64

Many studies have analysed the gender pay gap, measuring and decomposing it. Far less empirical research has addressed the gap in total individual (gross or net) income between women and men. However, limiting the scope to earned income masks a substantial share of inequalities in the resources of which women and men dispose. This article uses data from the 2006 wave of the European Structure of Earnings Survey (ESES) and 2006 data from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) to show that individual income inequality between women and men by far exceeds gender inequality in hourly pay in all 8 countries studied. Women’s precariousness is not confined to the labour market and requires more transversal policy actions, covering work and pay conditions but also the larger domain of the social security system that is organised to their disadvantage.JEL codes : J31, J71