Why feminist MPs should read the Nobel Prize in Economics

Proposals from deputies and senators from the women’s bench in Congress have not favored women in the job market. The latest laws approved, which seemed to promote gender equality at work, have affected women’s employability: hiring them has become more expensive and legally dangerous, with disproportionate fines and measures, such as quotas. Claudia Goldin, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics, suggests another path: promoting a culture with more flexible working hours and less working time, for men and women.

Claudia Goldin is a professor at Harvard University and won the award for her work on women in the workplace. At the age of 77, she dedicated her academic life to studying the impact of gender inequality on the job market. Among the studies is an investigation of the main social changes that have impacted women’s professional lives over the centuries and the role of motherhood in the difference in wages between men and women.

In the most recent publications, Goldin discovered that there are some factors that directly influence gender inequality in the job market. The first of these is what she calls greedy work (ambitious work). “Generally, senior positions that earn more or are leadership positions require very long working hours, such as travel and meetings outside of working hours. And women, especially when they become mothers, find it difficult to keep up with these long working hours as men do”, explains visiting researcher at the University of Dalaware Letícia Barbano, specialist in gender equity and the relationship between motherhood and the labor market. work.

This is part of the second discovery raised by Goldin: from the moment a woman becomes a mother, she dedicates herself less to work, not always of her own free will. Biological issues, such as breastfeeding and caring for the baby’s first months, and the fact that men are not as involved in caring for their children mean that fewer women are dedicated to long-time jobs.

The Nobel winner realized that the most effective way to achieve professional equality between the sexes would be to reduce working hours for both. “If men and women worked less, there wouldn’t be so much inequality because women would be able to keep up with the pace of work. Reducing men’s working hours, along with a cultural change, will result in more time for these people with their families,” she comments. Which has another positive economic consequence: if people are spending more time with their children or even elderly relatives, there will be less public spending on daycare centers and nursing homes.

If the polls follow this direction, the National Congress does not. Recently, a law was approved that creates high fines in the case of proven salary discrimination related to sex, race or ethnicity, in addition to including compensation for moral damages and creating other obligations for companies – such as the creation of reporting channels. The proposal, which results in companies preferring to hire men to avoid million-dollar lawsuits, received support from the women’s bench.

Another classic strategy for combating inequality is offering quotas, which generates a dubious and highly limited benefit for women. Despite gaining entry into the market through quotas, these vacancies will be more likely to be allocated to women without children or without other family members who require care. At the same time, women will often find it difficult to maintain themselves in inflexible occupations that require many hours of exclusive dedication. Another negative issue is the idea that women need a “little help” to take on important positions, and not because they are capable.

“I will not accept this position because I love being a mother”

“I have already offered higher positions to women and women always have a tendency to think a lot. The next day she came back and said: ‘Ah, Patrícia, I’m not going to accept it because I love being a mother’. But I said: ‘I also love being a mother!’”, says Patrícia Frossard, country manager at Philips in Brazil – the first woman to hold the company’s highest position in the country. “She thought she wouldn’t be able to reconcile, but today, after four years in the position, I can say yes, it is possible”, he concludes.

Patrícia Frossard uses the same calendar for professional and personal commitments. “You are just one person and there are 24 hours in a day,” she emphasizes. She confided that her schedule is already organized until the end of the year.

“Prioritize what is most important for your child. If that day there is going to be a game at school that is super important to him, that has to be a priority on his agenda”, advises Frossard. To accept the position, Patrícia asked for flexibility in her schedule to do physical activity and monitor some of her children’s activities.

Four-day work week

Patrícia Frossard and Letícia Barbano see the new generation in the job market in a similar way. A generation that, regardless of whether they have children or not, values ​​quality of life and increasingly allows the professional field to suffocate other areas.

In a hearing at the Senate’s Human Rights and Participatory Legislation Committee, last Monday (9), the minister of labor, Luiz Marinho, defended the reduction of working hours to four days a week. This reduction is one of Claudia Goldin’s solutions, so people would have more time to dedicate to their personal lives. “Many countries are already doing this experiment and it is an experiment that has worked. This had an impact on people’s work productivity, reduced procrastination and they became more objective”, comments researcher Barbano.

Regarding the possible impacts on the economy, Letícia Barbano explains that these changes generate benefits. “On the other hand, it also increases the company’s emotional commitment, as the employee feels that the company corresponds to his wishes and reduces the intention to turnover. It costs a lot for the company to hire an employee, it is much more worth keeping them than hiring more people all the time”, she concludes.

STF must force Congress to legislate on paternity leave

Frossard commented that he has already taken a discussion within the company about equalizing maternity and paternity leave time. For her, the same leave time for both facilitates balance in the job market. “People say that women stop being hired because they have children, because they get pregnant and are out for six months. So let’s get this over with. Men and women will get the same treatment and then you take that out of the discussion,” she suggests.

Thinking about the involvement of men in caring for their children, paternity leave is a strategy that was also embraced by the women’s group. The benefit is being studied by a working group led by federal deputies Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP) and Amanda Gentil (PP-MA), which will be implemented in a bill that should be presented later this month. Currently, CLT employees are entitled to five calendar days off after the birth of their child.

At the same time, an action dealing with the National Congress’s omission in relation to paternity leave legislation is being judged by the Federal Supreme Court. The trial has not yet been finalized, but it has already achieved a majority, by 7 votes to 1, on the understanding that the Legislative branch must regulate paternity leave provided for by the Federal Constitution. Once completed, the Chamber and Senate will have 18 months to decide on the paternal benefit.