In France and the UK gender-based discrimination at work has been illegal since the 1970s, but pay inequality is still a problem in both countries.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission found that one in nine (11%) mothers in England, Scotland and Wales had been dismissed, forced to make redundant, or treated in a way so bad they felt compelled to quit their job.
According to an analysis by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the median wage gap between UK employers and the UK reporting year 2022/23 is 9.4 percent. The median pay gap among UK employers for the reporting year 2022/23 was 9.4 percent. This means that women earn 91 pence per pound of income earned by men.
Why does this continue to happen? It is important to understand why this still happens by analyzing the historical, social and societal factors that affect gender pay disparity.
A history of progress
They were often regarded as “family helpers” or relegated to jobs that weren’t recorded in official statistics. Women were often considered “family helpers”, or were relegated into jobs that weren’t recorded in official statistics.
Recent historians have revised statistics, including Margaret Maruani, Monique Meron and others, to highlight the historical contributions of women to France’s economic activity.
Marriage also robs women of their independence financially, making their participation in the economy virtually invisible. After the 1960s, women were able to work and manage their assets without the consent of their husbands in mass.
In the decades that have followed, various governments have attempted to legislate gender pay equality. For example, the Equality Act in the UK (2009), which specifies that men in the same occupation who perform equal work must receive equal pay.
In the 1960s gender integration was also a late development, while access to prestigious schools came even later. The slow progress of gender equality in education and promotion, as well as the integration of jobs and tasks, is the history of equal pay and wages. This historical construction continues to influence imaginations, and permeate representations about the fact that women’s paths to achieving an “important” position are more complicated.
There is still a division
It’s good to know that the overall percentage of women in the workplace is almost equal to men. Women also tend to do better in school than men, which allows them to get jobs that require high levels of expertise.
Men continue to dominate some fields such as science and tech, which are more lucrative. Women tend to choose marketing in business school, while men prefer finance, which is a more lucrative field. The uneven distribution of men and women in the workforce perpetuates wage inequality. These systemic obstacles continue to prevent women from achieving higher-paying jobs in traditionally male industries.
Gender stereotypes still exist and continue to influence the outcomes of women on the labour market. Many women have attained a kind of icon status.
Women are still moving towards traditionally female-dominated professions, such as those in the fashion and aesthetics industry or care. Women are concentrated in the care industry, which is a low-paying sector where their work is undervalued despite being often difficult. Most people know that they assume that a nurse will be female and a physician male.
Other stereotypes suggest that women are not as well-suited for science subjects, or that men excel in leadership positions. People often associate feminine traits such as emotionality and gentleness, while men are viewed as being more assertive and rational. These social constructs affect career choices at a young age and reinforce segregation on the job market.
Some educational institutions believe that it is crucial to help women build self-confidence in order to overcome this challenge. Women are alleged to lack confidence because they’re not used to being in positions of authority or prestige.
Clemence perronnet, a researcher, deconstructs the argument. She warns against blaming females for their lack of confidence, while also showing that women can be in prestigious positions and have high self-confidence levels, but still suffer from gender-based prejudices.
Motherhood is also a major hindrance for women’s career. Although progress has been made in creating policies for more equal parental leaves that divide leave equally between the two partners, women are still often responsible for household tasks.
New solutions to the problem
The progress made over the past half century is immense and continues to be. Recent laws such as France’s Rixain law, which strengthened regulations to support gender equity through gender-based quotations and new reporting requirements, helped improve the representation of women in traditionally male dominated fields.
In parallel, research has increased on gender disparity, which has led to a greater understanding of factors that cause inequality. The younger generations will have more information and a better understanding of the gender wage gap.
For women to achieve the best possible outcomes on the labour market, it is important that we continue our legislative, educational and social efforts in order to eliminate stereotyping and promote equality throughout all sectors.
