<\/p>\n
Since the middle of the 20th century, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of\u00a0women\u2019s participation in the labor market. Accordingly, supporting policies focused mainly on the\u00a0ability of women to combine paid labor with traditional homemaking.<\/p>\n
These policies were based on the model of \u201cmain breadwinner\/main caregiver,\u201d according to which\u00a0men are the main providers while women are secondary providers and the main caregivers. It was\u00a0the need for women\u2019s labor that led to the development of policies to support working women:\u00a0childcare frameworks, tax benefits to working mothers, paid maternity leave and protective labor\u00a0legislation targeting women.<\/p>\n
The policies supporting women\u2019s labor force participation increased gender based occupational\u00a0segregation in most countries, resulting in the concentration of women in the public sector, mainly\u00a0in care and service occupations such as teaching, secretarial work, sales work, and nursing,\u00a0as well as in part time jobs. The gender based occupational segregation and shorter working\u00a0hours legitimized wage differences between men and women; thus they were not perceived as\u00a0discriminatory or as a gender inequality issue.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the last decade has been characterized by a growing understanding that the same\u00a0policies that enabled the successful integration of women into paid labor created and reproduced\u00a0gender segregation in the labor market, as well as gender pay gaps. Correspondingly, international\u00a0organizations such as the OECD and the European Union focused their efforts on coping with\u00a0gender occupational segregation and pay gaps. This required a thorough examination of gender\u00a0pay gaps per month and per hour, in the private and the public sectors, by occupation and by\u00a0economic sector. In addition, there emerged a critical examination of the influence of \u201cwomen\u00a0friendly\u201d policies that boosted women\u2019s labor force participation on women\u2019s patterns of work\u00a0and pay levels. The result was the realization that the \u201cmain breadwinner\/main caregiver\u201d model\u00a0needs to be replaced by a \u201cdual breadwinner\/ dual caregiver\u201d model. That is, labor policies need\u00a0to support the integration of both parents in paid labor as well as in homemaking. New strategies\u00a0were developed to meet this challenge: gender de-segregation policies, such as encouraging\u00a0women to work in \u201cmale\u201d professions and to a lesser extent efforts to integrate men into \u201cfemale\u201d\u00a0occupations; incentives for men to play a larger role in child care; educational programs to cope\u00a0with gender stereotypes and gender tracking of girls and boys from an early age.<\/p>\n
Eradication of the gender pay gaps requires tackling the roots of the gender division of labor in\u00a0the household and the labor market, a comprehensive and long term process. The experience\u00a0accumulated over the last decade indicates it requires the cooperation of all parties involved\u00a0in the labor market — the state, employers\u2019 and workers\u2019 organizations and civil society groups.\u00a0Policies need to be diverse and to address different aspects of the gender division of labor — in\u00a0the workplace, at home, patterns of education and professional training.<\/p>\n
In this paper we review the main steps taken by different countries in the course of the last decade\u00a0to narrow the gender pay gap and we discuss the lessons that can be learned from these efforts.\u00a0Both the OECD and the European Union set a target of closing gender pay gaps for their member\u00a0countries and are active on the issue. Most of the countries have established state organs to address\u00a0gender pay gaps. The evidence presented in this paper in based mostly on the reports of the member\u00a0countries of both organizations and on the studies on the topic conducted in those countries.<\/p>\n
The task of reducing gender inequality is not new. However, the development of policies directly\u00a0targeting the gender pay gap is a recent endeavor. This is the reason why it is still not possible\u00a0to present clear-cut winning strategies. Follow up research and evaluation of the results of steps\u00a0taken is still only partial. All the same, it is possible to indicate directions of what appears to be\u00a0effective action and what seem to be good practices.<\/p>\n