Men and women: equality under the microscope 2017 Edition
Men and women: Equality under the microscope takes stock of today’s gender inequalities in France. This edition follows on from the publication in 2012 of Men and women – A view of gender equality.
It provides an overview of the pathways followed by men and women at different ages (education, family and professional life, retirement) and the resulting inequalities.
There are four reports providing in-depth analyses of different aspects of gender inequalities. The first describes recent progress made in France on female access to managerial and supervisory categories at the start of their working lives. The second is an inventory of the pension gap between men and women in retirement in Europe. The third report looks at male and female delinquency and differences in the way they are dealt with by the legal system in France. The last report covers stereotypes of the social roles of men and women.
Around thirty data sheets present key data and European comparisons, to complete this overview of men and women. More information is available only in French on the French pages of the website.
Social roles of men and women. The enduring idea of a maternal vocation for women despite the decline in adherence to gender stereotypes Insee Références - Edition 2017
Adrien Papuchon
Domestic work is still predominantly carried out by women, especially in families with children. However, the gendered nature of social life cannot be perceived solely through practices: many people think that a person’s sex contributes to determining or should determine what they do and what they aspire to.
For one in three people, the different positions held by men and women in private and professional life can be explained as much by biological reasons as by the education they receive, but the opinions expressed do not tend to present women as less competent or less inclined to carry out certain activities than men.
On the other hand, the view that women may have superior parenting skills and that they are possibly more disposed to perform these tasks still persists: one in two people considers that mothers are better able to respond to the needs and expectations of children than fathers. Women’s “parental vocation” emerges as the cornerstone on which the link between skills that are said to be identical and a social division of labour is based, a division that is still largely organised according to an individual’s sex.
Women reject these gender stereotypes more often than men, especially when referring to their presumed parental vocation. In addition, acceptance of these ideas has decreased, including over the last ten years. In 2014, 22% of those interviewed subscribed to the model of the housewife, against 43% in 2002. This decline is largely due to a gap that has opened up between those born after 1945 and the preceding generations, who are less well-qualified, more religious and with a lower female labour force participation rate.