Working group: Welfare benefits, social insurance and old age pension
There are many reasons why these accrue in different ways and in different quantities to women and men. More women than men depend on old age pensions for the simple reason that women live longer. At the same time, women's pensions are smaller than men's, since pensions tend to depend on incomes while economically active. In particular, rules relating old age pensions to years of paid work disadvanteage women who leave the labour force for shorter or longer periods to care for children.
Most kinds of social insurance (unemployment benefit, sickness payment, maternity and paternity leaves, disability pensions) depend on employees wages, and presuppose a certain amount of time in paid work. Therefore, entitlements will in general be different for women and men. They will also vary considerably among women, since women's labour force participation vary more than does men's, both with respect to rates of participation and hours worked.
Most European countries are in the process of so called welfare state reforms, that is, of changing the rules and rates of socail security and welfare benefits. Shortening the period of unemployment benefits is a case in point. There is every reason to believe that these reforms have different effects on women and men, but these differences have not been systematically studied.
Working group: Tax policies
Taxes on income and wealth affect income distribution and labour supply. It is well known that the marginal rate of tax on income has a greater effect on women's labour supply than on men's, particularly on women with children, and in low paid jobs. Various combinations of income tax and means testd benefits often contain implied marginal rates of taxation that are higher than the official ones, and that hits part-time workers and low paid workers the heaviest. Those tend to be women.
Taxes on capital income and labour income and on benefits usually have different rates. These systems will have different effects in men's and women's incomes if men and women have different kinds of income. In Norway, it is well known that a greater part of income stems from benefits, and a smaller part from capital, for woman than is the case with men (Bojer 2005).
Working group: Labour market
Economic differences between men and women are created by the labour market, division of labour within the family and the interaction between these. Both belong to the private sector. Still, fiscal measures affect the labour market in a number of ways. One obviously is by creation or destruction of work in the public sector. Creation of employment in the social sector in particular creates employment opportunities for women i two ways: one, by offering paid work, and two, by relieving them of private care work and so liberating them for paid work.
Conferences
There are many reasons why these accrue in different ways and in different quantities to women and men. More women than men depend on old age pensions for the simple reason that women live longer. At the same time, women's pensions are smaller than men's, since pensions tend to depend on incomes while economically active. In particular, rules relating old age pensions to years of paid work disadvanteage women who leave the labour force for shorter or longer periods to care for children.
Most kinds of social insurance (unemployment benefit, sickness payment, maternity and paternity leaves, disability pensions) depend on employees wages, and presuppose a certain amount of time in paid work. Therefore, entitlements will in general be different for women and men. They will also vary considerably among women, since women's labour force participation vary more than does men's, both with respect to rates of participation and hours worked.
Most European countries are in the process of so called welfare state reforms, that is, of changing the rules and rates of socail security and welfare benefits. Shortening the period of unemployment benefits is a case in point. There is every reason to believe that these reforms have different effects on women and men, but these differences have not been systematically studied.
Working group: Tax policies
Taxes on income and wealth affect income distribution and labour supply. It is well known that the marginal rate of tax on income has a greater effect on women's labour supply than on men's, particularly on women with children, and in low paid jobs. Various combinations of income tax and means testd benefits often contain implied marginal rates of taxation that are higher than the official ones, and that hits part-time workers and low paid workers the heaviest. Those tend to be women.
Taxes on capital income and labour income and on benefits usually have different rates. These systems will have different effects in men's and women's incomes if men and women have different kinds of income. In Norway, it is well known that a greater part of income stems from benefits, and a smaller part from capital, for woman than is the case with men (Bojer 2005).
Working group: Labour market
Economic differences between men and women are created by the labour market, division of labour within the family and the interaction between these. Both belong to the private sector. Still, fiscal measures affect the labour market in a number of ways. One obviously is by creation or destruction of work in the public sector. Creation of employment in the social sector in particular creates employment opportunities for women i two ways: one, by offering paid work, and two, by relieving them of private care work and so liberating them for paid work.
Conferences