Law prescribes special measures for women (WoL, V2)
| Quick info | |
|---|---|
| Data type | Numeric |
| Scale | Metric |
| Value labels | not applicable |
| Technical name | labor_discr_special_gend |
| Category | Labour and labour market |
| Label | Law prescribes special measures for women (WoL, V2) |
| Related indicators |
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Measures the presence and strength of regulation to enable and mandate the active equalisation of women.
The unequal treatment of women, developed over thousands of years of patriarchy, cannot be overcome by simply banning unequal treatment. To counteract the perpetuation of socially embedded structures of inequality, a wide range of ‘special measures’ are used – both permanent measures addressing unequal treatment of men and women and temporary measures aimed at normalising certain outcomes, such as the imposition of gender quotas in certain sectors or high positions. A distinction can also be made between means of compensating for disadvantages in specific circumstances (specific health protection such as maternity protection, care responsibilities, etc.) and preferential treatment.
Gender is not the only factor that can make it more difficult for women to enter and remain in the labour market. In many cases, gender interacts with other factors such as social class, ethnicity, racialised characteristics, disability, sexual orientation, or other factors. These factors can be additive, but they can also be inextricably linked (intersectional discrimination). The strength of legal provisions for active equality can therefore be seen from whether the law merely prescribes simple equality measures, such as special measures for care responsibilities, or whether it prescribes more complex measures, such as preferential treatment or even the targeted active combating of multiple, including intersectional, discrimination.
Measures that primarily serve health protection are not to be considered.
Variable E.2 in the Worlds of Labour (WoL) SPE template.
Coding rules
Equals 1 if the law in employment or other ordinary legislation prescribes special measures (e.g. affirmative action) in order to overcome structural gender discrimination, including complex forms of discrimination, in employment relationships; equals 0.5 if the law allows for such special measures to be taken; equals 0 if the law does not allow for such special measures. Scope for further gradations between 0 and 1 to reflect changes in the strength of the law.
For detailed coding rules, please consult Fechner/Carlino 2025.
Bibliographic info
Citation: Fechner, Heiner and Marina Carlino (2025). Worlds of Labour (WoL) Leximetric Dataset. University of Bremen.
Related publications:- Mückenberger, Ulrich, 1985. "Die Krise des Normalarbeitsverhältnisses - Hat das Arbeitsrecht noch Zukunft?" Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 31: 415-434; 457-475
- Mückenberger, Ulrich, and Simon Deakin. 1989. "From Deregulation to a European Floor of Rights: Labour Law, Flexibilisation and the European Single Market." Zeitschrift Für Ausländisches Und Internationales Arbeits- Und Sozialrecht 3: 153–207.
- Carlino, M., Fechner, H., & Schäfer, A. (2024). Using leximetrics for coding legal segmentation in employment law: The development and potential of the Worlds of Labour database. In I. Dingeldey, H. Fechner, & U. Mückenberger (Eds.), Constructing Worlds of Labour. Coverage and Generosity of Labour Law as Outcomes of Regulatory Social Policy. Palgrave Macmillan.
Misc
Project manager(s):
Responsible for data coding: Heiner Fechner (2018-2025)
Responsible for data editing and entry: Heiner Fechner (2024-2025), Andrea Schäfer (2021-2025), Jean-Yves Gerlitz (2018-2020)
Principal Investigators: Irene Dingeldey, Ulrich Mückenberger
Student assistants (2018-2025): Julia Bode, Jessica Bonn, Daniel Euler, Maxime Fischer, Jan-Christopher Floren, Jennifer Götte, Désirée Hoppe, Irina Kyburz, Alexandra Kojnow, Tarek Mahmalat, Karolin Meyer, Johanna Nold, Tanusha Pali, Johannes Ramsauer, Max Sudhoff, Kristina Walter, Caroline Zambiasi.
- Version 0.001: Initial release
Revisions: No revisions yet.
This is the first version of the dataset of the thoroughly revised Version 2 WoL template; for the first time, all variables including those originally stemming from CBR-LRI have been coded/revised under WoL criteria. A preliminary version with compiled data (CBR-LRI and WoL) has been published in WeSIS marked by "CBR-LRI-based" and "WoL, V1".
Sources
Own coding.
Fechner, Heiner, and Marina Carlino (2025). Coding Legal Segmentation in Employment Law. The Worlds of Labour (WoL) Dataset. SFB 1342 Technical Paper Series, 22. Bremen: SFB 1342. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/4191
