Fixing a hole

FIRST a minimum wage, then a mandatory quota for women on corporate boards—and this just in the first few months of 2015. Germany’s grand-coalition government, which includes the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) as well as the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), has been busily reforming the labour market. Now a new bill would promote wage equality between men and women.

Germany’s cabinet is certainly replete with powerful women. These include the chancellor, Angela Merkel, and her defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, often touted as a possible successor to lead the CDU. On the political left are Andrea Nahles, the labour minister, and Manuela Schwesig, the family and womens’ affairs minister. Ms Schwesig was a major backer of the corporate board quota for women, and it is she who is the driving force behind the wage-equality bill.