Lesbians can earn more than straight women, study suggests

LESBIANS earn more than straight women because of their “masculine characteristics” in the workplace, researchers have suggested.

A new study found that they are paid on average 3 per cent more than their heterosexual counterparts in the UK.

Academics said the disparity could also be partly due to lesbians showing more dedication to their jobs as they did not have a “higher-earning (male) partner who would provide for them”.

The study, by Anglia Ruskin University, which was published in the Journal of Population Economics, also found that gay men earned on average 5 per cent less than straight men in the UK, despite the advance of anti-discrimination legislation over the past decade.

The study, which analysed 24 papers published between 2012 and 2020 covering countries in Europe, North America and Australia, showed lesbian women earned on average 3.3 per cent more that straight women whereas bisexual women earned 5.8 per cent less than heterosexual women in the UK.

Suggesting an explanation for why lesbian women earned more, Prof Nick Drydakis, author of the study, said: “Arguments focusing on lesbian women’s earnings premiums in relation to masculine characteristics, which stereotypically characterise lesbian women and demonstrate leadership, have been utilised to evaluate their experiences.”

He added: “Lesbian women might prove less likely to have children than married women, so it makes sense that they may earn more because of their commitment to the labour market.”

The study said it was “concerning” that gay men earned 4.7 per cent less than straight men in the UK, although in the US the disparity was 10.9 per cent.