Economic Strategies, Welfare Regimes and Gender Inequality in Employment in the European Union

Abstract

Female participation in paid employment has in creased significantly in recent decades throughout Europe, but despite the existence of equal opportuni ties policies the position of women in the labour market remains a subordinate one. There are how ever, significant differences between European Union countries in terms of the extent of inequality. Using data from Eurostat, and a methodology simi lar to the United Nations human development index, a composite index of gender inequality in employ ment is devised and estimated for countries in the EU in order to identify more precisely the extent of variation in gender differences. These differences in gender inequality in employ ment are linked to relationships between the state, the economy and society, more specifically, in terms of welfare regimes and regulatory frameworks. Pre liminary results indicate marked differences in the extent of gender inequality between social demo cratic and liberal market economies with varying performances in the more corporatist and in the southern or peripheral economies suggesting that any harmonization of social policy in the EU should be towards rather than away from more social demo cratic regimes if gender equality in employment is considered to be a desirable social goal.