臺灣婦女工作處境之探討

A Critical Evaluation of Women's Labor Market Experiences in Taiwan

本章主要是針對臺灣女性在勞動市場的處境，從數個層面加以深入討論，並檢討相關法令的缺失，以彰顯女性權益被忽視的事實及目前所面臨的困境。女性就業並非因為教育水準已經提高，或社會環境的變遷而有所改善。女性在踏入就業市場時就須立即面臨就業機會的限制。報紙的徵人啟事中屬於管理、技術性的工作多限男性申請，即為一例；甚至國家考試歧視女性的情況已行之有年。如果女性可以順利進入勞動市場，大多數也是在次級勞動市場就業。在臺灣，不同性別勞動者的分佈具有明顯行業和職業的差異；女性較為集中屬於勞力密集的產業，而較少有機會在屬於資本密集的行業中工作。這些不利的狀況又和其在企業中缺乏升遷與受訓練的機會形成交互的影響，而對女性的就業及待遇造成持續的不良後果。此外，家務負擔也常使職業婦女在面臨兩難之際，不得不選擇離職，造成工作經驗的中斷，而對她們日後再進入勞動市場造成相當不利的影響。臺灣的政府官員常常會用增加業者成本、或是臺灣經濟發展還不到工業先進國家的水準等籍口，漠視女性勞動者應有的權益。以致於現行法令雖不足以保障女性的權益，但也未見政府單位有任何積極改進的意圖。我們認為，除了觀念的改變之外，不同公權力的使用和配合，包括立法在內，應是促進兩性工作平等的基本手段。問題只是在政府單位到底是否有誠意要維護女性員工應有的權益。

This paper examines current labor market conditions experienced by female workers in Taiwan from the following five aspects: employment opportunities, chances of promotion and on-the-job training, economic returns, dilemma of career women, and sexual harassment in the workplace. Data sources consist of government survey results and previous research findings. We show that women have fewer job choices than men upon entering labor markets. Even some of the recruitment exams held by the state limit the number of women who can apply for. Industrial and occupational segregation by sex is prevalent in Taiwan. Mostly working in the secondary labor markets female employees rarely have chances of getting promoted or receive job training. All these factors explain a signigicant portion of wage discrepance between men and women. Today unequal pay for equal work is still a common practice in large enterprises in Taiwan. Many women experienced hard decisions of choosing between career and family. And only recently did the sexual harassment by coworkers and supervisors get public attention. The paper concludes by asking for affirmative laws and policies to protect basic work rights for women and to reduce structural obstacles for their employment.