Broader gender perspective needed in debate on ‘making work pay’

The report, ‘Making work pay’: debates from a gender perspective, is a comparative review of some recent policy reforms in 30 European countries. The aim of the report is to identify the gender impact of tax or social benefit reforms, the effect of maternity and parental leave on employment (re-)integration, and the development of childcare services as an instrument to support parents’ employment.

In May 2006, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities published a report entitled ‘Making work pay’: debates from a gender perspective (2.7Mb PDF). The primary policy context for this report is the Commission’s Communication ‘Modernising social protection for more and better jobs – a comprehensive approach contributing to making work pay’ (COM[2003], 842 final) (238Kb PDF). The objective of the report is to develop the gender perspective in the debate on labour supply.

National focus of ‘making work pay’

The policy focus on ‘making work pay’ varies between European countries. In countries with limited social protection coverage for the working age population, the emphasis of policy debates and reform is largely on extending social protection. In countries with more extensive social protection systems, examples are given of recent tax or social benefit reforms designed to improve the financial incentives to take up work for unemployed and inactive people as well as low-paid employees.

Impact of maternity and parental leave on employment

A positive correlation exists between state provision for maternity leave, parental leave and childcare, on the one hand, and the employment rate of women, on the other.

Entitlements have proved to be an integration mechanism in two key ways. First, such provisions enable women to enter employment and/or to work full-time hours up to the birth of a child to build up entitlement. Secondly, the entitlements largely protect the employment rewards from deteriorating.

Overall, four key issues shape the impact of parental leave provisions on the labour integration/re-integration of mothers and fathers, namely:

• whether the leave is paid;

• the length and flexibility of the leave entitlement;

• whether leave provisions are complemented by public funding of childcare;

• whether men take leave as well as women.

Parental leave and eligibility criteria

Impact on eligibility for active labour market measures

In general, parents who take up parental leave are formally eligible for active labour market measures as they retain their employed status and associated social protection and benefits. However, in practice, workers on parental leave may be more vulnerable to redundancy or pressures to resign from their jobs.

With regard to the integration of those returning to work after a period of absence, examples of good practice can be found in a number of countries, such as Austria, Greece and Lithuania, where measures exist specifically designed for people returning to work as well as for unemployed parents.

Impact on eligibility for lifelong learning or other training provisions

In the majority of countries, parents on an extended period of leave or women returning to work are equally eligible for training or lifelong learning. However, although there may be no formal barriers, informal barriers can create obstacles to the take-up of existing opportunities. In particular, childcare constraints – in terms of price, opening hours or urban location – to attending training courses were identified in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

In some countries, such as Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain, developments in legislation or collective agreements encourage employers to provide training for those returning to work after a period of parental leave or an exit from the labour market.

Childcare services

Childcare services can act as an important mechanism for facilitating the employment of parents with care responsibilities. However, the impact of childcare services on labour supply and employment continuity depends on the following factors:

• availability of childcare services;

• costs of services;

• compatibility between services and working hours;

• quality of care provided.

Conclusions

The report concludes that a gender mainstreaming perspective is generally lacking in recent national tax or social benefit reforms. Where a gender perspective has been developed, it usually merely consists of identifying certain target groups in which women predominate. Even where a more detailed gender impact assessment has occurred, the issues exposed may not be dealt with, due to competing political priorities. Thus, in most countries, elements of policy design continue to undermine efforts to ‘make work pay’ for women, by constructing and reinforcing their role as the second earner within a couple (EU0605019I).

According to the report, gender mainstreaming allows for a different perspective in order to develop more effective policy solutions for a range of social and economic objectives. For example, gender mainstreaming reveals the relation between tax/social benefit systems and childcare services, as well as the potentially negative impact of tax cuts on women’s public sector employment. Therefore, tax and social benefit reform needs to be evaluated from a gender perspective that is broader than the current, narrow debates in terms of labour supply about ‘making work pay’.

Further information

For more information about how gender mainstreaming is measured and its prevalence in European countries, see the EWCO topic report on gender mainstreaming in surveys (TN0608TR02). See also the [publications on the issue of gender and work](/search/node/publications OR bysubject OR listgender2006?oldIndex) from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

Volker Telljohann and Maite Tapia, Institute for Labour Foundation, Bologna