In the global Ranking to put Germany in comparison to the previous year by four places and is now tenth. The first Ranking of 2006, the Federal Republic of Germany on the 5th place – in the meantime, they fell back, however.

in Total, will it take at the current pace for about a century, until the equality is around the world, as the WEF. “This is a time frame, we are not able to accept in the globalised world,” wrote WEF founder Klaus Schwab. “On the eve of the early 2020s, it must be the goal of global and national leaders, as well as of Top managers, a fairer and more inclusive economy.”

Without the equal involvement of women – “the half of the world’s Talent” – could be neither people of the sustainability of economies for the benefit of All the grow of the United Nations objectives are achieved, – said Schwab.

Political participation of women

pushing equality forward, mainly due to greater political participation of women is equal rights in Germany according to the WEF ahead. To wear, with Chancellor Angela Merkel, a woman stands at the head of government. Meanwhile, 40 percent of the Ministers had occupied posts in Federal government and the länder with women, – stated in the published on Tuesday study. Furthermore, only 30.9 per cent of parliamentarians were women.

The differences between the sexes in the German economy is still large. To change this, is not a quick reduction of the salary and income gap is necessary, calls for the WEF.

But why is it that the salary differences between the sexes are still so high and which measures can help to change that?

Friederike Maier is an expert in distribution and social policy at the HWR Berlin. She told FOCUS Online: “In Germany, the Gender Pay Gap depends on less, that women are less qualified than men, the levels of qualifications in the younger Generation strongly aligned”. Maier stresses that instead of other things play a decisive role against which action could be taken.

1. Mothers should differentiate faster back on the Job

interruptions in employment of women lead to significant Wage, says Maier. In General, the birth and the care of children was the cause of the interruption in employment. What could help: “it is A shortening of the interruption in employment by offering affordable, high-quality and time-flexible childcare, not only for children under school age, but also up to the age of 14 years. That would be a useful measure to increase and sustain Women’s employment.”

2. Minimum wage raise

The employment of Women has increased in the Total, however, many women work part-time. “Now, part-time is with reference to the Gender Pay Gap and pensions Gap better than no activity, but also periods of part-time work increase the size of the Gender Pay Gap,” says Maier. Because: The hourly wages in many part-time jobs are extremely low.

another aspect is that the employment of many women still concentrated in certain sectors and occupations which belong in General to the well-paid activities. “It would therefore be important that minimum wages generally increase, this would amount to a lot of women benefit.” Also, Maier recommends that mini-jobs to be abolished in favor of social security activities. “This would also increase the income of many women.”

3. More women in senior positions

another reason why women earn less than men is that they are less represented in leadership positions. “Gender stereotypes to play with, and you are – regardless of the actual behavior of women and men in a cause for the lack of opportunities for advancement,” says Maier. “Here, just a clearer targets help, as we have seen in the case of the quotas for Supervisory boards.” Therefore, the expert recommends amendment of the equality act in a number of points:

  • Targets and measures for the medium and upper management level may no longer remain non-binding.
  • It must be in the quotas for the members of the Supervisory Board binding targets for the medium and upper-level managers required, and where applicable, sanctions will be assigned.
  • Also softer instruments, such as bonuses for such executives, the increase in the proportion of women in your Department, etc. are conceivable.
  • in the Same way as flexible working time arrangements for men and fathers – because an equal distribution of gainful employment and domestic work would be a big win for the women.

Iceland takes the top spot in the WEF Ranking is a

From the international point of view, ended up by the way, for the eleventh Time in a row, Iceland is on the top position. The country has closed the gap between men and women is now almost 88 percent, according to the WEF. In Germany there are, therefore, to 78.7 percent. In the areas of education and health, equality of rights was achieved in this country almost completely.

Worldwide, only 55 percent of adult women have a Job

Worldwide, there have been in comparison to the previous year, a lot of progress, said the WEF. The organization examined the annual report, in 153 countries – four more than in the previous year – in four main areas: economy – such as salaries and opportunities to leadership positions, access to education, political participation, and health, about life expectancy.

The biggest problems there is more in politics, even if the number of female parliamentarians have had in many countries. However, women held only a quarter (25 per cent) of 35 to 127 seats in Parliament and only a fifth (21 per cent) of 3343 Ministerial posts.

But also in the economy and in education, there is some catching up to do. Thus, the share of women in the labour market is stagnating: Only a good half (55 per cent) of the adult women had a Job, men were more than three-quarters (78 percent). The salary and income gap will stay large. Worldwide, ten percent of girls and young women aged 15 to 24 years are illiterate are, especially in developing countries. Students under pressure – Learning in South Korea, PCP students under pressure – Learning in South Korea

Reuters/ujo