France, March 8 -- France's gender equality legislation has helped narrow the pay gap by a third over the last 30 years. But women in the private sector still earn an average of 22 percent less than their male counterparts. RFI looks at what's behind the gap and what could be done to close it.

France co-founded the United NationsInternational Labour Organisation in 1919, championing "equal pay for equal work", and in 1972, the agency wrote the principle of pay equality into its labour code.

In 1983, France'sRoudy lawmandated equal opportunities in the workplace, requiring companies to publish annual reports comparing the situation of its male and female employees andintroducing a tool to help human resources managers identify and measur...