The Paula Principle

IFS

If you work part-time your experience counts for nothing…

The redoubtable Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a really powerful fresh analysis of the gender pay gap.  They have used three large longitudinal datasets - ones that track people over time, and so give much greater insights into what causes what - to unpick the factors that cause the gender pay gap to develop as it does over people's working lives.  It's the kind of evidence that packs a real punch, and although it's complex the IFS gets it across about as accessibly as it can, with some really useful charts to help us out. The key, blunt and stark conclusion is this: the effect of extra part-time work…
Read More

Reduced working hours: linking the PP to inequality and to climate change

The primary conclusion of The Paula Principle  is that women's competences stand a chance of being fully recognised only if men's work and career patterns change to a more 'mosaic' model.  Central to this is the need for us to recognise that careers, at whatever level, should not require people to work full time or continuously (hence the mosaic image of different pieces put together in a variety of patterns, rather than a vertical career ladder). In this post I want to make the link between this and two items: a. new analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies which shows how inequalities in incomes have been increased because lower-wage men increasingly…
Read More

Working hours again: UK and US

The recent IFS report on the gender pay gap attracted huge coverage - top of the news, and all over the front pages.  It's the first of a series the Institute is doing on this issue, which is excellent news;  I look forward to seeing what comes out. The report does an excellent job in distinguishing between the various types of wage gap, in two major respects.  First, it shows the need to distinguish different groups according to the hours they work.  Obviously, the hourly difference is far smaller than the weekly difference, since women work fewer hours: it shrinks from 36% to 19%.  It shrinks further, to 16%, for…
Read More

If you work part-time your experience counts for nothing…

The redoubtable Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a really powerful fresh analysis of the gender pay gap.  They have used three large longitudinal datasets - ones that track people over time, and so give much greater insights into what causes what - to unpick the factors that cause the gender pay gap to develop as it does over people's working lives.  It's the kind of evidence that packs a real punch, and although it's complex the IFS gets it across about as accessibly as it can, with some really useful charts to help us out. The key, blunt and stark conclusion is this: the effect of extra part-time work…
Read More

Reduced working hours: linking the PP to inequality and to climate change

The primary conclusion of The Paula Principle  is that women's competences stand a chance of being fully recognised only if men's work and career patterns change to a more 'mosaic' model.  Central to this is the need for us to recognise that careers, at whatever level, should not require people to work full time or continuously (hence the mosaic image of different pieces put together in a variety of patterns, rather than a vertical career ladder). In this post I want to make the link between this and two items: a. new analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies which shows how inequalities in incomes have been increased because lower-wage men increasingly…
Read More

Working hours again: UK and US

The recent IFS report on the gender pay gap attracted huge coverage - top of the news, and all over the front pages.  It's the first of a series the Institute is doing on this issue, which is excellent news;  I look forward to seeing what comes out. The report does an excellent job in distinguishing between the various types of wage gap, in two major respects.  First, it shows the need to distinguish different groups according to the hours they work.  Obviously, the hourly difference is far smaller than the weekly difference, since women work fewer hours: it shrinks from 36% to 19%.  It shrinks further, to 16%, for…
Read More

If you work part-time your experience counts for nothing…

The redoubtable Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a really powerful fresh analysis of the gender pay gap.  They have used three large longitudinal datasets - ones that track people over time, and so give much greater insights into what causes what - to unpick the factors that cause the gender pay gap to develop as it does over people's working lives.  It's the kind of evidence that packs a real punch, and although it's complex the IFS gets it across about as accessibly as it can, with some really useful charts to help us out. The key, blunt and stark conclusion is this: the effect of extra part-time work…
Read More

Reduced working hours: linking the PP to inequality and to climate change

The primary conclusion of The Paula Principle  is that women's competences stand a chance of being fully recognised only if men's work and career patterns change to a more 'mosaic' model.  Central to this is the need for us to recognise that careers, at whatever level, should not require people to work full time or continuously (hence the mosaic image of different pieces put together in a variety of patterns, rather than a vertical career ladder). In this post I want to make the link between this and two items: a. new analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies which shows how inequalities in incomes have been increased because lower-wage men increasingly…
Read More

Working hours again: UK and US

The recent IFS report on the gender pay gap attracted huge coverage - top of the news, and all over the front pages.  It's the first of a series the Institute is doing on this issue, which is excellent news;  I look forward to seeing what comes out. The report does an excellent job in distinguishing between the various types of wage gap, in two major respects.  First, it shows the need to distinguish different groups according to the hours they work.  Obviously, the hourly difference is far smaller than the weekly difference, since women work fewer hours: it shrinks from 36% to 19%.  It shrinks further, to 16%, for…
Read More