Gender Equality in Greece

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Greece
flag_Greece.png
Flag of Greece
Population (in Mil.) 10.7
Sex Ratio (m/f) 0,96
Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m) 1.06
Fertility Rate 1.38
Income Ratio (f/m) 0.51
Literacy Ratio (f/m) 0,96
Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m) 1,17
Women in Parliament (in %) 13
SIGI Rank -
More information on variables
 

Contents

Overview

Although the birthplace of democracy, Greece is still far from achieving equality in political participation or in the labour market for its female citizens  Increases in female participation in the labour market have not changed strong gender stereotyping or the number of hours women spent on housework; women spent 34 hours a week on household chores, while men spent only nine hours a week. The ensuing deterioration of women's quality of life as they attempt to balance work and family commitments have attempted to be remedied by legislation under the National Action Plan of 2002-2004 to introduce more flexible working conditions for women.

Legislation

The principle of equality of the two sexes was established in Greece by the 1975 Constitution; revisions were made in 2001 to establish the State's obligation to take appropriate measures to eliminate all discrimination;

“the adoption of positive measures for the promotion of equality between men and women does not constitute gender discrimination. The State is responsible for the elimination of existing inequalities, especially if they are against women” (art. 116, par. 2)

The National Collective Labour Agreements of 2002-2004, affecting employees in the public and private sector, introduced gender equality practices including paternity leave, parental leave; Law 3250/2004 boosts employment of mothers with underage children, by offering the possibility of their being employed at a 10% quota in positions of part time employment in the public sector, legal entities operating under public law, as well as in organizations of local government, in services of a social character.

Gender equality is the responsibility of the General Secretariat for Equality, (part of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation.) The CEDAW committee experts criticised Greece for the absence of legislation on marital rape as wel as sexual harassment (even though 70% of working women seemed to have been victim of such behaviour).

Employment

A 2007 study by the Bank of Greece, found that although the pay gap between men and women was 84% on average, among the group of low-paid workers, the wage differential between men and women is slightly smaller than the average wage differential. For average incomes, the wage differential is much smaller than the average differential, while the gender earnings disparities are much larger than the average differential in the higher income brackets. Female workers with low levels of education appear to accept jobs in the first years of their careers which are characteristic for this group of population, that is, jobs with a high probability of leaving the labour market. Nonetheless, as they remain in the job, their skills levels as well as their pay increase in line with the work that they are assigned; therefore, the gender pay differentials in this group of workers remain low.

The proportion of women is approximately equal to that of men in the groups of: high-level professionals (professionals with a third-level educational qualification) (47%); technologists/technicians (47%); and agricultural workers (42%). Occupational models are significantly differentiated by gender in the first and second groups. Among high-level professionals, women are employed mainly in education (55% of all women in high-level professions) and secondarily in medicine and biology (13%), whereas men are employed mostly in engineering (31% of all men in high-level professions) and architecture (18%). Among technologists/technicians, women are employed in jobs related to real estate/ stock market (51% of all women in such jobs) and health services (31%), whereas men are employed in real estate/stock market (49%) and work of a technical nature (31%).

Education

There is parity in participation levels between men and women in tertiary education, although there is significant difference in subject choice. Women dominate in the arts and humanities, and health-related subjects, and are also in the majority in business and law subjects. They are the minority however in science and engineering-related subjects (6.5% and 13.2% respectively of women study these subjects compared to 27% and 16.1% respectively for men).

Political Empowerment

Women received the right to vote in 1934 and the right to stand for election in 1952. In legislation introduced in 2002, the government allowed quotas to be introduced to electoral lists for prefectural and municipal elections; 1/3 of candidates must be of the other gender. There has been a steady increase of female elected members of Parliarment; in 2000, 10% of MPs were women. This increased to 13% in 2003.

Sources

The Women, Business and the Law

Where are laws equal for men and women? 

The Women, Business and the Law report presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000 legal provisions impacting women's economic status. This report does not seek to judge or rank countries, but to provide information to inform discussions about women’s economic rights. Covering 128 economies, Women, Business and the Law provides data covering 6 areas: accessing institutions,using property, getting a job, dealing with taxes, building credit, and going to court.Read more about the methodology.

For detailed information on Greece, please visit the Women, Business and
the Law Greece page.

Sources

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