Hungarian Quality Journal

The inequality issue of gender pay and earnings in domestic and international labor law

Metadata

Author(s): Bartha Adrienn

Publisher: Nemzetközi Oktatási és Kutatási Központ Alapítvány

Volume: 2025. June

Volume number: 34

Issue number: 6

Journal: Hungarian Quality Journal

ISSN (Print): ISSN 1416‑9576

ISSN (Online): ISSN 1789-5510

Pages: 56–69

Keywords: wage gap, equal opportunities, labor law, segregation

Abstract

The principle of equal pay for equal work is one of the fundamental principles of the Treaty of Rome, but the gender pay gap still exists today. Both domestic legislation and the European Union have developed numerous directives and agreements to reduce this gap, but the phenomenon has not yet been eliminated, despite the fact that women began entering the workforce and participating in education, training, and public life at the beginning of the 20th century. Several studies explain gender pay gaps by differences in human capital, citing primarily differences in education and labor market experience between women and men, differences in roles within the family, and the selection effects of urban and rural labor markets. In addition to these factors, gender stereotypes should also be mentioned as causes of gender inequality. In the world of work, there is both horizontal (occupational) and vertical (within-organization) segregation, meaning that the two genders are not equally represented in the labor market (horizontal segregation) and that men and women work not only in different occupations but also in different positions (vertical segregation). Women’s careers are also accompanied by the “glass ceiling,” an invisible but real barrier, meaning that women can usually only reach a certain level in the organizational hierarchy or advance more slowly than their male colleagues.

Download article

References

en_GBEnglish (UK)
hu_HUMagyar en_GBEnglish (UK)