New figures [1] from the European Commission show that the gender pay gap in Ireland is 17 percent. This is in 
line with the EU average.
Yesterday on Morning Ireland Orla O’Connor of the National Women’s Council said one of the major factors contributing to this is a lack of affordable daycare in Ireland.
However, proof that a major factor is not a lack of affordable daycare places is provided by the example of Sweden.
In Sweden the pay gap is only one percent lower than here in Ireland even though Sweden has universal, State subsidised and affordable daycare.
A more important reason for the pay gap in Ireland, as elsewhere, is that many more women than men choose to work in part-time jobs.
For example, 128,200 Irish women work less than 20 hours per week compared with 39,600 men.
The 17 percent average pay gap for the EU compares hourly rates for men and women so in a sense the fact that more women work part-time is removed from the picture.
However, in reality it is still a big part of the explanation because the average woman who works part-time is likely to be earning less per hour than the average man who works full-time because fewer part-time workers are to be found in highly paid jobs.
International research shows that on average a fifth of women want to work full-time all their lives, a fifth would prefer to look after their children at home full-time, and the remainder want something in between.
This research was presented last year at our conference on Women, Home and Work by Dr Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics.
Irish policy in regard to women, home and work should be aimed at facilitating all choices, and not merely the choice to work full-time.
Social policy cannot be aimed simply at the fifth of women who want to work full-time which appears to be what the National Women’s Council wants. Instead it must facilitate all women.