Childcare, nursing, housework: On average, women work up to nine hours a day unpaid in the household, men only three. This is the result of a DIW study. For more justice, the institute calls for increasing the number of partner months for men from two to up to seven.
According to a study, women in Germany still receive an average of 18 percent less hourly wages than men and they also do significantly more unpaid care work, including childcare, housework and caring for relatives. According to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the gender pay gap, i.e. the earnings gap between women and men, varies greatly with age and increases enormously from the phase of starting a family.
According to the institute, an extension of the partner months for parental allowance could ensure more equal opportunities on the job market. So far, fathers only have to take two months of parental leave so that parents can claim the maximum of 14 months of parental allowance. It would make sense here to gradually increase the number of partner months up to seven. A reform of the spouse splitting and the mini-jobs is also necessary.
"Both of these have so far ensured that it is not worthwhile for many women to work on a larger scale. Corresponding reforms would not only have important gender equality effects, but could also alleviate the labor shortage," said Clara Schäper, co-author of the study.
According to the study, women in the 20 to 24 age group do 25 percent and among the 35 to 39 year olds even more than twice as much unpaid care work as men, primarily childcare. This corresponds to a so-called gender care gap of 106 percent. If you look not just at those in employment, but at all women and men, the average gender care gap in this age group is even 170 percent, as the DIW explained. That equates to nearly nine hours of care work per day for women, compared to about three hours for men, the study says.
Although the gender care gap gradually decreases again from the age of 40, the difference in earnings remains consistently high. "For the fact that women put aside their jobs for the family, they pay with a view to their salary even after the children have long since left the house," said Clara Schäper.
There are clear differences between East and West Germany. The basic tendencies over the course of life are similar in both parts of the country, but the differences are considerable, especially when it comes to care work at the age of starting a family, according to the DIW. While the gender care cap in East Germany does not exceed around 60 percent in this age range, it is almost twice as high in West Germany at almost 120 percent. "Women in East Germany often return to work earlier and more often work full-time," Schäper concluded.
