Women’s pay inequality worldwide highlighted in report

Women around the world are still paid up to 30 per cent less than men and still do more unpaid domestic and caring work than men in every region of the world, according to a major UN report on women.

Women around the world are still paid up to 30 per cent less than men and still do more unpaid domestic and caring work than men in every region of the world, according to a major UN report on women.

The report, Progress of the World’s Women by UN Women, says that 117 countries have equal pay laws, but still inequality persists. It adds that globally 53% of working women – 600 million in total – are in vulnerable jobs, such as self-employment, domestic work or unpaid work for family businesses, which often lack the protection of labour laws.
 
The report covers all areas affecting women, from justice to domestic violence. It also highlights good practice. In Europe, for instance, it says that studies show a link between  the gender pay gap and women’s caring responsibilities.

In a study of 15 developed countries, where men did more housework, the gender pay gap was smaller, it says, highlighting Sweden’s policies on sharing paid parental leave and ’daddy months’, non-transferable paid time off which were introduced to encourage more fathers to use their allowance. It says: "Paid paternity leave counteracts the ‘motherhood penalty’, whereby women with children see their wages stagnating. In Sweden, a study found that for every month of leave taken by the father, the mother’s pay increased on average by 6.7 percent."

• Vote  
• 0
• 0
• You already voted!

• Tags:
• Money and Finance Shared parental leave