THE FLEXIBIITY STIGMA AND THE AMBITION GAP: THE UNPAID FEMALE LABOR MODEL IN GREECE

Abstract

This study discusses the sustained unpaid gendered caregiving services—including the discriminatory parental time-allocation patterns—that define and determine the unpaid female labor model observed globally. In employing a comparative and integrative literature analysis, drawing from peer-reviewed academic articles, research reports, surveys, fact sheets, and international case studies across different disciplines, this paper subsequently focuses on Greece. Sustained caregiving responsibilities and extensive unpaid care and services provided by women—and especially mothers—have been creating barriers to women’s employment and employability. The care burden impact along with the flexibility stigma, the ambition gap and the motherhood penalty have been reducing women’s employability, stalling the march towards equality. When it comes to men’s caregiving, change is happening, but not fast enough. As regards parental time allocation, current studies show that Greece is one of the most challenging countries for working mothers in Europe, societal expectations repeatedly demanding that women prioritize family over employment. Greek women’s labor market performance is deteriorating, while that of men’s is improving or left unaffected. Female employment in Greece is still the second lowest in the EU—just above Italy—and lags far behind the EU average. There seems to be no child penalty for men in Greek society, whereas women’s employment decreases by as much as 37.9% when the first child arrives. Greek women with children have been forced to excel in parental time allocation, literally becoming experts in time management. They provide most of the housework and childcare services in heterosexual dual-earner couple households. Research confirms that motherhood is punished in the Greek labor market. The motherhood penalty in Greece results in substantial lifetime income loss for women: lower employment rates; reduced career prospects and income; pressures to work part-time, stay home or accept less demanding positions/salaries, and inevitably lower pensions. In conclusion, among European countries, Greece is not the place to have a child. The childcare gap in Greece, despite declining birthrates, makes it extremely hard for mothers to return to work after childbirth or excel in their careers. Accordingly, this paper contributes to the research in the field by re-addressing the gender gaps and provides additional and targeted recommendations on how to eliminate the discriminatory gendered time-allocation pattern, namely the sustained and deep-rooted gender gaps or discriminatory patterns: e.g., childcare gap, employment gap, wage gap, leadership gap and pension gap.