What Causes The Gender Pay Gap

Introduction

The gender pay gap is the difference between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time equivalent earnings, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings. The gender pay gap is different in each country and is influenced by a number of work, family and societal factors, including stereotypes about the work women and men ‘should’ do. In this report, I will explore different causes and effects of this issue globally, nationally and individually. It is important to focus on and address this issue because equality between men and women is important for social and economic reasons.I believe that if female workers are treated equally and believe they are valued, they will work to their full potential. This will not just help women, but

In 2013, she learned that a man just hired in the same job had started at a much higher salary. She thought this was unfair. “I don’t want another girl to feel after she’s worked so hard that she’s not worth the same as the man sitting next to her,” Rizo said. She sued her employer.

Issues, Causes and Effects

Global

• The undervaluing of women’s work – Frequently, women earn less than men for doing jobs of equal value. Jobs needing similar skills and qualifications seem to be more poorly paid when they are dominated by women.For example, the (mainly female) cashiers in a supermarket usually earn less than the (mainly male) employees involved in stacking shelves and other more physical tasks.

• Women struggle to manage work and family life - Family, care and domestic responsibilities are not equally shared. Far more women than men choose to take parental leave. If childcare and elderly care facilities are lacking, women often have to leave their jobs: only 65.8% of women with young children in the EU are working, compared to 89.1% of men.Women may take part-time work to combine work and family responsibilities. There is evidence that part-time workers get lower hourly pay than full-time workers. In Europe 32% of women work part-time, compared to 8% of

Personal Response:

I chose this topic because I have been interested in this issue since I learned about pay inequality from a TV programme three years ago. I was shocked that the pay gap in a country like France(45%) would be so big, so I chose France for my national perspective.

Originally I thought pay inequality was based on traditional stereotypes. However I have learnt about many other factors set out in this report. I learnt that in some countries women are now getting more university degrees than men. I find it interesting that some reports say that more pay for women would be economically better for everybody globally.

After writing this report, my opinions have become stronger about how unfair this issue is. But I now have a better understanding of it and how we might be able to solve the problem of gender inequality in