JJob equality, salary equality? The gender pay gap in Mexico: public policy actions to reverse this situation

Abstract

Although Mexican law provides norms that protect gender equality, actual gender equality has not yet been achieved, as shown by the so-called “salary gap,” which states that a woman in Mexico must work 51 days more than a man to earn the same. The objective of this paper is to show that the mere promulgation of regulations or the threat of sanctions for non-compliance does not necessarily lead to an immediate change in social reality, but rather that it is necessary for the state to take other measures that go beyond the creation of laws and penalties. In other words, it must work toward premium law. Through an analytical, historical, descriptive and comparative law study, it will be concluded that the public measures reviewed in our country on this matter are still insufficient, since gender inequality prevails, contrary to the constitutional and legal design that propagates the opposite, namely: equality. Therefore, it is necessary to propose a different type of measures that encourage employers to balance the working conditions and situations in companies so as to achieve the desired equality, such as: Tax incentives, credit incentives, requiring employment quotas, gender equality in hiring, or awarding badges that indicate egalitarian industries, among others