Gender differences in perceived fairness of pay in European countries

Glavni cilj ovog diplomskog rada je istražiti razlike između muškaraca i žena u percipiranoj pravednosti plaća u europskim zemljama. Uz pregled relevantne literature i raspoložive statistike o položaju žena na tržištu rada u europskim zemljama, provedena je empirijska analiza bazirana na podacima iz Europskog društvenog istraživanja iz 2018. godine. Ispitalo se postoje li razlike između muškaraca i žena u percipiranoj pravednosti plaća, tj. pojavnost paradoksa zadovoljne radnice u europskim zemljama. Paradoks zadovoljne radnice javlja se kad žene, iako u prosjeku zarađuju manje od muškaraca, svoje plaće u većoj mjeri od muškaraca smatraju pravednima. S ekonomske strane, u analizi se procijenilo kakav učinak na percipiranu pravednost plaća imaju visina plaća i druge, prema literaturi bitne ekonomske varijable (poput obrazovanja, zanimanja i radnih sati). S demografske strane, ispitalo se ovisi li učinak spola na percipiranu pravednost plaća o bračnom statusu, kao što to sugeriraju postojeća istraživanja. Rezultati analize pokazali su da u promatranim europskim zemljama ne postoji paradoks zadovoljne radnice. Žene u prosjeku percipiraju svoje plaće nepravedno niskima, i to u većoj mjeri od muškaraca. Percipirana pravednost plaća, osim o spolu, ovisi o dobi, obrazovanju, zanimanju, visini plaće i radnim satima. Rezultati analize također sugeriraju da dohodak objašnjava jedan dio razlike između muškaraca i žena u percipiranoj pravednosti plaća. Žene u prosjeku zarađuju manje, pa svoje plaće percipiraju nepravednijima. Što se tiče uloge bračnog statusa, suprotno očekivanju, nije pronađena signifikantna interakcija sa spolom.The main goal of this thesis is to investigate the differences between men and women in the perceived fairness of wages in European countries. Along with a review of relevant literature and available statistics on the position of women in the labor market in European countries, an empirical analysis was conducted based on data from the European Social Survey in 2018. It was examined whether there are differences between men and women in the perceived fairness of wages, i.e. the occurrence of the paradox of the content female worker in European countries. The paradox of the content female worker occurs when women, although they earn less than men on average, consider their wages fair to a greater extent than men. On the economic side, the analysis assessed the effect of the level of wages and other, according to the literature, important economic variables (such as education, occupation and working hours) on the perceived fairness of wages. On the demographic side, it was examined whether the effect of gender on perceived fairness of wages depends on marital status, as suggested by existing research. The results of the analysis showed that there is no paradox of the content female worker in the observed European countries. On average, women perceive their wages as unfairly low, and to a greater extent than men. Perceived fairness of wages, in addition to gender, depends on age, education, occupation, salary and working hours. The results of the analysis also suggest that income explains part of the difference between men and women in perceived fairness of wages. Women earn less on average, so they perceive their wages as more unfair. As for the role of marital status, contrary to expectations, no significant interaction with gender was found