Acceso usuarios
Maria Jepsen
The interest in the nature and consequence of low pay has steadily increased during recent years. This interest is a result of the fact that certain countries in the European Union have seen an expansion of low-wage employment as a response to the increase in unemployment. Although various aspects have been identified and measured with regard to low pay, there has been little consideration of the impact of part-time work on low wages, and of the main reasons for the much higher rate of low-wage-earners among women than men. This article brings together the available information on the link between low pay, the much higher rate of low pay among women than men, and the interaction between low pay and part-time employment. Section 2 reviews the knowledge on gender differences with regard to low pay; section 3 focuses on the link between low pay and part-time work; earnings mobility being an important part of the puzzle, the existing evidence is reviewed in section 4; section 5 gathers together the information on living standards; conclusions are presented in section 6.
