ifo researcher Peichl for more equal opportunities between women and men in Germany
The ifo researcher Andreas Peichl has spoken out in favour of more equal opportunities between men and women in Germany. "There is still a lot to do, especially when it comes to reconciling work and family life," he writes together with ifo researcher Julia Schricker in an essay for the ifo Schnelldienst 4/2019. The new German Pay Transparency Act introduced with the aim of ensuring more justice between men and women does not change this either, as Peichl and his co-author show in the essay.
"Unfortunately, there is still often a corporate culture hostile to children that discriminates not only against women but also against men who want to take on family responsibilities. The flexibility of working time models can also be improved, and meetings of management do not have to start after the closure of daycare centres." Although the legislator has no direct influence on these points, it can set an example by corresponding reforms of the state institutions.
Peichl adds: "If we really want to increase equal opportunities, close the wage gap and bring more women into management positions, then we have to fight the underlying causes and not the symptoms by modernising our institutions and no longer following an antiquated role model. The path to a modern system is simple - let's look only at France or our Nordic neighbours: low marginal burden for second earners through more individual taxation, for example in the form of real or family splitting, optimal childcare and care, generous maternity and parental leave arrangements, flexible parental leave models, legal regulations on interruptions in employment and teleworking, and much more.
Publication (in German)
Peichl, Andreas, Julia Schricker, Henrike von Platen, Ulf Rinne, Hilmar Schneider, Ute Klammer, Christina Boll, Ingo Weller and Lena Göbel, "Entgelttransparenzgesetz gegen Lohndiskriminierung: Viel Aufwand, wenig Nutzen?", ifo Schnelldienst 72 (04), 2019, 03–26
