Gender pay disparities examined

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In August 2001, France's INSEE statistical institute published a study on wage disparities between men and women. The unexpected finding that the wage gap has widened to women's disadvantage over the past 20 years demonstrates the extent to which the position of women in the labour market and in employment is very different from that of their male counterparts. Men and women of strictly equivalent training and employment do not receive equal pay.

The past few decades have seen major advances in 'equality' between men and women in the area of employment. Indeed, the large-scale arrival of women on the labour market, the creation of mainly female-dominated jobs, especially in the public and service sectors, the alignment of the employment behaviour of both sexes (fewer women are interrupting their careers when they have children), and the increased quality of both qualifications among young women and available employment opportunities have altered the role of men and women both economically and socially. However, some indicators, particularly wage-related ones, show that forms of sexual discrimination continue to exist.

Growing wage disparities

A study published in August 2001 by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE), France's major source of official statistics, shows that wage inequality between the sexes, far from disappearing, continues to exist and has even increased over time (Les écarts de revenu salarial entre hommes et femmes en début de carrière, Sylvie Le Minez and Sébastien Roux, August 2001).

According to INSEE, the wage gap between men and women stood at 22% for those starting their working lives in the early 1990s, compared with 15% for those starting their careers in the late 1970s. This widening, over approximately 20 years, of the wage gap between men and women (referring to young people at the start of their working lives) is due, to a great extent, to job types. Two points should be made here. First, men and women do not have the same types of jobs. Women are more commonly employed in part-time positions and men in full-time work. Second, the wage gap has remained wider among part-time workers - even though it dropped sharply among those beginning their working lives in the early 1990s to 12% from 17% in the late 1970s - than among full-time workers - for whom the gap has remained relatively stable at around 9%.

Moreover, the wage gap between the sexes has widened because: young women are much more greatly affected by the increase in part-time working than men (in the early 1990s, 35.2% of first jobs among women were part time, compared with 17.7% among men); women are much more likely to move from full-time to part-time working than men; women have a much lower likelihood of finding full-time employment after starting their careers in part-time work than men; and the fact that part-time working is a predominantly female phenomenon (more a passive choice than an active one, point out the report's authors) has become more widespread over time.

Working time is not the only reason for wage disparity. Indeed, men at the start of their working lives earn, on average, 8.5% more than equally qualified women entering the labour market in the same sector, size of company and comparable region. The only really positive point to emerge from the study is that this gap has narrowed, compared with the situation facing the cohorts entering the labour market in the 1970s (then 10.3%). Increased levels of qualifications among women have undoubtedly played a role in bridging the gap.

Wage disparities do not by any means disappear as men and women advance in their careers. The authors of the study find that wage gaps between men and women widen five years after individuals enter the labour market. Overall, across the generations studied, five years into their careers, men were earning an average of 26% more than their female counterparts. This increase in wage disparity as careers progress is undoubtedly essentially linked to differences in employment behaviour between men and women. The study points out that male-female employment patterns have a major effect on wage disparities. Five years into their careers, there are 10% more men in employment than women, irrespective of the particular generation studied. Differences in terms of career opportunities and access to positions of responsibility must also be factored in to the equation.

The way in which career and wage inequalities between men and women increase or decrease over time varies from one generation to another and also from one job type to another. Among men and women starting their working lives with a part-time job, the difference in the gender wage disparity between beginners and more experienced workers is wider for more recent cohorts than for earlier ones. At the end of five years, this disparity increases from 12.2% to 29.7% for more recent cohorts ( 17.5 points) and between 17.2 % and 34 % for older cohorts ( 16.8 points). This wage difference between younger and older cohorts and between beginners and experienced workers is inverted among full-time workers. Indeed, the wage disparity between men and women in full-time employment has narrowed over the generations, mainly due to higher qualification levels among women and the fact that more women hold positions of responsibility.

Reaction from government and social partners

As with the government-commissioned report from Catherine Génisson on employment inequality (FR9909108N), published in 1999, and the report from Michèle Cotta to the Economic and Social Council (Conseil Economique et Social, CES) on the proportion of women in decision-making positions (FR0101119F) tabled in 2000, this latest report stresses one of the many aspects of gender inequality and challenges both the trade unions and the government.

The government, represented by Nicole Péry, the Secretary of State for Women's Rights, considers wage inequality as 'unjustifiable discrimination', which the government intends to address through 'a whole package of initiatives'. A meeting of the Higher Committee for Employment Equality (Conseil supérieur de l'égalité professionnelle) in October 2001 will aim to 'put forward a communication package targeting human resources department managers'.

Among the trade unions, the General Confederation of Labour-Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail-Force ouvrière, CGT-FO) is using its Info Femmes publication to stress the importance of equal rights for men and women in the 'daily struggle for dignity, community spirit and equal rights for all'. In addition to publishing a book entitled Vous avez dit égalitée? (Did you say equality?) which condemns gender inequality (FR0104140N), the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) is organising 'employment equality seminars' for trade union members and officials on developing trade union expertise in tackling discrimination against women. A parallel CGT information campaign in autumn 2001 will focus on wage inequality among the sexes, and steps that unions can take within companies. The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) is prioritising women's access to male-dominated jobs. This union is stressing the fact that a major part of wage inequality stems from differences in employment among men and women in terms of working time, but also in terms of occupation and sector.

Commentary

INSEE's latest wage-based assessment summarises to some extent the inequalities facing women in employment. It also reflects another INSEE publication issued in summer 2001, entitled Femmes et hommes - Regards sur la parité (Men and women - study on gender equity), which is a compilation of all available information on gender issues both inside and outside the workplace. This overview provides the bare facts on progress that has been made on equality between the sexes but also on inequalities, which are often less visible and less easily identified. (Chistèle Meilland, IRES)