Hvorfor eksisterer der så stort et løngab mellem kvinder og mænd på trods af ligelønslovens eksistens i Danmark?

Abstract

Equal pay has finally reached the political agenda, and there are many reasons for this. For many years, the explanation for the gap in wages between men and woman has been that women had lower levels of education compared to men and women in general had a more distant relationship to the job market. Today women are more educated than ever, but apparently without a narrowed difference in wages compared to their male colleagues. This obviously raises the question whether women are discriminated against in the job market in terms of pay, or even suffers as victims of unequal pay? In order to prevent that from being a reality, the EU has developed a directive on gender equality on the labor market, which is required to be implemented by the Member States. Denmark implemented this after the “Act no. 32 of 4 February 1976 on equal pay” was passed. According to the Equal Payment Act it is prohibited to discriminate based of the individual’s gender, if the work is equal or the work is of an equal value. The website “www.ligeloen.dk” which is provided by the Ministry of Employment issued the following statement: "There is a big difference between the wages of women and men in Denmark. New figures show that men in average earn between 17 and 21 percent more than women. " There is some uncertainty related to the calculations of these figures, but it is noteworthy that there is so much difference in pay despite the existence of Equal Payment Act. The following thesis is determined to analyze the main reasons for these figures, since it is very important to define the calculation and reasons for the conclusion regarding the gap in wages between women and men. If this gap is in violation with the Equal Payment Act, Denmark has unfortunately not been able to establish satisfactory regulation in this area. The thesis will attempt to acquire some clarification to when it is appropriate to declare unequal pay. Also the thesis will investigate for possible reasons for the above stated gap in wages between women and men. At last, based on the legal and economic analysis, possible proposals will be given, which can help decrease wage differentials between women and men, and make Equal Payment Act more manageable and useful.