Women still second ddle at work

26 March 2015

NTERNATIONAL Women’s Day (March 8th) pro-

vides us with an opportunity to reﬂect on issues

relating to gender equality and to take stock on

where progress has been made and the chal-

lenges that remain to be overcome. This is the

ﬁrst of two articles which assesses progress and chal-

lenges associated with women and the economy.

Ireland is ranked eighth out of 142 countries and

fourth out of the EU28 in the World Economic Forum

Global Gender Gap Report for 2014. The Global Gender

Gap Index, developed by the World Economic Forum, is

a useful framework for capturing the magnitude and

scope of gender-based disparities. The Index bench-

marks national gender gaps on economic, political,

educational and health

criteria. It looks at eco-

nomic-participation

and economic-op-

portunity deviation;

educational-attain-

ment deviation; health

and survival deviation

and political-empow-

erment deviation.

Gender equality

should be one of the

cornerstones of any

modern society, with

gender-equality poli-

cies ensuring women

and men enjoy the

same opportunities,

rights and obligations

in all areas of life. Eve-

ryone, regardless of gender, has the right to work and

support themselves, to balance career and family life,

and to live without the fear of abuse or violence. Gender

equality implies not only equal distribution between

men and women in all domains of society. It is also

about quality, ensuring that the most useful knowledge

and experience of both men and women are used to pro-

mote progress in all aspects of society.

Ireland scores high in the areas of educational attain-

ment in the Index. For example, just over 55% of women

aged between 25 and 34 have a third-level qualiﬁca-

tion compared to 43% of men. There is clearly a need

to improve the participation rates of men in third-level

education. However, despite advances in educational

attainment, traditional and stereotypical career expec-

tations for girls and boys still need to be addressed.

These inform subject and career choices. Gender seg-

regation in the uptake of speciﬁc subjects, particularly

in the ﬁelds of science, technology, engineering and

mathematics is still a major challenge that has yet to be

overcome. Not only are girls and young women a minor-

ity of students in these ﬁelds, qualiﬁed women are more

likely than men to leave these professions.

In health and survival Ireland also performs very

well. However, it’s important to highlight that there

are serious shortcomings in the area of women’s repro-

ductive rights. These can only be addressed through

a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the

Constitution (Article 40.3.3).

Ireland appears to perform very well in the area of

political empowerment. However, a closer look at spe-

ciﬁc indicators shows that our score in this area is

skewed by the fact that we have had two women presi-

dents, who are classed as ‘heads of state’, in the last 50

years. Ireland’s ranking for the participation of women

in parliament and ministerial and position is 92 and 82

out of 142 countries, respectively.

Women TDs currently make up 16% of the Dáil

which is an abysmal level of representation of women

in politics. However, the introduction of gender-

quota legislation requiring 30% of party candidates

to be women in the forthcoming general election will

increase the number of women being elected. This leg-

islation should be extended to local elections because

this is the arena where most politicians start their polit-

ical careers, and women local representatives still only

account for little more than one in ﬁve out of all City and

County Councillors.

In economic participation and opportunity, Ireland

performs well relative to other countries. However,

Ireland is ranked

eighth out of

142 countries

and fourth out of

the EU28 in the

World Economic

Forum Global

Gender Gap

Report for 2014

Women still second ddle at work

SINÉAD PENTONY

March 8th

INTERNATIONAL

WOMEN’S DAY

March 2015 27

again on closer inspection, the participation of women

in the labour force has stagnated, the gender pay gap is

widening and we still have too few women in senior posi-

tions in the public and private sectors and on boards of

directors. Economic independence is a prerequisite for

enabling both women and men to exercise control over

their lives and to make genuine choices, so it is worth

taking a closer look at women and men in relation to

economic indicators.

Working in paid employment is the main route to

achieving economic independence for women. In Ire-

land, the employment rate for men is almost 71% and

60% for women (Eurostat, 2013). The EU average is

74% for men and almost 63% for women. The Euro-

pean employment rate target is 75% for both women

and men. The employment rate for men in Ireland has

fallen from over 80% in 2003 to the current level,

while the employment rate for women was just below

60% in the same period.

As the employment situation continues to improve

the employment rate for men looks likely to recover

quickly, however the same cannot be said for women,

as their employment rate has not exceeded 65% in the

last 10 years. This means particular attention needs to

be given to the labour market participation of women.

This must also take account of the fact that women work

part-time more than men. Women account for over 75%

of part-time workers.

Women also work in less valued jobs and sectors

that pay less. A signiﬁcant gender pay gap must also be

addressed. Women earn less than men and the gender

pay gap currently stands at over 14% and is widening.

This is despite women being better qualiﬁed.

The lack of high quality, aﬀordable childcare is the

major barrier to employment for many women, as the

majority of women have primary responsibility for their

children. Women are also more likely to be engaged in

unpaid work in the home or as carers. In the majority

of households, family responsibilities are not shared

equally. This limits opportunities to work outside the

home and diminishes economic independence and has

a knock-on eﬀect in in later life, as only 16% of those

who receive the full contributory pension are women,

due to lower labour force participation.

The provision of aﬀordable, high-quality childcare

would clearly have the biggest immediate impact in cre-

ating the conditions for increasing women’s access to

the labour market and the opportunities for economic

independence. The high cost of early care and education

services to parents in Ireland reﬂects the lack of public

investment. According to the OECD, Ireland invests

only 0.4% GDP annually in early care and education

services, compared to the OECD average of 0.7% GDP.

Internationally, 1% of GDP is regarded as a benchmark

for the level of investment required for a high-quality

system of early care and education, a level achieved in

New Zealand and the Nordic countries.

Gender equality is more important now than ever as

we strive to recover from the economic crisis. Along

with the fulﬁlment of an obvious moral obligation,

gender equality oﬀers economic advantages through

the eﬃcient use of the skills of all the population. While

adjusting policy to meet standards of equality may

yield short-term expenses, the long-term beneﬁts to

society on both an ethical and economic level would

be unparallelled.

The rights of women have improved greatly but the

goal of full equality remains a work in progress. The

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the

National Women’s Council of Ireland recently hosted

a joint conference, ‘A Woman’s Place is in the World’,

to highlight the need for the State to keep the protec-

tion of women’s human rights and the achievement of

equality between women and men in Ireland as a top

policy priority.

Consultation on a new National Women’s Strat-

egy is getting underway and it should serve to renew

and reinvigorate our commitment to gender equality.

Unfortunately, the government is currently continu-

ing to support gender inequalities through budgetary

and policy decisions. The article in the next edition

will identify a comprehensive set of policy measures

that will facilitate the full participation of women in

the economy and create the conditions for economic

independence. •

Women account for

over 75% of part-time

workers. The gender pay

gap currently stands

at over 14% and is

widening, despite women

being better qualiﬁed.

Child-care is a barrier

“

Source: Eurostat (online data code: ifsi_emp_a)

Chart 2: Gross childcare fees as a percentage of average wage

Source: IMF and the Department of Finance

Chart 1: Employment rates by gender (15-64), 2013

Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2014

Male

Female

100

EU-28

Euro area (EA-18)

Sweden

Netherlands

Germany

Denmark

Austria

United Kingdom

Finland

Estonia

Czech Republic

Luxembourg

Latvia

France

Lithuania

Slovenia

Belgium

Cyprus

Portugal

Malta

Ireland

Poland

Slovakia

Romania

Bulgaria

Hungary

Italy

Spain

Greece

Croatia

Iceland

Switzerland

Norway

Japan (1)

United States (1)

Tutkey

FYR of Macedonia

1. 2012