Breathe
By María Fernanda Cobo M.
When we talk about the gender gap in the labor market, we must necessarily refer to Claudia Goldin, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics at the end of last year, at the same time that the World Economic Forum revealed that humanity would need 131 years to close the economic gap between men and women.
Dr. Goldin, through her economic research spanning a period of almost 200 years, disproves the myth of a direct relationship between economic growth and the reduction of the gender gap. She points out that there are other social, cultural and scientific-technical development variables that determine the increase or reduction of gender inequality. In her book Understanding the gender gap - An Economic History of American Women, she identifies that there are two reasons that drove the incorporation of women into the labor market: education and access to the contraceptive pill. These two factors made it easier for women to develop a career, which in turn led to the emergence of the wage gap, manifested primarily with the birth of the first child.
Goldin, a Harvard professor, in her book Career & Family: Women's Century-Long Journey toward Equity, denies that the origin of the gender gap was solely discrimination, arguing that in administrative and service jobs, companies tend to value the time employees are on the job more and not necessarily the most productive ones. "Men are disproportionately more available to fulfill long workdays, while women are disproportionately more available for household chores." She points out that women continue to earn less than men despite having a higher level of education, and prefer part-time work to reconcile work and family, or the unequal division of domestic work between men and women, this being a very intuitive preference for the vast majority of women.
Another pioneering and challenging contribution for public and business policy makers on labor issues can be found in her book Women Working Longer: Increased Employment at Older Ages , a research that reveals new findings on the labor supply in old age, when factors such as divorce among adults, the financial weakness of consolidated households and low retirement pensions force women to remain competitive through work experience, continuing education and technological advances.
The gender gap in the labor market is not only a matter of social justice, but also a matter of economic efficiency, where greater gender equality would allow women to have a more dignified representation in building shared prosperity.
*Master in Human Rights, Specialist in Management, Government and Public Affairs. She is currently a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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