Gender disparities in European labour markets: A comparison of conditions for men and women in paid employment

• Author: Rosalia CASTELLANO,Antonella ROCCA
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12122
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Date: 01 December 2018

International Labour Review, Vol. 157 (2018), No. 4

Copyright © The authors 2018

Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2018

* Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, Parthenope University of Naples,

emails: lia.castellano@uniparthenope.it; rocca@uniparthenope.it.

Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors, and

publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.

[Correction added on 20 April 2 021, after initial online pu blication. A duplicate of this

article was published under the DOI 10.1111/ilr.12052, this duplicate has now been deleted and

its DOI redirected to this version of the article.]

Gender disparities in European labour

markets: A comparison of conditions

for men and women in paid employment

Rosalia CASTELLANO* and Antonella ROCCA*

Abstract. Although the dramatic increase in female labour force participation in

recent decades has been connected to signicant changes in economic opportun-

ities for women, gender disparities in the labour market persist in many forms. This

article seeks to assess whether higher gender differentials in European labour mar-

kets are directly related to poor economic conditions. To this end, the results of a

composite indicator designed and developed by the authors in a previous study are

updated and three new composite indicators are constructed for a separate analysis

of female and male labour market conditions and gender gap for paid employment.

The dramatic increase in female labour force participation in recent dec-

ades has been linked to signicant changes in economic opportunities

for women in terms of occupation and earnings. Nevertheless, gender dispar-

ities in terms of opportunities, security and participation in the labour market

continue to be a real cause for concern in developed countries, even though

they usually affect countries with higher unemployment rates and less devel-

oped welfare systems. Many authors have studied labour market gender gaps

to identify the inuence of observable factors, such as human capital charac-

teristics (Polacheck and Xiang, 2015; Olson, 2012), and how much remains un-

explained after these are controlled for. This unexplained element is usually

attributed to discrimination, even though not all unexplained factors imply

discrimination. Indeed, gender disparities in wages, job opportunities and car-

eer advancement also depend on differences in female and male attitudes

and behaviours arising from socio-cultural context. These inuence choices

regarding elds of study and the level of education attained. Furthermore, the

instruments and policies available for balancing work and family responsibil-

ities play a crucial role in determining such gender disparities. Indeed, working

International Labour Review590

time regulations, the cost and availability of childcare and eldercare services,

human resource management practices, and tax and benet systems are all

welfare regime factors that can inuence gender gap levels (Mandel and Sha-

lev, 20 09; Anxol et al., 2007).1

Promoting gender equality in the labour market, in terms of equal op-

portunities and equal outcomes, and empowering women to fully participate

in economic life across all sectors, was one of the Millennium Development

Goals set by the United Nations in 2000. Goal 3 established a specic target

on education and additional indicators on women’s employment and political

representation (UNDG, 2010; WEF, 2014), based on the rationale that such a

goal attained the wider objective of promoting economic growth (OECD et

al., 2014). Indeed, an increasing number of studies exploring the connection

between gender equality and economic growth (EIGE, 2017; Schober and

Winter-Ebmer, 2009; Mitra, Bang and Biswas, 2015; Löfström, 2009) agree on

the direct relationship between development and well-being, on the one hand,

and the achievement of satisfactory levels of gender balance, at least in certain

key aspects, on the other (Kabeer and Natali, 2013).

Gender inequality in the workforce hurts economic growth (IMF, 2013),

while better employment opportunities for women can contribute to increased

protability and productivity, especially in the private sector (IFC, 2013). Gen-

der gaps correlate directly to poverty and inversely to gross domestic product

(GDP) and competitiveness. According to Kuznets’ inverted U hypothesis, we

should nd evidence of an increase in inequality when per capita income in-

creases from subsistence levels, but a decrease in inequality when per capita

income continues to increase (Tam, 2011; Eastin and Prakash, 2013). Many

authors have however pointed out that, in some circumstances, certain kinds

of gender inequality may contribute positively to the pace of growth (Blecker

and Seguino, 2002; Ertürk and Çağatay, 1995; Standing, 1999). Accordingly,

even though the promotion of certain dimensions of gender equality may

appear to offer a win–win solution in terms of economic growth (OECD et al.,

2014), there is no guarantee that economic growth alone will address critical

dimensions of gender equality.

In previous studies, we compared a number of aspects related to labour

market gender gaps in 26 European countries for the years 2007 and 2011

(Castellano and Rocca, 2014 and 2015). Although these countries have many

socio-cultural and economic characteristics in common, they differ in terms

of their progress on gender equality in the labour market, their national eco-

nomic frameworks and the problems they faced, rst, upon entering the Eu-

ropean Union (where applicable) and, second, in the recent economic crisis.

Given the multidimensional nature of the phenomenon, including different and

sometimes controversial aspects through which gender disparities in the labour

market could manifest themselves – unemployment, labour force participation,

1 For a detailed discussion of the gendered effects of welfare regime on employment, see

Kushi and McManus (2018), in this issue of the International Labour Review, pp. 557– 587.