ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the aspect of well-being whose importance was underlined by Ingrid Robeyns, namely the capability of participating in the labour market. Although the chapter is particularly concerned with the impact of different taxation regimes on women's participation in the labour market within the 15 countries which comprised the European Union before 2004, it does not ignore the importance of unpaid care work to achieve personal and social well-being. The chapter emphasises that public policies are not gender neutral and some European Union fiscal regimes penalise access of married women to the labour market, which in the end, contributes to increased gender inequality in terms of achieved functioning. While men enter the labour market once they have finished their studies and remain in employment without interruption throughout their working lives, women often abandon the labour force when they marry or have children.
