Concepts such as the glass ceiling, the gender pay gap, and the broader issue of discrimination against women in the workplace have gained increasing attention in recent years. According to European Commission data, women earn on average 12.7% less per hour than men across the European Union. At first glance, this figure may not seem particularly large, but in practice it means that over the course of a year, women would have to work more than one and a half months longer just to earn as much as men do in 12 months.
Pay equality is legally protected both at the EU level and under national law. In the European Union, it is enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, while in Poland it is guaranteed by the Constitution. If the Constitution guarantees women and men equal rights in economic life, including the right to equal pay for work of equal value, where does the problem lie? The issue of the gender pay gap is complex and can reasonably be described as systemic. Looking at the broader context of remuneration and statistical data, it becomes clear that unfavourable pay disparities result from the interaction of many different factors.
One of these is gender segregation across occupational sectors. Some professions are still subject to an unspoken gender monopoly. A large proportion of jobs involving work with young children are highly feminised and performed mainly by women. By contrast, if we go to a car repair shop to have the oil changed, we are much more likely to be served by a man. Around 24% of the gender pay gap can be attributed to the overrepresentation of women in lower-paid sectors such as healthcare, social care, and education. Work in these sectors is often undervalued, despite its crucial role in shaping society and, indirectly, the workforce and economic potential of a country.
This segmentation is also strongly influenced by the unequal distribution of unpaid household work. Women often perform the majority of domestic and childcare responsibilities in addition to paid employment, which affects their professional potential. Moreover, the number of children also matters. According to a meta-analysis conducted by researchers from the University of Warsaw, mothers earn up to 3.8% less than childless women in comparable positions.
It is also worth noting that the eight-hour working day was introduced in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution, when social conditions were very different from those of today. This model developed around the assumption that men were the primary breadwinners and that most essential household and family responsibilities did not fall to them. Today, when the amount of paid work and professional responsibilities is in most cases more evenly distributed between partners, one can argue that our working models have still not fully adapted to the social realities of the modern world. Of course, similar reasoning regarding domestic responsibilities can also apply to single fathers, but for the purposes of this article, the focus remains on the perspective of women.
Another issue that must be discussed is the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling refers to the idea that senior positions within organisational hierarchies are less frequently occupied by women. According to the previously mentioned European Commission report, fewer than one in ten of the highest executive positions are held by women, demonstrating persistent inequalities in access to the top levels of organisational structures. This is particularly visible in management, where the gender pay gap reaches as much as 23%.
The gender pay gap is a global phenomenon, but its scale differs significantly between countries. Within the EU, the lowest value is -0.7% in Luxembourg, while it is around 4% in Italy, 5.5% in Belgium, and rises to as much as 18% in Austria and 21% in Estonia. Pay disparities are noticeably smaller among younger and newly employed workers and tend to increase with age. In most countries, the gender pay gap has narrowed over the last decade, and global trends are generally moving downward. However, it is important to note that a smaller pay gap does not necessarily translate directly into a more equal distribution of senior positions between women and men.
An analysis of pay across different sectors of the economy has also shown that disparities are relatively higher in the financial and insurance sectors than the average for the economy as a whole. Interestingly, in some EU countries, negative gender pay gaps have been recorded in sectors such as water supply and waste management, suggesting that women employed in these industries earn, on average, more than men.
Gender pay disparities are a complex problem. In the terminology of the social sciences, they can be classified as so-called wicked problems — interconnected and difficult issues with no single clear solution. By their very nature, such problems require comprehensive analysis and coordinated action. Among the main factors contributing to the gender pay gap are occupational gender segregation, traditional gender roles related to unpaid work, and the glass ceiling. Although labour market trends appear to be moving in a positive direction, unfavourable pay disparities remain a persistent issue. Measures promoting pay transparency, effective enforcement of equal pay principles, and ensuring equal working conditions for everyone may prove crucial in addressing the problem and moving towards a fairer and, as a result, more productive society.
Sources:
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Gender_pay_gap_statistics#Gender_pay_gap_levels_vary_significantly_across_EU https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X20300144
