Guiding
Question: What is the Beijing Declaration and why is it important? Why is the
market unfair to female workers in terms of unequal pay? Can you predict
which countries or regions of the world have better gender wage equality?
What do you think are the most important factors promoting wage equality?
|
The Beijing Declaration (Notes:)
1. Date:
2. What was is the Beijing Declaration? 123 page mission statement signed by
189 countries about...
3. Its importance?
4. 20 years since:
Reading: Gender pay gap will not close for 70 years at current rate, says UN (Vocabulary) |
The income of female workers
across the world will lag behind men’s for another 70 years if the gender pay
gap continues to reduce at the present painfully slow rate, the UN is warning
in a report that lays bare global inequality in the workplace.
More than half a century after the
United States passed the Equal Pay Act, and 45 years after similar
legislation in the UK, women across the world earn 77% of the amount paid to
men, a figure that has improved by only three percentage points in the past
20 years, according to a report
from the UN’s International Labour Organization (pdf) (ILO).
Over and above the pay gap, women
face a “motherhood pay gap”. Women with children can expect to earn less when
they return to work than childless women, with the difference increasing for
every child they have, according
to an ILO analysis.
The report, released ahead of
International Women’s Day on Sunday, also shows that the gender gap in work
participation has barely shifted in two decades. Since the Beijing Declaration on women’s rights
was signed by 189 governments in 1995, the difference in men’s and women’s labor
market participation rates has dropped by only 1%. Today 50% of the world’s
women work, compared with 77% of men. In 1996, the figures were 52% and 80% respectively.
“The overriding conclusion 20 years on from
Beijing is that, despite marginal (微小) progress,
we have years, even decades, to go until women enjoy the same rights and
benefits as men at work,” said Shauna Olney, chief of the gender, equality and
Diversity branch of the ILO.
The report (舉例，引證) an 11-country analysis carried out in
2005 showing
that women with two children in the UK can expect to earn 25% less than a
childless woman. The gap was less than 10% in Belgium, the Netherlands,
Ireland, Spain and Portugal. In France, Italy and Denmark, women with two
children could expect to earn slightly more than their childless
counterparts.
Women who start families before the age of 25
“suffer a larger wage penalty (刑罰)”, while in general – and perhaps
not surprisingly – the longer the period of time away from work, the larger
the hit, according to the ILO.
But the report found that
government policies (政策，方針，策略) also had
a significant effect. A 2009 study by Pettit and Hook, for example, found
women in the US were penalized for even short periods out of the labor market
while, in Sweden, women only had a drop in wages if they took more than the
normal 15 months of statutory paid leave.
Fathers, on the other hand, are
likely to earn more than childless men, according to ILO – an influential 2010
report from the University of Massachusetts that it cites found fathers in the US earn 11%
more than non-fathers.
Mothers were more likely to have
career breaks, switch to part-time work, choose jobs that help to reconcile (調和；調解) work and family – which are usually lower paying – and miss
out on promotions (提升，晉升；升遷), said
Kristen Sobeck, an economist at the ILO. But lower pay for mothers was also
linked to other factors such as discrimination and undervaluation of women’s work, as well as government policies on parental leave, labor
rights and childcare. Asked if the gender pay gap was inevitable (不可避免), she said:
“I think a gender pay gap will persist
insofar as societies and policies shift care responsibilities disproportionately (不成比例, 不相稱) to
women.”
There has been some progress
according to the ILO. The percentage
of countries offering some form of maternity leave has increased from 38% in 1995 to 51% today –
although 41% of all women don’t have “adequate protection”.
States are
also increasingly giving men paternity
leave – up from
28% two decades ago to 56% today. But the ILO says that, while men are “beginning
to take on more care responsibilities”, women still shoulder the majority of
the burden. In the EU, women
spend 26 hours per week on care and home activities, compared
with nine hours for men.
Naomi Wolf, a consultant at the
Athena Center for Leadership Studies, said: “Sexism in the workplace pumps
untold revenue (稅收，歲入) into the coffers (資金，金庫) of global
business ... this situation will never yield to reasoned appeals, too much
money is at stake. It is past time for women to organize both as a movement in the labor force and as a political
powerhouse to close this nightmarish gap in fairness and equality.”
Other facts are bleaker still:
according to the ILO, a third of all women are “victims of physical and/or
sexual violence that affects their attendance at work”. According to the
latest figures from the World Bank, 700m women are victims of either physical
or sexual violence – in the Middle East and Africa, 40% are victims, in south
east Asia the figure is 43%.
Asked whether working women were
better off than they were 20 years ago, Guy Ryder, the ILO’s director general,
gave a qualified yes. “Has this progress met our expectations (期盼；盼望)? The answer is decidedly no,” he added. “We need to be innovative (創新, 革新), to reframe (表達，說出)the debate (談論，討論) and to intensify the focus on ensuring the rights of women
at work, and promoting(促銷，推銷) gender equality and women’s
economic empowerment (授權；使自主).”
|
Questions
1. Why is sexism in the workplace profitable for global business?
2. How are men and women treated differently when they become parents?
3. What does the ILO stand for?
4. What is maternity/ paternity leave? What is Taiwan’s policy on such leave?
5. What is the most significant effect for improving gender equality in the workplace?
6. Imagine you are an adult at work. If you are male, how does it make you feel that your female coworker with the same education and experience background as you, earns less than you? If you are female, how does it make you feel that you earn less than your male coworkers?
The gender pay gap in the Western world is back in the
spotlight, after the British government announced all large businesses will
have to publish details of
the difference between earnings for men and women. About
time, many will say. Although this year marked the 45th anniversary of the
country’s Equal Pay Act, women still earn on average 20% less than men. That
makes the UK’s pay gap the sixth largest in
the European Union.
1. The gender pay gap increases with age
There is a gender pay gap across all age groups,
but it starts off narrower: in the US, between the ages of 25 and 34, female
employees earn around 90% compared with their male counterparts. As women get older,
that gap gets bigger. Women over 65 who work full time make just 72.5
cents for every dollar earned by men.
2. When workers are unionized, the gender
pay gap shrinks
Research from the
National Women’s Law Center reveals that the gender
pay gap for unionized workers is half the size of that among non-unionized
workers. It also found that unionized women earn on average $200 a week more
than women who are not a member of a union.
3. Women expect to earn less than men
There isn’t just a gender pay gap; there’s a
gender pay-expectation gap. In a
recent Glassdoor survey of the British labour market, 40% of men said they
were confident they will receive a pay rise over the next year; just over a
quarter of women said the same.
A study
from researchers at Columbia University put this expectation gap
down to two factors: overconfidence and competitiveness. According to their
research, men have a higher level of competitiveness and are twice as likely
as women to overestimate their true ability; they calculate that these two
factors account for 18% of the expectation gap.
The authors conclude that the expectation gap
also goes some way to explaining the difference in real earnings:
“Individuals with low earnings expectations are more willing to accept a
low-paying job offer because it is in line with their beliefs, and they are
also less likely to negotiate for a higher salary since the offer is
consistent with their benchmark.”
4. Women pay a ‘motherhood penalty’ – while
men get a ‘fatherhood bonus’
“While the gender pay gap has been decreasing,
the pay gap related to parenthood is increasing.” Those are the
findings of Michelle Budig, a professor who has spent years researching
the issue and how it plays out in the US.
Fatherhood, it seems, is highly valued in the
world of work: fathers are more likely to be hired than their childless
counterparts and men tend to see their earnings increase – by around 6% –
after having children.
Women, on the other hand, pay a penalty of
around 4% per child. The penalty is higher for low-paid workers.
5. It could be another 80 years before we
achieve gender parity in the workplace
The Forum started measuring the global gender
gap back in 2006. At the time, the gap for economic participation stood at
56%. Today, it’s 60%. While that’s progress, it’s too slow – if we continue
at the same pace, we
won’t achieve gender parity at work until 2095. That means most of us
reading this won’t live to see workplace gender equality.
While statistics on the gender pay gap – and the
slow pace at which things are changing – can seem depressing, moves like the
UK’s mandatory gender pay audits are steps in the right direction. As David
Cameron, the British prime minister, said when he announced
the new measure,
transparency will go a long way to closing the gap: “Casting sunlight on the
discrepancies will create the pressure we need for change, driving women’s
wages up.”
1. Entrenched 牢固確立的；根深柢固的；積重難返的
It's very difficult to change attitudes that have become so deeply entrenched over the years. 要改變多年以來根深柢固的舊看法是很困難的。
The organization was often criticized for being too entrenched in its views.
這個組織死守著自己的觀點不變，因此常常受到批評。
2.Scaling 爬越；攀登
囚犯攀越監獄的高牆逃跑了。
3.stagnated 停滯不前；不發展
The electronics industry is showing signs of stagnating after 15 yearsof tremendous growth. 電子産業在經過15年的飛速發展之後出現了停滯不前的跡象。
4.standout 突出的事物，出眾的事物
所有的甜點都很不錯，不過檸檬派顯然最受歡迎。
5.slumped（價格、價值或銷售額）猛跌，突然下降
Car sales have slumped dramatically over the past year. 過去一年汽車的銷售額大幅下降。
6.feedback回饋資訊，回饋意見
7.confined把…局限在，限制
Let's confine our discussion to the matter in question, please! 請把討論集中在正題上！
By closing the infected farms we're hoping to confine the disease to the north of the region (= stop it from spreading to other areas).
透過關閉受感染的農場，我們希望把疾病限制在該地區的北部。
8.glass ceiling無形限制，無形頂障（通常指職務晉升中無法逾越的限制）
Various reasons are given for the apparent glass ceiling women hit in many professions. 顯然，在很多行業中女性的升遷都受到無形限制，對此人們給了不同的解釋。
9.disparity不平等；不等同；差異
10.matriarchal母系社會
Asia’s
women are taking one step forward, two steps back when it comes to gender
equality. Family structures and entrenched
notions of what constitutes women’s work are holding back the region’s female
population from scaling the
corporate ladder, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The
proportion of women graduates who studied construction, engineering and
manufacturing has stagnated or
even fallen in some countries, including Malaysia, Mongolia and Japan, UNESCO
data show.
A standout is South Korea, where the
proportion of female graduates choosing these fields has slumped to almost one in 10 in 2013 from more than one in five in
1998. Korean women also make up a smaller share of construction, engineering
and manufacturing graduates compared with previously.
There
can be a negative feedback cycle
when female graduates in these fields find it difficult to find employment or
stay on the job due to gender bias in areas traditionally dominated by men,
according to the ILO.
While
women own and manage almost 30 percent of businesses in the Asia-Pacific
region, female employers are mainly confined
to micro and small enterprises, the ILO said in a report. The share of women
bosses increased in countries such as Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines
from 2008 to 2013, despite many major companies still lacking female voices
on their boards.
“The
major obstacle we still find is that gender stereotyping is still there,
perhaps linked to the fact that family responsibilities are still mainly
assigned to women,” ILO Bureau For Employers’ Activities director Deborah
France-Massin said. “The glass ceiling
is cracked, but it is still far from broken.”
Pay disparity also remains an issue in
Asia. Men in India and South Korea make more than 30 percent more than their
female counterparts, the ILO said. Yet, there are exceptions: In the
Philippines’ matriarchal society,
women actually earn more than men on average.
Questions
1. What factors help create the “glass
ceiling” for female workers in Asia?
2. Which countries are the worst? Why do
they have more pay disparity or less women in traditionally male jobs?
3. Which countries are the best? Why do
they have less pay disparity or more women in traditionally male jobs?
The gender pay gap in the Western world is back in the
spotlight, after the British government announced all large businesses will
have to publish details of
the difference between earnings for men and women. About
time, many will say. Although this year marked the 45th anniversary of the
country’s Equal Pay Act, women still earn on average 20% less than men. That
makes the UK’s pay gap the sixth largest in
the European Union.
1. The gender pay gap increases with age
There is a gender pay gap across all age groups,
but it starts off narrower: in the US, between the ages of 25 and 34, female
employees earn around 90% compared with their male counterparts. As women get older,
that gap gets bigger. Women over 65 who work full time make just 72.5
cents for every dollar earned by men.
2. When workers are unionized, the gender
pay gap shrinks
Research from the
National Women’s Law Center reveals that the gender
pay gap for unionized workers is half the size of that among non-unionized
workers. It also found that unionized women earn on average $200 a week more
than women who are not a member of a union.
3. Women expect to earn less than men
There isn’t just a gender pay gap; there’s a
gender pay-expectation gap. In a
recent Glassdoor survey of the British labour market, 40% of men said they
were confident they will receive a pay rise over the next year; just over a
quarter of women said the same.
A study
from researchers at Columbia University put this expectation gap
down to two factors: overconfidence and competitiveness. According to their
research, men have a higher level of competitiveness and are twice as likely
as women to overestimate their true ability; they calculate that these two
factors account for 18% of the expectation gap.
The authors conclude that the expectation gap
also goes some way to explaining the difference in real earnings:
“Individuals with low earnings expectations are more willing to accept a
low-paying job offer because it is in line with their beliefs, and they are
also less likely to negotiate for a higher salary since the offer is
consistent with their benchmark.”
4. Women pay a ‘motherhood penalty’ – while
men get a ‘fatherhood bonus’
“While the gender pay gap has been decreasing,
the pay gap related to parenthood is increasing.” Those are the
findings of Michelle Budig, a professor who has spent years researching
the issue and how it plays out in the US.
Fatherhood, it seems, is highly valued in the
world of work: fathers are more likely to be hired than their childless
counterparts and men tend to see their earnings increase – by around 6% –
after having children.
Women, on the other hand, pay a penalty of
around 4% per child. The penalty is higher for low-paid workers.
5. It could be another 80 years before we
achieve gender parity in the workplace
The Forum started measuring the global gender
gap back in 2006. At the time, the gap for economic participation stood at
56%. Today, it’s 60%. While that’s progress, it’s too slow – if we continue
at the same pace, we
won’t achieve gender parity at work until 2095. That means most of us
reading this won’t live to see workplace gender equality.
While statistics on the gender pay gap – and the
slow pace at which things are changing – can seem depressing, moves like the
UK’s mandatory gender pay audits are steps in the right direction. As David
Cameron, the British prime minister, said when he announced
the new measure,
transparency will go a long way to closing the gap: “Casting sunlight on the
discrepancies will create the pressure we need for change, driving women’s
wages up.”
|
Asia’s
women are taking one step forward, two steps back when it comes to gender
equality. Family structures and entrenched
notions of what constitutes women’s work are holding back the region’s female
population from scaling the
corporate ladder, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The
proportion of women graduates who studied construction, engineering and
manufacturing has stagnated or
even fallen in some countries, including Malaysia, Mongolia and Japan, UNESCO
data show.
A standout is South Korea, where the
proportion of female graduates choosing these fields has slumped to almost one in 10 in 2013 from more than one in five in
1998. Korean women also make up a smaller share of construction, engineering
and manufacturing graduates compared with previously.
There
can be a negative feedback cycle
when female graduates in these fields find it difficult to find employment or
stay on the job due to gender bias in areas traditionally dominated by men,
according to the ILO.
While
women own and manage almost 30 percent of businesses in the Asia-Pacific
region, female employers are mainly confined
to micro and small enterprises, the ILO said in a report. The share of women
bosses increased in countries such as Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines
from 2008 to 2013, despite many major companies still lacking female voices
on their boards.
“The
major obstacle we still find is that gender stereotyping is still there,
perhaps linked to the fact that family responsibilities are still mainly
assigned to women,” ILO Bureau For Employers’ Activities director Deborah
France-Massin said. “The glass ceiling
is cracked, but it is still far from broken.”
Pay disparity also remains an issue in
Asia. Men in India and South Korea make more than 30 percent more than their
female counterparts, the ILO said. Yet, there are exceptions: In the
Philippines’ matriarchal society,
women actually earn more than men on average.
No comments:
Post a Comment