Sticky floors or glass ceilings? The role of human capital, working time flexibility
and discrimination in the gender wage gap
Despite changes in social norms and policies, on average across 25 European countries,
there remains a gap of around 15% in hourly earnings between similarly-qualified men
and women. This raises inequality and limits growth by preventing women from reaching
their full labour market potential. Using individual-level data, this paper quantifies
the main drivers of gender wage gaps with a view to devising effective policies to
reduce them. The findings suggest that, on average, “sticky floors” related to social
norms, gender stereotyping and discrimination account for 40% of the gender wage gap,
while the “glass ceiling” related to the motherhood penalty accounts for around 60%.
The importance of the “glass ceiling” is especially large in most Northern and Western
European countries, while “sticky floors” explain the major part of the gap in most
Central and Eastern European countries. These results imply that most Northern and
Western European countries need to prioritise policies to address the motherhood penalty,
such as further promoting flexitime and telework and supporting early childcare. Most
Central and Eastern European as well as Southern European countries, where “sticky
floors” are more important, additionally need to prioritise equal pay and pay transparency
laws, measures to address gender stereotyping, competition in product markets, as
well as higher wage floors where they are currently low.
Published on May 07, 2021
In series:OECD Economics Department Working Papersview more titles