The gender pay gap

Explain what the gender pay gap is and how it is calculated. How does it differ from direct pay discrimination (paying differently for the exact same role)?

In a company, the average salary for men is $2.000\ \text{€}$ and for women, $1.800\ \text{€}$.

1. a) Calculate the pay gap as a percentage of the average salary for men.
2. b) Interpret the result: how many fewer euros does a woman earn for every $100\ \text{€}$ earned by a man?

In a company, women earn an average of $19\ \text{€}$ per hour and men, $22\ \text{€}$ per hour.

1. a) Calculate the pay gap as a percentage of the men's average wage.
2. b) Interpret the result in a sentence anyone can understand.

What is unpaid care work (looking after children, elderly people, the home) and how is it shared today between men and women in most countries? Explain what effect taking it on has on the working career of the person who does it, even if their contract is identical to someone else's.

What does the "motherhood penalty" consist of? Explain how the birth of a child can hold back a worker's pay and promotion (career breaks, reduced hours, prejudice) even if her salary is never officially cut.

Explain two common causes of the pay gap related to maternity and to the concentration of women in certain sectors, and reason why neither of them appears written in anyone's contract.

The pay gap can be measured per hour, per month or per year. Explain why the result changes depending on the measure chosen: what happens to the annual gap if many women work part-time even though they earn the same per hour?

The figure shows the average monthly salary of men and women across three sectors in an imaginary country.

1. a) Calculate the pay gap for each sector as a percentage and rank them from highest to lowest.
2. b) What hypotheses could explain why the gap varies so much from one sector to another?

In a fictitious country, $70\ \%$ of part-time contracts belong to women, and a good share of them do not choose those hours freely.

1. a) Explain how part-time work influences the annual pay gap even when the hourly wage is identical.
2. b) Propose two measures that reduce involuntary part-time work (care services, the right to full-time hours, co-responsibility) and explain how they work.

In one company, the workforce is half men and half women; among middle managers, $60\ \%$ are men, and in senior management, $80\ \%$.

1. a) Describe the pattern using the technical name it receives and explain why it is a "funnel".
2. b) Propose two possible causes (care work, promotion culture, informal networks) and one specific measure for each.

A supermarket chain discovers a pay gap of $12\ \%$: women make up the majority of checkout staff, while men dominate logistics and store management.

1. a) Analyse the case by distinguishing between horizontal segregation and vertical segregation.
2. b) Propose a plan with three concrete measures and explain which indicator you would monitor to evaluate it.

Assess these three measures against the pay gap: publishing average salaries by gender in companies, equal and non-transferable paternity and maternity leave, and female quotas on boards of directors.

1. a) Explain the mechanism through which each measure would work.
2. b) Which one do you find most effective in the long term? Defend your choice.

One country equalises paternity and maternity leave: the same number of weeks, compulsory and non-transferable for each parent.

1. a) Explain what incentive changes for a company when hiring a man or a woman aged $30$ (statistical discrimination).
2. b) Analyse possible side effects (difficulties in small firms, the birth rate) and how you would address them.
3. c) Why can this measure do more for the gap than an awareness campaign? Reason your answer.