ABSTRACT
Inequality in the labour force has many faces. Ethnic minorities find it more difficult than ethnic majorities to get jobs, and are overrepresented in low-paying sectors. Women struggle to advance to higher positions at work, and on average still earn much less than men for doing the same work (approximately 16% less in the European Union and 20% less in the United States). Those with a lower level of education are more often unemployed than those with a higher level of education; the employment potential of elderly people and people with a functional impairment remains under-utilized; and sexual minorities feel less included in the workplace than heterosexuals. These kinds of differences can also be seen in education. Ethnic minorities and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds perform less well than their counterparts from higher socio-economic backgrounds and are less likely to move on to higher education. Girls are less likely to be trained in technical professions. And those who believe that measures designed to empower these disadvantaged groups have been reversing these trends are in for a rude awakening: social and economic inequalities between these groups is growing within different societies across the entire world.
