Tag Archives: women rights

Gender Issues

Gender Equality in the European Union: a study

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A few days ago, a report about gender equality in the European Union was released. It looks at the changes in gender equality between 2005 and 2019, with a focus on work-life balance.

The report highlights a glaring issue – while there is progress for women in terms of job opportunities and pay, as well as healthcare, the large share of power (political, economic or otherwise) still remains with men.

Further, even as countries like Sweden and Denmark have made remarkable progress , others like Greece and Hungary, are trailing. Meanwhile, per the study, countries like Lithuania  have not progressed since 2005 in achieving gender equality.

The report concludes, “In some domains, progress has slowed, stalled or even regressed. We are still far from the finish line.”

Gender Issues

On the Gender Pay Gap

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Last week, I was watching an episode of Vox’s Explained series on Netflix. While they recently launched their second season, I am still catching up with the first. The episode I was watching, “Why Women Are Paid Less,” examined the gender pay gap.

Credit: IMDB

Narrated by actress Rachel McAdams, the episode features former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, among others, as they talk about the issue and their experiences.

In the episode, Clinton says: “I never met a woman doctor [growing up].”

As McAdams explains, in the 50s and 60s, there were several aspects to pay gap – it was legal for women to be paid less, women had lower education rates and participation in the work force, and even when they did, it was often in “feminine” industries. Plus, there were cultural constraints on women and their roles in family and society.

Among these, the major one still persists – women are expected to have children and look after them.

According to a Pew Research Center study, men are increasingly taking domestic roles. Despite this, 78% of Americans think new fathers should be working full-time, while another survey (NBER, Kleven et al, 2018) shows that only about 20% of people believe new mothers should work full-time.

As Explained points out, the gender pay gap is a complex issue and even as there is progress being made, a history of inequality, coupled with social pressures means that fixing it is difficult.