Families are becoming more vocal due to the lack of childcare options for their children. Rightly so, as Robert Habeck emphasized on Anne Will: “We have seen who has no lobby: I would say single parents, children, and women.”
In this context, the overview from the Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, becomes even more interesting, as the employment rate of women has been continuously rising for years: 78% of mothers in couple families with school-aged children were employed in 2018, with around a quarter (23%) working full-time (2008: 18%).
Women work part-time more often than men, which is also due to the German tax system. Economist Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln explains: “The German spousal splitting tax system hinders a stronger integration of women into the labor market.”
Incidentally, another research team examined what happened in Sweden when the Social Democrats introduced gender quotas on electoral lists: women displaced less talented men – measured by income. The researchers call it the “crisis of the mediocre man.”
What is your opinion on the spousal splitting tax system (#Ehegattensplitting)? Why do we cling to it so vehemently when it obviously contributes to the disadvantage of married women in the labor market?
Posted by Natascha Hoffner, Founder & CEO of herCAREER, WiWo columnist, LinkedIn TOP Voice 2020, W&V 2019 – 100 Köpfe
published on LinkedIn on 23.05.2020
