The more women work, the better paid. This is one of the cornerstones around which the final declaration drawn up by the Labor Ministers present in Catania on the occasion of the Employment Working Group and the Ministerial on Labor and Social Policies within the G20 revolves. The meeting stressed the need for a multidimensional approach to gender differences, starting from a fight against stereotypes, also in the educational field; that reduces the disproportion in the care work done by women compared to men and that addresses the problem of horizontal and vertical segregation of the labor market. The intention is to exceed the objective set in Brisbane in 2014 by the leaders of the G20 which foresees the reduction of the gap in participation in the labor market by 25% by 2025. With this new perspective, the aim is to promote employment. female short, with particular attention to the quality of work and the elimination of the gender pay gap (the “gender pay gap”).
The declaration arrives on the day of the unanimous approval, in the Labor Committee of the Chamber, of the text of the law on equal pay. “The numbers tell us that it was women more than men who paid the consequences of the pandemic – said the Minister of Labor, Andrea Orlando – this happened because it is women who are more frequently employed in precarious or temporary work situations” . The minister also said he was “satisfied” with the issues addressed, registering “great convergences” with his counterparts also on the issue of regulating the smart working. “On this issue there was a need to better define the figure of the remote worker to build a system of protection and rules, which is currently in its initial phase”, added the minister.
After an abrupt start triggered by the outbreak of the health emergency, working from home is now the norm for millions of workers around the world. The ministers recognized the potential of this tool, in particular the possibility of reconciling work with private life, but stressed the need to recognize equal protection and opportunities with respect to workers in presence and, above all, on the importance the guarantee of the right to disconnect.
In addition to the unprecedented critical issues it has given rise to, the pandemic has exacerbated the problems of the categories that have always been less protected. The crisis has brought to light the absence of a safety net against the risk of unemployment for many classes of workers. Fixed-term contractors, low-income self-employed workers and migrants are paying a steep price in this time of crisis. To improve the condition of fragile workers, ministers agreed on the need to expand the coverage of the contribution systems and to strengthen the network of safeguards, also thanks to the guaranteed basic income, with the aim of making social security systems more responsive and flexible in the event of a crisis and thus reduce persistent economic and social inequalities.