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Women's Role in the Swiss Economy

Author

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  • Richard Dutu

    (OECD)

Abstract

Swiss women are now as well educated as their male counterparts. However, progress remains to be made in the job market where both the supply and price of female labour are below that of men. While the participation rate for women is high and rising, it is offset by a heavy incidence of part-time work, reflecting both personal preferences and factors that limit their labour supply. The lack and high cost of childcare options for parents, as well as burdensome marginal income tax rates for second earners, create disincentives to work more. A falling but persistent net (i.e. unexplained) wage gap of about 7% in favour of men, coupled with under-representation of women as managers and entrepreneurs, further reduce the incentive for women to take full advantage of their high levels of human capital. Priority should be given to removing those barriers by increasing public spending on childcare and out-of-school-hours care at the cantonal and municipal levels. Existing regulations regarding childcare provision should also be investigated to see whether a broader range of price and quality childcare options is feasible. The implicit tax penalty for married women should also be removed, as the Federal Council is currently considering. More flexibility in working arrangements could further alleviate women’s cost of reconciling work and family life. For instance, facilitating flexi-time, annualised hours, job-sharing, part-time and telework options for both women and men, and creating paternity and/or consecutive, take-it-or-leave-it parental leave could facilitate transition in and out of the labour market. Increasing competition in product markets should help reduce the wage gap by replacing old habits with the hunt for talent regardless of gender. Finally, a corporate governance code in favour of a more equal representation of women in leadership positions, and setting ambitious quantitative targets for women on boards combined with the “Comply or Explain” practise, or quotas, should help remove the so-called glass ceiling. This Working Paper relates to the 2013 OECD Economic Review of Switzerland (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Switzerland).

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Dutu, 2014. "Women's Role in the Swiss Economy," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1144, OECD Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1144-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5jz123dzstkb-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Jamie L. Gloor & Manuela Morf & Samantha Paustian-Underdahl & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2020. "Fix the Game, Not the Dame: Restoring Equity in Leadership Evaluations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 497-511, January.
    2. Julie Lacroix & Elena Vidal-Coso, 2019. "Differences in Labor Supply by Birthplace and Family Composition in Switzerland: the Role of Human Capital and Household Income," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 659-684, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; gender; labour market; leadership; Switzerland; wage gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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