Home>Research and publications>Workplace Equality>Comment atteindre plus d'égalité entre femmes et hommes en Europe?
Comment atteindre plus d'égalité entre femmes et hommes en Europe?
Yasser, Rawane (2019), The Conversation
Parental leave policies help to reduce professional inequalities, but other policies are also necessary. The article examines the state of gender equality on the labour market in European countries and the possible means to achieve more equality.
Key takeaways:
- Gender gaps have declined but a glass ceiling persists and wage inequalities remain significant.
- Nordic countries have managed to close the gap in labour market participation through their universal policies for childcare and generous parental leave.
- But gender norms reinforce traditional gender roles, and women continue to work fewer hours and in lower-paying jobs.
- Public policies and behavioural changes are required to overcome persistent wage inequalities.
SUMMARY
Although gender gaps have decreased in recent years, women still face wage and career inequalities. What levers can European countries use to close the remaining gender gaps in the labour market?
Nordic countries have implemented universal childcare policies and generous parental leave policies, which have enabled them to close the gap in labour market participation. They were the first countries to introduce the “mother and father” quotas: a leave quota reserved for fathers, and that is distinct from the quotas for mothers. Other European countries lag behind. In France, for instance, the parental leave is very poorly compensated.
Despite generous parental leave policies, glass ceilings persist even in Nordic countries. Parental leave policies do not completely solve the problem of labour market inequalities. These inequalities are partly due to gender preferences and norms that reinforce traditional roles, and result in women working fewer hours and in lower-paying, family-friendly jobs when they start having children. While subsidized access to high-quality child care can reduce inequalities, behavioural changes— including from men—are also necessary.
