And importantly, loss of pay is a major obstacle.Įquating paternity leave with maternity leaveĭespite the stereotypical division of labour, the TOR survey shows that pretty much all fathers are in favour of making paternity leave mandatory. They receive insufficient support from the employer, and fear a negative impact on their careers.

Taking parental leave after paternity leave also turns out to be less evident, not least because of the perception of this leave as “free time”, to “sit at home”. Nor does this leave ensure a more equal division of caring tasks: for most fathers, their paternity leave serves mainly to support their partners during those first hectic weeks. Strangely, they do not think this applies to their partner. Men therefore feel that the arrival of a child negatively affects their career or pay. While fathers take paternity leave for granted, and even advocate making it compulsory, they feel the pressure to go back to work. Traditional gender roles appear to be still very much in place: fathers’ first place still remains the workplace, mothers’ with the children. The study focuses on men who have become fathers in the past five years and consists of a questionnaire and an interview. This year, commissioned by ZIJkant, TOR research group (VUB) examined the effects of paternity and parental leave on the perception and distribution of paid and unpaid work within the family. Because that 22% pay gap is ri DICKulous. This needs to be better and, above all, more evenly distributed.ĭon’t be a dick and help close the wage gap: this is therefore the message of this campaign. Even in the Statbel statistics, the initially small pay gap rises noticeably in the age group of 35-plus. Because one of the main reasons for the pay gap is the fact that many more women (42%) than men (12%) work part-time, very often to look after children and take care of the household. Women bump into glass ceilings, have to tackle sexist stereotypes and they struggle, much more than men, with combining a career and a family life. It is clear: the old boys’ network is alive and kicking. They shake each other’s penile hands, women stand by and watch. “I trust you because you have a dick,” as the men – real dicks, by the way – in the campaign film by communications agency mortierbrigade and production house Czar say comradely to each other. When making deals, in office spaces, at international conferences or at cafés: it seems that merely having a penis opens doors. Thus, we take into account all the elements that determine women’s and men’s wages.įor 19 years, the progressive women’s movement ZIJkant has been campaigning for equal pay with its Equal Pay Day, but the wage gap is proving intractable. Therefore, for Equal Pay Day, we base ourselves on the latest statistics from the Institute for Gender Equality, and take into account the difference between the average annual wages of women and men (where the effect of part-time work is much more evident), across all sectors. We advocate looking at the wider picture. But these figures do not say it all: they only reflect the gender gap in hourly wages in private companies with more than 10 employees. This proves that our Equal Pay Day actions are bearing fruit. The new Statbel statistics on the pay gap show a clear improvement, especially among the youngest generation (-25), where it is even positive in favour of women. Research that ZIJkant commissioned from TOR research group (VUB) on the impact of fatherhood on the wage and career gap shows, in any case, that the breadwinner’s model is still squarely in place.įirst the good news. It seems as if the latter have a secret handshake that gives them an advantage in the workplace as a matter of course. So women have to work almost three extra months to earn what men already earned last year.

Equal Pay Day falls on 20 March 2023 this year, as the wage gap v/m is 22%.

Womens equal pay day