Pacey argues that “Economists’ today rely upon models to make simplifying assumptions relating to the behaviour and structure of the economic agents.”(Pacey 98) “It is assumed that three criteria must be in place for a perfectly competitive market to operate. Firstly, jobs must be equally attractive to all people. At the moment however, incentives such as higher wages are supplied in the more unattractive jobs. Secondly all individuals must posses ‘perfect knowledge and perfect information’ concerning prices and price changes. This assumption implies that everyone should have the knowledge to do all occupations and has the information on supply and demand in relation to these jobs. As a result there would be no scarcity of labour. In reality, specific occupations require a higher wage as they entail long period of training and a great deal of skill, which a limited amount of people can carry out. Thirdly, perfect mobility is assumed to provide equality in the labour market. In theory this would result in everyone being capable of acting on available information and transferring jobs without difficulty.” (Pacey 98-99) However all three assumptions are only that and do not hold true in the real world market. As a result, inequalities occur. In fact there are many inequalities between men and women in the Turkish labour market. The female economic growth is 14% (NationMaster.com) and this is too low number for a developing country. The unemployement rate is 10.8% (NationMaster.com) and the number of female economic growth is too considerable for women’s involving the labour market.
The first notable aspect of gender inequality in relation to wages is that there are considerable income differences between men and women, working in the same occupations.
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It is believed that in a ‘capitalist society the pay that people receive is a measure of the value of their labour.’ (Marsh et al 2000). The New Earnings Survey of England identified that female full time workers received only 80% of the average hourly earnings of a full time male employee.(The New Earnings) Despite the introduction of the 1975 Equal Pay Act women are still not obtaining the same pay as men in England. In Turkey, the effect of female wages on female labor force participation depends on the relative strengths of substitution and income effects. The substitution effect will be positive since higher female wages will mean more female labor force participation. The income effect will be negative since as income rises workers desire more leisure and less work. Assuming that the income effect is small, the overall effect of female wages on female labor force participation will be positive. On the other hand male wages are expected to have a negative influence on the female labor force participation since the higher the wages of the husbands are the less likely that the wives need to work.(Tansel 12)
Horizontal Segregation in the labour market also accounts for gender inequalities in wage. There are two main types of this segregation, primary and secondary. “Highly skilled employees work in the Primary sector, which is highly regulated and unionised. It is in this sector that women struggle to advance themselves in. Although over the last twenty or so years a rapid change for women has undergone, for example over half the new entrants to the study of law are women. These women are more than likely to experience trouble when trying to become a barrister as the network works against them. Low skilled workers are found in the Secondary sector, which is poorly regulated and non-unionised. A huge number of women are concentrated in this area.”(Özyeğin 192) There are a number of reasons why we see this kind of segregation and inequality in the market.
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Firstly a high percentage of women do part time work compared to men. The figure for this is around 50% of women.(NationMaster.com) As a result wages are significantly lower and less in terms of units of labour supplied, compared to someone doing the exact same job but full time. Ingrid Palmer argues that the division between part time and full time work is the most crucial new form of labour market segmentation in Britain since the 1940’s.(Palmer 128) Part time workers who are employed for less than eight hours a week are unable to qualify for certain benefits and right which is extremely inequitable. Part time workers receive an insecure pay and can be exploited by their employers very easily. Hence this type of labour is very attractive to an employer as part time workers are essentially a cheap and flexible source of labour. In Turkey, many students are working in part-time jobs for building up their pocket money and teenage women’s are involved this jobs especially whose are abroad from their family. It shows us women are skilled to only work in part-time jobs to make money.
Why do women opt for this kind of employment? Many believe that it is due to childcare responsibilities and it is their choice to work in part time labour. The opposing argument to this points out that women are constrained by social and economic factors, which force them to take on part time employment. For instance, state childcare is very limited presently and many mothers may be unable to afford expensive care bills. “As a result part time work is their only alternative and it would seem that domestic responsibilities are shaping the choices in the labour market.”(Özyeğin 95) Women are therefore receiving the jobs that are least attractive because they have to fulfil the role of a domestic mother, caring for the children while the farther brings in the main income and also, mothers are more careful to their childs rather than fathers.
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A second possible reason to explain gender inequalities is that when women are in full time employment, it is usually in the Secondary sector. This type of labour provides low wages, as work is unskilled and casual. The theory behind this type of gender inequality is that there is a ‘skills gap’ between men and women. As mentioned earlier, it is also commonly assumed that women usually undertake unpaid domestic work. “Therefore the alternative is to work in a relatively easy job that has easy entry and exit.”(Özyeğin 61) Secondary employment is seen by many Conservatives as providing ‘pin money’ to argument the families main source of income provided by the ‘male breadwinner.’ The Labour Force Survey 1997 indicates that women predominantly assume the role of bringing up children under the age of 5 years old. 51% of mothers with children under the age 5 years old were in employment, as opposed to 89% of fathers. (Labour Force Survey) There is clearly a case inequality in relation to who is responsible for childcare.
It is difficult for women to enter highly skilled professions like medicine, which require a long period of training. If a woman were to fall pregnant during this period she would probably have to quit. Therefore men are faster at climbing the professional ladder then women. A small group of women, however, are managing to advance in the labour market.
It is stated that it is a specific group of women, mainly single, childless and young. This leads to the next reason for gender inequality in the labour market.
Another difficulty that women face is restrictions of society. In Eastern Turkey, many girls are not allowed to go to schools after Primary Schools. When they graduated from Primary School, they forced to work in agricultural areas or help their mothers in home to cook and look after their sisters and brothers. According to the NationMaster.com, the economic activity of women whose aged 15 to 19 is 44.12% (NationMaster.com). The precedence of going to school is in the hands of brothers, because males are
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always seemed like “breadwinners” in Eastern Turkey. It is argued that males are educated because they have more opportunity than females in labour market. Pacey argues this establishment. He argues that, “Women can find job easily than man because their brain can adopts to every situation more quickly, and their emotions can attract people easily in labour market” (Pacey 184)
Although many successful women are entering into the Primary Sector, they still receive much discrimination. “Vertical segregation describes the division of labour between occupations is paralleled with that within them” (Tansel 30). Men are climbing higher up the job hierarchy compared to women working in the same industry or occupation. This type of segregation still remains very much active in today’s labour market. Malmquist argues that “In the 1990s researchers found that contrary to women having gained many jobs in male dominated areas, women are under represented or absent from senior positions. Women are also receiving lower unit wages for the same job.” (Malmquist 121)
Sex equality legislation introduced in 1975 by the Labour Government was implemented to rid discrimination. The law demands that employers must deal with workers of both sexes equally or equal work. The act has done little to change the situation. Take for example the teaching profession; women make up ¾ of the full time teaching positions.
However, only 21% of secondary school head teachers are female (Institute for Employment Studies 2003). This under representation in top jobs is famously known as the ‘glass ceiling’. Women are able to make it to high status jobs but cannot get promoted to senior positions contrary to the fact that they are just as talented and hardworking as their male counterparts.
The Old Boys Networks account for why many women fail to achieve senior positions. (Old Boys Networks) The Labour Force Survey pointed out that these networks of sponsorship act to exclude women from the knowledge and contacts necessary for corporate
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success.(The Labour Force Survey) This system would seem to contradict the theory behind a perfectly competitive market. Many Liberal feminists have pointed out the importance of allowing women to reach high status positions. It is believed that these women could act as role models, inspiring other women to try to gain better jobs. At the moment it seems that the only women reaching such role model status are single, young childless women. These women have little in common with those who have a family to look after because, family is more important than making career. James C. Dobson argues the idea that “whether a woman should choose a career and be a mother, too. Of course she has that right, and it is nobody's business but hers and her husband's. I would simply plead that you not allow your family to get sucked into that black hole of exhaustion. However you choose to divide the responsibilities of working and family management, reserve some time and energy for yourselves — and for each other. Your children deserve the best that you can give them, too.”(Dobson 91)
Another theory that attempts to explain gender inequality and segregation is patriarchal capitalism. It’s argued that “the basis of male power in our social system is men’s control over female labour.” (Özyeğin 194) As a result the man’s demand for a family wage allows them a higher wage and forces women into a domestic role. While the woman stays at home and takes care of the family the man can further his career. Therefore the number of men in senior posts heavily out weighs the number of women. When Trade Unions were developing men believed that if women were to take on their jobs it would devalue that job. Therefore trade unions largely tried to exclude women from entering into them. According to The Labour Force Survey it is this process that has allowed the labour market to become so male orientated.(The Labour Force Survey) It is always argued that men are
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wiser than women and they are systemizers, so they have more capable to make career than women because women are using emotions and this emotions denies their concentrate of working.
Reasons for gender inequality in the labour market vary in their nature. It has been explained why a large number of women are concentrated in part time work, which provides a lower wage compared to full time work. This can be seen it terms of either, their choice or rather the social and economic constraints that drive them to do this type of labour. The fact
that many women work in the secondary sector also raises issues of inequality. Employers can take advantage of them, as the work is very casual and poorly regulated.
In conclusion, It is also apparent that women are slow to be promoted and as a result are heavily under represented in top jobs. Discrimination accounts for this type of inequality, women have many barriers to overcome before they will be fully accepted in the current labour market. The Old Boys Networks states that “sexism is just a few of the problems that women are facing. Some measures have been taken by the Government have been taken although it has been the request of the European Union.”(The Old Boys Networks) Take for example the Equal Pay Act, which has done little to close the pay gap in male and female wages. The introduction of Equal Pay Act made companies to set ten year targets to improve the treatment of women in the business. However this scheme was voluntary and has done little to improve the situation. It seems that employers tend to regard women as a risk, believing that they are more likely to show more loyalty towards their husbands than dedicate themselves to their work. As long as this feeling remains, women will remain unequal in a male dominated labour market.
Works Cited
Palmer, Ingrid. ‘Gender Equity and Economic Efficiency’. Edited by Afshar, Haleh 1992
Malmquist, Eve. ‘Women and Literacy Development in the Third World’. L.J. Fotoa & Montage Press. Sweden. 1992.
Macionis, John J., ‘Sociology’, Ninth Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2001
Özyağın, Gül. ‘Untidy Gender; Domestic Services in Turkey’. Temple University Press, Philedelphia, 2001.
Tansel, Aysıt. ‘Economic Development and Female Labour Force Participation in Turkey’. Middle East Technical University Press, Ankara, 1999.
Old Boys Networks. Hamburg, 2000.
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The Labour Force Survey. London, 1997-1998. ()
Bisilliat, Jeanne and Fieloux, Michele. ‘Women of The Third World: Work and Daily Life’. Associated University Press, London & Toronto. 1987.
Pacey, Arnold. ‘The Culture of Technology’. The MIT Press, Massachusetts.
The New Earnings Survey, London, 1997.
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NationMaster.Com, 2003-3004.
(www.nationmaster.com)
Dobson, James C. ‘Career vs. Mom’. Prelude Press, Los Angeles, 2001.
Brown University News Center, February 12, 2004 ()
American Force of Labor Website, 2004 ()
