THE GENDER PAY GAP IN LABOUR MARKET
The gender pay gap in the labour market is a complex and pervasive
issue that has attracted widespread attention in recent years. The gender pay
gap refers to the difference in average earnings between men and women in
the same job or occupation, and it is a significant barrier to gender equality
in the workplace. Despite progress in closing the gap over the past few
decades, women still earn less than men on average in almost every country
and industry, with the gap varying considerably across different occupations,
education levels, and age groups. This essay aims to explore the causes and
consequences of the gender pay gap in the labour market.
On average, women, are paid about 20 per cent less than men,
globally. While individual characteristics such as education, working time,
occupational segregation, skills and experience, explain part of the gender
pay gap, a large part is due to discrimination based on gender. In the EU the
gender pay gap stands at 12.7% and has only changed minimally over the
last decade.
The question is why do women earn less? The gender pay gap
measures a broader concept than pay discrimination and comprehends a
large number of inequalities women face in access to work, progression and
rewards.
As listed above, sectoral segregation is one of the numerous reasons.
Around 24% of the gender pay gap is related to an overrepresentation of
women in relatively low-paying sectors, such as care, health and education.
Because these jobs are highly feminized, they tend to be systematically
undervalued.
Another reason for women earning less is the unequal share of paid
and unpaid work: Women work more hours per week than men, but more of
these hours represent unpaid work. This fact can also affect the choices
women make when deciding career paths and development. The EU
supports the idea of equal sharing of parental leave, along with the adequate
public provision of childcare services and company policies that allow for
flexible working time arrangements.
The third reason brought into the discussion would be the glass
ceiling: the position in the hierarchy influences the level of pay. If we take a
look at the top companies’ CEOs, we can easily find that less than 8% of
them are women. Also, the profession with the largest gap when it comes to
hourly earnings in the EU was managers: men in this position earn 23%
more than women in the same position.
Finally, the least admitted factor would be pay discrimination: In
some cases, women earn less than men for doing equal work or work of
equal value. The ugly truth is that pay discrimination is still happening even
though the principle of equal pay has been stated in the European Treaties
since 1957.
Although these are the most common reasons for the gender pay gap,
the far largest part of the gender pay gap remains unexplained in the EU, and
up to this moment they cannot be linked to employee or workspace
characteristics such as education, the field of work, working time of the
economic activity the person works for.
In the research conducted by the European Commission, increasing
women’s participation in the workforce and reducing the pay gap between
women and men will have a positive impact on economic growth in the EU.
Despite the recent improvements, there are still persistent gender gaps in
labour market activity and pay, which result in lower employment rates for
women, potentially limiting EU growth.
Bibliography
“The gender pay gap situation in the EU” - European Commission
(https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-
rights/gender-equality/equal-pay/gender-pay-gap-situation-eu_en)
“Pay transparency can address the gender pay gap” – International Labour Organization
(https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_856203/lang--
en/index.htm#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20women%2C%20are%20paid,to%20discriminatio
n%20based%20on%20gender.)
“How closing the gender labour market activity and pay gap leads to economic growth” –
European Institute for Gender Equality
(https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policy-areas/economic-and-financial-
affairs/economic-benefits-gender-equality/activity-pay)
