The European Community has developed various social policies to compensate for the uneven effects of economic integration, and to bring about greater equality between women and men. In addition, the member states have their own policy traditions and institutional frameworks which likewise affect general employment conditions. In order to bring about greater economic and social cohesion in the European Community there have been moves to harmonise social policy. Clearly, if greater equality between women and men is a desired goal then it is important that the harmonisation should take place around those policies that are more progressive in this respect.
Two ways of measuring gender inequality in paid work are proposed and applied to EC data. The results of this preliminary study indicate that those countries with more formal regulatory frameworks are more conducive to greater gender equality than those where market-based policies prevail.
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