Reflecting on the gender wage gap

Abstract

In the debate on the gender pay gap, there are still many aspects to be outlined to gain full understanding of this variant of gender inequality that our advanced societies still experience. The analysis of this facet insists on what the average figures show, i.e. lower average salary levels for women, but it is necessary to explore the differential factors that explain this fact. This paper scrutinises the occupational and working day differences, which are at the base of the wage discrimination that penalises women, finding that both are also related to the unequal distribution of domestic tasks that are still present in our societies. For women, a sort of competition is established between unpaid work and paid work that penalises their presence in quantity and quality.