This book is an examination of the employment situation of women in Spain. It is divided into four studies exploring different aspects of labor segregation and wage discrimination, as well as the use of time and part-time working.

Using data from the latest Wages Survey (Encuesta de Estructura Salarial), it provides quantitative estimates of gender discrimination in the labor market by reference to types of employment and educational levels. Special consideration goes to part-time work – in Spain mainly female work – which the authors describe as basically a concealed form of involuntary unemployment. Finally, it looks at the problem of discrimination from the standpoint of time usage, adopting a comparative approach.

Its analysis permits two main conclusions. Firstly, that discrimination is not only a problem of social justice, but also exacts a high cost in terms of lost welfare and productive capacity, and that such losses can be quantified in terms of the points detracted from GDP. And secondly, that discrimination is not just or even mainly about wages, but shows up in a wide range of factors from the use of time through to access to pay supplements or the importance of part-time working.