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The 40-year pursuit of equal pay: a case of constantly moving goalposts

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  • Jill Rubery
  • Damian Grimshaw

Abstract

Progress towards equal pay is elusive. This article reviews debates on and prescribed remedies for gender pay equality over the past 40 years of equal pay policy. It looks at pay from four perspectives—the economic, the sociological, the institutional and the organisational—and explores how and why once an apparent remedy for unequal pay is pursued, the goalposts tend to shift. The argument is made that the difficulties in securing long-term progress may be attributed to a number of factors, including the multifaceted nature of pay as a social phenomenon, the challenge of pursuing social objectives in a rapidly changing and fragmenting environment, the need for political will not technical solutions to achieve redistribution and the potential for gender inequalities to re-emerge in new forms.

Suggested Citation

  • Jill Rubery & Damian Grimshaw, 2015. "The 40-year pursuit of equal pay: a case of constantly moving goalposts," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(2), pages 319-343.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:39:y:2015:i:2:p:319-343.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/beu053
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    Cited by:

    1. Verdin, Rachel & O'Reilly, Jacqueline, 2021. "A gender agenda for the future of work in a digital age of pandemics: Jobs, skills and contracts," WSI Studies 24, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    2. Ines P. Murillo Huertas & Raul Ramos & Hipolito Simon, 2017. "Regional Differences in the Gender Wage Gap in Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 981-1008, December.
    3. Núria Sánchez-Mira & Raquel Serrano Olivares & Pilar Carrasquer Oto, 2022. "What slips through the cracks: The distance between regulations and practices shaping the gender pay gap," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 536-558, May.
    4. Geraldine Healy & M. Mostak Ahamed, 2019. "Gender Pay Gap, Voluntary Interventions and Recession: The Case of the British Financial Services Sector," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 302-327, June.
    5. Susan Milner & Hélène Demilly & Sophie Pochic, 2019. "Bargained Equality: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Workplace Gender Equality Agreements and Plans in France," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 275-301, June.
    6. Melanie Jones & Gerry Makepeace & Victoria Wass, 2018. "The UK Gender Pay Gap 1997–2015: What Is the Role of the Public Sector?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 296-319, April.

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