Regardless of progress, ladies within the EU nonetheless earn 12% lower than males. Euronews Enterprise analyses the gender pay hole throughout Europe to mark Worldwide Ladies’s Day.
A number of indicators spotlight persistent financial disparities between ladies and men, with the information making these inequalities undeniably clear. Regardless of having the very best gender parity amongst all areas within the World Financial Discussion board’s International Gender Hole Report 2023, Europe isn’t any exception to those challenges.
In 2023, ladies within the EU earned 12% lower than males in accordance with Eurostat. This implies ladies made solely €88 for each €100 earned by males.
The gender pay hole within the EU was 16% in 2013, 4 proportion factors larger than in 2023.
The unadjusted gender pay hole is a helpful indicator. It’s “the distinction between the common gross hourly earnings of women and men expressed as a proportion of the common gross hourly earnings of males”. This calculation consists of enterprises with 10 or extra workers.
In 2023, the unadjusted gender pay hole ranged from -0.7% in Luxembourg to 19% in Latvia.
A damaging price signifies that ladies, on common, earned greater than males.
Displaying quantities as an alternative of percentages would possibly make it simpler to grasp how a lot ladies earn for each €100 males make.
In 2023, ladies in Latvia earned simply €81 for each €100 earned by males, adopted by Austria (€82) and Czechia (€82).
These disparities grow to be much more vital when seen when it comes to month-to-month salaries. For instance, if we assume a mean wage of €2,000 in Austria, ladies would earn €360 lower than males every month.
Luxembourg was the one nation the place ladies (€101) earned greater than males (€100).
The pay hole was additionally lower than €5 in Belgium, Italy, and Romania, making them the very best nations for ladies after Luxembourg.
Amongst Europe’s high 5 economies, the gender pay hole stays vital, besides in Italy. Germany ranked fifth amongst 31 nations, with ladies incomes simply €82 for each €100 earned by males. Within the UK, this determine was €86, whereas in France, it was €88.
Spain was solely barely beneath the EU common at €91, whereas Italy had the third smallest hole, with ladies incomes €98 for each €100 earned by males.
Inspecting key developments, Japanese and Central European nations exhibit bigger unadjusted gender pay gaps. In distinction, Southern European nations like Italy, Spain, and Portugal recorded a number of the lowest disparities.
Nordic nations additionally proceed to point out vital gender pay gaps, with Finland, Denmark, and Norway all exceeding the EU common. This may occasionally come as a shock, given their sturdy repute for gender equality.
Why do ladies earn lower than males?
The European Fee offers 4 important causes for the gender pay hole.
Overrepresentation of girls in lower-paying sectors: The Fee emphasises that roughly 24% of the gender pay hole is linked to sectoral segregation, that means ladies usually tend to work in lower-paid industries corresponding to care, well being, and training. Jobs dominated by ladies are sometimes systematically undervalued.
Unequal distribution of paid and unpaid: Ladies are inclined to work extra hours per week than males. Nonetheless, ladies spend extra hours on unpaid work corresponding to caregiving and family duties.
- The glass ceiling: Place within the hierarchy considerably impacts earnings, with ladies vastly underrepresented in high management roles. As an example, fewer than one in ten CEOs of main corporations are ladies.
One other instance comes from the media sector. A research by the Reuters Institute on the College of Oxford discovered that solely 27% of the 171 high editors throughout 240 media manufacturers are ladies in 2025. That is regardless of ladies making up a mean of 40% of journalists within the 12 markets analyzed.
- Pay discrimination: In some circumstances, ladies nonetheless earn lower than males for performing the identical work or work of equal worth.
The Fee additionally discovered that almost all of the gender pay hole within the EU stays unexplained. It can’t be attributed to elements corresponding to training, occupation, working hours, or the financial sector during which an individual is employed.
“Extra transparency in pay would assist uncover unjustified gender-based pay variations for equal work”, the Fee urged.
The EU’s Pay Transparency Directive goals to deal with these points comprehensively.
Employment price can be a key indicator of gender equality. Big disparities nonetheless exist, too.
The employment price is larger for males in all 32 nations
Amongst 32 European nations (EU, EFTA, and EU candidate nations), males had the next employment price than ladies within the third quarter of 2024.
The EU common stood at 80.9% for males and 70.9% for ladies, reflecting a ten proportion level (pp) hole.
Turkey stands out as an outlier with a 38 pp employment hole disadvantaging ladies.
Equally, the hole exceeded 18 proportion factors in Italy, Greece, and Romania.