Equal Pay

Equal pay refers to remuneration parity for men and women who do equivalent work. It is one aspect of gender equality in the labor market. The principle of [Page 491]equal pay is legally recognized and enforced by most modern states. The rationale to support equal pay rests in the neoliberal formulation of equal rights, according to which nothing should exclude women from the general rights and obligations of citizenship.

The pay gap between men and women is closely linked with and depends upon other aspects of labor market inequalities like horizontal and vertical segregation of occupations.

The vertical segregation refers to the specialization of women in certain professions, which are associated with “feminine” skills derived from caretaking and nurturing. These occupations pay less than jobs traditionally ...