著者

居城 舜子

出版者

経済理論学会

雑誌

季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.44, no.3, pp.19-31, 2007-10-20

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As a means by which the countries in Europe and North America will cancel the gender pay gap after the 1980s, the principle of equal pay for equal work or for work of equal value, in other words, the pay equity strategy (PE) has been adopted. However, several researchers have redefined this strategy in recent years. This paper aims at considering the process and background of deployment of PE strategy and the meaning of this redefinition and including the implication to Japan. All the EU Member States already prohibit direct/indirect discrimination based on sex by legislation, They consider of wage differentials which are not justified by the objective base as wage discrimination, and equal work or the same value labor equal pay is applied. The state law which specified PE has been introduced in many states of the United States and Canada is introduced. However, the question and the objection are taken out to the effect of PE strategy based on the job evaluation system (JES) which is a means to measure the equal value in Europe and North America by expansion of deregulation of the labor market in the 90s, and the trial which pursues the new possibility of PE strategy has appeared. The one is a measure of Canada or ILO which strengthens the law about the existing PE and raises the effectiveness of PE strategy. Not only the measure against wage discrimination but the opinion of Hartmann who emphasizes various strategies based on the gender discriminating analysis incorporating housekeeping, child-rearing and a life cycle has appeared. In recent years, Jill Rubery has proposed that attention should be paid to workplace environment, a wage structure and many factors that affect indirect discrimination Gender Mainstreamed Analysis of Pay Gaps. Rubery perceives the difference in the wage structure between each country, and analyzes their differences and GPG. Consequently, it became clear that the difference in GPG and a female wage level are influenced by the difference among many elements which determines the structure of wages, such as labor agreement, the minimum wage system, and a salary system. Therefore, it is inadequate just to carry out legislation, regulation, and surveillance, and a measure to the element which determines the wage structure of each country is needed. In Japan, the enactment of PE is still a subject. Since many researchers point out that gender discrimination remains strongly entrenched in the workplace, gender-specific measures are still important. Furthermore, we should also observe the structure of wages as a reduction measure of gender pay gap from now on so that Rubery may suggest. A minimum wage level (the percentage to an average-wages level is 36.5%) in Japan is quite low as compared with Western countries. The level of a minimum wage has not gone up but the inequality of wages is expanded. As the part-time worker of less than 115% of wages of a minimum wage frame has reached 28% of the whole part, improving of a minimum wage is also a concern of female laborers' subject. Since the scope is wide and the regulation of the minimum wage is strong, its effectiveness is high as a reduction measure of gender pay gap. More attention should be paid to the measures which pull up the minimum wage from a new viewpoint.