of Education on Employment Patterns and Wages. In D. Ben David (Ed.). State of the nation report: Society, economy and policy 2013.