Gender pay gap: Only one country in Europe pays women more than men

The Gender Pay Gap in Europe: A Report on Inequalities and Progress

The gender pay gap is much more than equal pay for equal work. Women in Europe face major inequalities in access to work, progression, and rewards.

Introduction

The gender pay gap is still very much evident in Europe. Several indicators exhibit the inequality between women and men in many arenas, but economic life is one of the key areas affecting women the most.

On International Women’s Day (March 8), an annual initiative promoted by the United Nations to raise awareness of gender-related issues, Euronews Next crunches the data in these main indicators to give a fuller picture of the current gender divide.

How much less do women earn than men?

Gender inequality in wages has increasingly been debated in recent years.

Unadjusted gender pay gap is a significant indicator, showing the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women, expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men.

It does not take into account education, age, hours worked or type of job.

This basically reveals how much less women earn than men. In 2022, the gender gap was 12.7 per cent in the EU. In other words, women earned 12.7 per cent on average less per hour than men.

This shows that women on average earn €87.3 for every €100 earned by men. In short, women would need to work an extra 1.5 months to make up the difference.

The gender pay gap considerably varied in the EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc. In 2022, it was over 17 per cent in several countries.

Estonia had the highest gender pay gap at 21.3 per cent, followed by Austria (18.4 per cent), Switzerland and Czechia (both 17.9 per cent).

Luxembourg (-0.7 per cent) was the only country with a negative figure, meaning women earned slightly more than men.

Apart from Luxembourg, Italy, Romania and Belgium had the lowest gender pay gap at less than five per cent.

Among the EU’s “Big Four,” Germany (17.7 per cent) and France (13.9 per cent) had higher gaps than the EU average.

Is the gender pay gap falling in Europe?

One of the aims of the European Commission is to decrease the gender pay gap in the bloc. Has there been any improvement in that direction? Progress is steady but it is slow.

Between 2012 and 2022, the gender pay gap fell by 3.7 percentage points (pp) in the EU, down from 16.4 per cent to 12.7 per cent.

Pay gap rose in six countries

In six countries, namely Slovenia, Latvia, Poland, Malta, Switzerland and Lithuania, the gender pay gap increased, ranging from 0.1 pp to 3.7 pp.

Significant improvement in Spain, Estonia and Iceland

Spain recorded the highest improvement in the gender pay gap at a 10 pp decline in this period, followed by Estonia (8.6 pp), Iceland (8.4 pp) and Luxembourg (7.6 pp).

Germany and the UK also recorded considerable fall by 5 pp and 4.7 pp respectively.

Is the gender pay gap higher in the private sector?

Yes, it is.

In 2022, the gender gap was higher in the private sector than the public in 21 out of 24 European countries.

According to EU data agency Eurostat, this might be due to the fact that pay in the public sector is mostly determined by transparent wage grids that apply equally to men and women in the EU.

The pay gap was higher in the public sector only in Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.

Cyprus recorded (-0.2 per cent) a negative gap in the public sector, indicating women were better paid than men.

Cyprus also recorded the highest difference between the public and private at 19.7 pp.

This difference was above 10 pp in five countries, suggesting gender inequality in wages was strong in many countries.

Women earn 12.7 per cent less than men in German private sector

Czechia had the highest gender pay gap in the private sector at 20.5 per cent, closely followed by Germany (19.9 per cent). This shows that women on average earn €80 for every €100 earned by men in the German private sector.

Why do women earn less?

The reasons behind the gender pay gap are not simple. It is more than the issue of equal pay for equal work.

“It comprehends a large number of inequalities women face in access to work, progression and rewards,” the European Commission underlines.

According to the Commission, the main reasons are:

• Sectoral segregation: Around 24 per cent of the gender pay gap is related to the overrepresentation of women in relatively low-paying sectors, such as care, health and education.

In 2022, 28 per cent of women in the EU worked part-time compared to 8 per cent of men.

• Pay discrimination: Women earn less than men for doing equal work or work of equal value in some cases.
• Unequal share of unpaid work: Women have more work hours per week than men but they spend more hours on unpaid work, a fact that might also affect their career choices. They are much more likely to stop working to take care of children and relatives. That is the reason why the EU promotes equal sharing of parental leaves.
• The glass ceiling: The position in the hierarchy obviously influences the level of pay. For example, the profession with the largest differences in hourly earnings in the EU were managers: 23 per cent lower earnings for women than for men.

Besides being paid higher than women, men generally occupy higher positions than women. In 2021, women accounted for only 35 per cent of managers in the EU.

As the chart above shows, the share of women in this position was not over 50 per cent in any EU country. Latvia (46 per cent), Poland and Sweden (both

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
   • Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure, and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
   • Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
   • Target 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences

2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

   • Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
   • Target 8.8: Protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

   The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 5: Gender Equality and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

   • Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
   • Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure, and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
   • Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
   • Target 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences
   • Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
   • Target 8.8: Protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

   The article mentions the following indicators:

   • Unadjusted gender pay gap
   • Gender pay gap percentage
   • Gender pay gap by country
   • Gender pay gap in the private sector
   • Employment rate of women
   • Employment rate of men
   • Gender gap in labor force participation rate

   These indicators can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets.

Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.

Source: euronews.com

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