Work and children in Spain: challenges and opportunities for equality between men and women

Abstract

Over the past decades, Spain has seen a striking convergence between women’s and men’s participation in the labour market. However, this convergence has stalled since the early 2010s. We show that women still fare worse in several important labour market dimensions. Gender inequalities are further aggravated among people with children. Women with children under 16 are much more likely to be unemployed, work part-time or on temporary contracts than men with children of the same age. We show that it is unlikely that preferences alone can account for these gaps. A review of the evidence shows that family policies, such as paternity leave expansions, financial incentives in the form of tax credits for working mothers and subsidised or free childcare for very young children, could help reduce the motherhood penalty. However, such policies are likely to be more effective if combined with advances in breaking up traditional gender roles.

Wage premium and master's degrees: some empirical evidence from Spain

“…higher than their male counterparts, which is indicative of the educational investment effort made by this collective to equalise their opportunities in the Spanish labour market which is characterised by the existence of gender barriers with regards accessing jobs, especially for women with children (e.g. Hupkau and Ruiz-Valenzuela, 2021). Second, the probability of completing postgraduate studies decreases with age.…”

The effects of Covid-19 on couples’ job tenures: Mothers have it worse

“…(2022) , Dolado et al. (2021) and Hupkau and Ruiz-Valenzuela (2022) for Spain, Fiaschi and Tealdi (2022) for Italy, Alon et al. (2020) , Hupkau and Petrongolo (2020) , Albanesi and Kim (2021) , Lim and Zabek (2021) , Oreffice and Quintana-Domeque (2021) , Cortes and Forsythe (2022) , Fairlie et al.…”

“…(See e.g. the aforementioned references, Blázquez et al (2022) , Dolado et al (2021) and Hupkau and Ruiz-Valenzuela (2022) for Spain, Fiaschi and Tealdi (2022) for Italy, Alon et al (2020) , Hupkau and Petrongolo (2020) , Albanesi and Kim (2021) , Lim and Zabek (2021) , Oreffice and Quintana-Domeque (2021) , Cortes and Forsythe (2022) , Fairlie et al (2021) , Goldin (2022) and many others -who focus typically on observations early in the pandemic). Female labour market interruptions have been linked, in general (before the pandemic), to a variety of persistent gender gaps, from wages (see Leung et al (2016) , Fig.…”

“… 20 Hupkau and Ruiz-Valenzuela (2022) compare the four quarters of the pandemic (2020Q2-2021Q1) with the preceding five quarters (2019Q1-2020Q1), in terms of employment and inactivity. They also find a gender gap in (total) employment for parents late in 2020 that is not present for nonparents.…”

The numbers of equality regulation. Quantifying regulatory activity on non-discrimination and its relationship with gender gaps in the labour market

“…In the mid-1990s, 1 out of every 3 women of working age was employed, while by 2022 that proportion had doubled (see Figure 1). Moreover, with respect to men, the gender gap in both employment and labour participation narrowed markedly, although in the last decade, this decline seems to have slowed (Hupkau and Ruiz-Valenzuela, 2022).…”