Germany

A law in Germany is to go into effect shortly to ensure pay transparency. The article reports that "If a female employee believes she's being paid unfairly, or wants to be sure she isn't, she can either submit a request anonymously to employee representatives or go directly to HR. The company is then required to provide the average salary for employees with similar work and responsibilities". There is a concern in Germany however, that businesses are not ready for the change and that the law does not take into account any other forms of pay inequality.

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UK

In the UK, the Department for Education was the first governmental department to publish its wage gap data which is 5.9%, however, this has demonstrated problems when publishing the percentage as the Department calculates using a different methodology to the Office of National Statistics.

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France

A new French Minister, Marlene Schiappa, wants to introduce sexual harassment fines of up to 5000 Euros and that the Government offers free consultations to big businesses on how they can close their GPG.

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Italy

A draft bill on menstrual leave is currently being discussed in the Italian Government which proposes that some women employees can have up to 3 days paid leave off each month if they experience painful periods.

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Australia

The Australian Government has published a report with 9 recommendations on how to close the GPG. Stark occupational segregation has been cited as the main contributing factor with up to 60% of people never experiencing what it is like to work in a gender-balanced sector.

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USA

According to an article in Marie Claire, the gender pay gap in the White House "has more than tripled in the first year of his administration, with female members of staff reportedly earning 63 cents for every dollar male staffers make".

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India

In the manufacturing sector in India, it has been reported that the GPG is touching 30% and the median hourly salary has declined according to a report by The online recruitment agency's Monster Salary Index (MSI) and the International Labour Organisation in the Global Wage Report 2016/17 has also reported that the GPG in India is of 'huge' concern.

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Denmark

Gender equality hits a glass ceiling in Denmark; one of the reasons, women are not choosing to return to work full-time.

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UK

Women face a gender pay gap just one year after graduation in the UK.

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Croatia

100 acts of gender equality campaign started in Croatia.

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Malta

The President of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, has called on the international community to take urgent action "to accelerate gender equality and equitable participation in the economy."

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USA

Google is under fire again about its GPG analysis.

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Belgium

Editorial by Isabella Lenarduzzi (JUMP): benchmarking the EU against the US in terms of corporate gender equality.

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Equal Pay day 2017

Equal Pay Day took place on 04 April this year and it seemed that it had less of a media and social media presence than in previous years. The Belgian organisation Zij-Kant together with socialist trade union ABVV however launched a very powerful campaign to mark the day. The 'unorthodox' campaign featuring a young girl driving a bus suggested that either the Pay Gap is closed or women will need to start their careers 10 years earlier.

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International Women's Day

On 08 March this year, International Women's Day celebrations took place across the world to mark women's achievements and to raise awareness of gender equality issues. The European Commission marked the occasion by the publication of a new report on equality between men and women, which highlighted that whilst significant progress is being made in the EU, there are notable gaps and differences between Member States.

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UK

A recent survey by Shutterstock has revealed that UK employers are not paying due diligence to gender pay issues; this was according to a survey decision makers carried out by NGA Human Resources. This is despite recent gender pay reporting which requires businesses with 250 or more employees to publish annual figures reporting what the gender pay gap is in their company.

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Italy

There are talks in Italy of introducing paid 'menstrual leave'. If this law is passed, companies in Italy will have to offer female staff 3 days off per month to deal with the discomfort of menstruation. Whilst many Italians welcome the move in terms of gender equality, some fear that it will further fuel the tendency to recruit men over women.

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Ireland

Women managers in Ireland earn up to 16% less than than men doing the same job according to recent research by Eurostat. The research also uncovered that women take up only two fifths of management roles. Although this is far from the ideal 50:50 split, Ireland comes before France, Sweden and the UK in terms of gender equality in management ranks.

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Poland

There has been widespread outrage this month after far-right Polish MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke announced in the European Parliament that women were "weaker, shorter and less intelligent than men" and should therefore be paid less. As a consequence of his appalling public outcry, it is likely that his per diems will be docked for 30 days which will equate to roughly 9,180 euros. Furthermore, Janusz will be suspended from his parliamentary duties for 10 days but may not 'represent the parliament for up to a year'.

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Iceland

Iceland will be the first State to outlaw the Gender Pay Gap. Politicians have wowed that by 2022, there will no longer be a GPG in the country and a bill to this effect is currently being drafted.

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Hungary

The GPG in Hungary has reduced massively over the past 5 years according to Eurostat and most noticeably from 20% in 2012 to 14% in 2015. One contributing factor to this dramatic decrease is a new career model for the teaching industry where many women are employed. An area of focus for the future will be to tackle vertical segregation and explore ways to encourage a better gender balance in management positions.

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Women′s work and the gender pay gap

The Economic Police Institute (Washington D.C.) has proven that women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men-despite the fact that over the last several decades millions more women have joined the workforce and made huge gains in their educational attainment.

Too often it is assumed that this pay gap is not evidence of discrimination, but is instead a statistical artifact of failing to adjust for factors that could drive earnings differences between men and women. However, these factors-particularly occupational differences between women and men-are themselves often affected by gender bias.

Read the report in English

Gender pay gap in Wales report

Chwarae Teg (Welsh for Fair Play) has gathered some facts about the gender pay gap in Wales.

Women consistently outperform their male counterparts in general in education in Wales and are more likely to end up with a better degree classification; however, they are significantly under-represented in many sectors and, in particular, in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

Read the report in English

Marcel Fratzscher on the gender pay gap

Since the planned German law on wage transparency is on hold (and might not be agreed on by the government, Marcel Fratzscher - the president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) - has written a great comment for Der Spiegel on the argument that the Gender Pay Gap in Germany is not that high and that women themselves are responsible for the wage differences (since they work part-time and "chose" the wrong jobs...).

Finnish campaign − Women's euro is less than men's

Akava, a Finnish trade union confederation of affiliates for highly educated people, has initiated a campaign aimed at promoting gender pay equality. The amount of women′s euro or female euro on the payslip remains significantly lower than that of men.

"In 2014, the total earnings of women were approximately 82 per cent of men′s earnings. This figure includes any result-based bonuses paid. In 2010, the earnings of women were about 81 per cent of men′s earnings, so there has essentially been no change," says Joonas Miettinen, Researcher at Akava.

These figures were taken from the Structure of Earnings statistics published by Statistics Finland. Miettinen digs even deeper for older statistics. In 2006, the total earnings of women were approximately 79 per cent of men′s earnings.

This gender pay gap will continue to be a burden for today′s wage and salary earners long into the future. Lower pay means a lower pension as well.

Spanish study − Equal pay and collective bargaining

UGT of Catalonia and Maria Aurèlia Capmany Foundation organized the ′Un Futuro sin brecha′ (a Future without the Gender Gap) project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality. The project has centred on the search for factors that provoke inequality in the elaboration of collective agreements.

The result is a study based on the analysis of the 129 collective agreements from different sectors that are currently in place in Spain, focusing on aspects like the language used in the remuneration system or the system of professional classification. Besides studying collective agreements, they have elaborated a guide for those in charge of negotiating collective agreements that incorporates the conclusions and recommendations from the study. Through they guide, they aim to make the results public, make people aware of the problem at hand and give those negotiating collective agreements a tool to fight the pay gap.

The full report (in English) can be downloaded

The full guide (in English) can be downloaded

Report − Which countries in Europe have the best gender equality in the workplace?

A recent study by Glassdoor Economic Research confirmed the gender pay gap is real and significant ranging from 5 to 6 percent in European countries and the U.S. − even after controls for education, work experience, age, location, industry and even job title and company are applied. When looking at the overarching ′unadjusted′ pay gap, the economic cost of motherhood − the increase in the gender pay gap accounted for by the presence of children7 − remains large. Social and family structures in effect tend to penalise women with children. Childcare costs are, in some countries, high relative to earnings; and the burden of unpaid household work and childcare often falls on mothers.

The cost of motherhood is highest in Ireland, where the pay difference (with respect to men) between women with at least one child and those with no children is 31 percentage points. The cost of motherhood is also comparatively high in Germany (23 percentage points): women aged 25 to 44 with no children and who work full−time are paid around 2 percent less than men, compared with 25 percent less when they do have children. In the UK, the gender pay gap increases by 14 percentage points when women have children; in Austria, by 13 percentage points; in France, by 12 percentage points; in the Netherlands by 8 percentage points. The cost of motherhood is lowest in Italy, Spain, and Belgium (3 percentage points or less). In the U.S., the pay difference between women with at least one child and those with no children is 16 percentage points, which is greater than most European countries in this study.

Read more in English.

The simple thruth about the gender pay gap

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been on the front lines of the fight for pay equity since 1913. AAUW members were in the Oval Office when President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, and more than 50 years later, the AAUW continues to lead the push for policies and legislation to encourage and enforce fair pay in the workplace. Pay equity is a priority for AAUW, and it will continue to be until women everywhere earn a fair day′s pay for a fair day′s work.

In January 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, Since then, AAUW has worked for the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would give women additional and much-needed equal pay protections. The legislation failed in procedural votes in the House and Senate in the 113th Congress, but the Senate did vote to fully debate the bill for the first time ever in September 2014.

This guide is designed to empower our members and other advocates with the facts and resources they need to tell the simple truth about the pay gap. It′s real, it′s persistent, and it′s undermining the economic security of American women and their families.

Read the guide here

European Commission - Report Magnitude and impact factors of the gender pay gap in EU countries

This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the sources of wage differences between male and female workers in Europe. Its main purpose is to shed light on the interplay of so far neglected explanatory factors as well as to reveal country differences in the roles of these factors. One specific point of interest concerns the impact of gender differences in the incidence of overeducation.

For this reason, our study also examines, in an introductory module, the determinants of overeducation in Europe. In this way, we make contributions to two different, highly debated subfields in labour economics: the overeducation and the gender pay gap literature. In both fields, our innovative features are the large number of determinants as well as the large number of countries simultaneously analysed.

The study is divided into three modules, which build on each other. The main findings are summarised in what follows. For more detailed information, please see the full text of the study. For more country-specific information please refer to the country fiches provided together with this final report. Some suggestions regarding additional variables potentially increasing the scientific usefulness of the three data sets are made in the last chapter of the study.

Read more in English.

Interview

Dr. Alexandra Scheele: "Frauen sind wie Männer, nur billiger" In: OXI Wirtschaft für Gesellschaft, 20th March, 2016.

Glassdoor survey details Gender Pay Gap in five countries

Glassdoor Economic Research (GER) has examined the gender pay gap using a unique data set of hundreds of thousands of Glassdoor salaries shared anonymously by employees online. Unlike most studies, GER has included detailed statistical controls for job titles and company names. The gender pay gap in five countries has been estimated: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France.

The results:

• The gender pay gap is real. Men earn more than women on average in the examined countries, both before and after adding statistical controls for personal characteristics, job title, company, industry and other factors, designed to make an apples-to-apples comparison between workers.


• A similar pattern is found in all the five countries: a large overall or ′unadjusted′ gender pay gap, which shrinks to a smaller ′adjusted′ pay gap once statistical controls are added.


• To drill down further into what′s causing the gender pay gap, the overall gap is divided into an ′explained′ part due to differences between workers, and an ′unexplained′ part due either to workplace discrimination, whether intentional or not, or unobserved worker characteristics. In all countries, most of the gender pay gap is explained. The ′unexplained′ part is only 33 percent in the U.S. and is less than half in every country.


• Workplace fairness and anti-discrimination remain important issues. But the data show that while overt forms of discrimination may be a partial cause of the gender pay gap, they are not likely the main cause. Occupation and industry sorting of men and women into systematically different jobs is the main cause.


• This research shows that employer policies that embrace salary transparency can help eliminate hard-to-justify gender pay gaps, and can play an important role in helping achieve balance in male-female pay in the workplace.

Read more in English.

What goes on in the world?

• Ook vrouwen vragen opslag (maar krijgen die minder vaak (De Standaard, 07/09/2016)
• Research Suggests Women Are Asking for Raises, but Men Get Them More (The New York Times, 07/09/2016)
• Vrouwen vragen even vaak loonopslag, maar krijgen die minder (De Standaard, 06/09/2016)
• Gender pay gap: 'I was bullied over equal pay request' (BBC, 06/09/2016)
• Women ask for pay increases as often as men but receive them less, study says (The Guardian, 05/09/2016)
• You're How Old? We'll Be in Touch (The New York Times, 04/09/2016)
• Believe Tories when they say a 'trickle down economy' will help women - or get on board with Jeremy Corbyn's actual solutions (The Independent, 01/09/2016
• Four ways the gender pay gap isn't all it seems (BBC, 29/08/2016)
• Jennifer Lawrence and Melissa McCarthy make big money - but men still make more (The Guardian, 27/08/2016)
• Tips on balancing your career with starting a family (The Guardian, 26/08/2016)
• The gender pay gap means that more women will be in poverty later in life - but there is something the government can do (The Independent, 26/08/2016)
• Finland tests giving every citizen a universal basic income (The Independent, 26/08/2016)
• Looking for ways to tackle the gender pay gap (The Guardian, 26/08/2016)
• Musicalparodie 'My Unfairly Paid Lady' klaagt loonkloof aan (Knack, 26/08/2016)
• Hawaii dubbed the 'best state for women's equality' in new study (The Guardian, 24/08/2016)
• Jennifer Lawrence weer best betaalde actrice (De Standaard, 24/08/2016)
• UK women still far adrift on salary and promotion as gender pay gap remains a gulf (The Guardian, 23/08/2016)
• Six ways to tackle the gender pay gap (BBC, 23/08/2016)
• Gender pay gap: Trend shows women in NI earn more than men (BBC, 23/08/2016)
• Mothers' pay lags far behind men (BBC, 23/08/2016)
• Why having a Millennial as your boss might solve the gender pay gap (The Independent, 23/08/2016)
• Sexism is over, according to most men (The Independent, 23/08/2016)
• Motherhood costs women a third of their salary compared to men, report reveals (The Independent, 23/08/2016)
• Women in UK See Pay Gap Widen After Having Children (The New York Times, 23/08/2016)
• How to Reduce the Gender Pay Gap (The New York Times, 23/08/2016)
• How to Reduce the Gender Pay Gap (The New York Times, 15/08/2016)
• Sisterhood Is Not Enough: Why Workplace Equality Needs Men, Too (The New York Times, 14/08/2016)
• L'inégalité salariale hommes-femmes commence dès la sortie des grandes écoles
• Committee launches inquiry into number of women MPs (BBC, 09/08/2016)
• Executive pay jumps 10% but none of the highest paid are women (The Independent, 08/08/2016)
• Viewpoint - Working women: Vertical ambition or glass cliff? (BBC, 06/08/2016)
• Female Golfers Hope to Score a Birdie for Gender Equality at Rio Olympics (The New York Times, 04/08/2016)
• University of Waterloo boosts female faculty pay after wage gap uncovered (The Globe And Mail, 04/08/2016)
• Corbynomics offers hope of a New Deal for low-paid workers (The Independent, 03/08/2016)
• Massachusetts to adopt equal pay law to break pattern of unfair pay for women (The Guardian, 02/08/2016)
• Study reveals men are their own favourite experts (The Independent, 02/08/2016)
• Markeren vrouwelijke CFO′entering in het bedrijfsleven? (De Standaard, 02/08/2016)
• It′ but women even in elite professions still earn less (The Globe And Mail, 02/08/2016)
• Chelsea Clinton challenges Ivanka Trump over equal pay (The Independent, 29/07/2016)
• Directeur verdient vier keer zo veel als kelner (De Standaard, 29/07/2016)
• In deze sectoren verdienen Belgen het meest (De Standaard, 28/07/2016)
• Loonkloof bedraagt nog 6 procent in Belgi� (De Morgen, 28/07/2016)
• Graduate jobs: Women more likely to land a top role than men, but less likely to apply, report finds (The Independent, 25/07/2016)
• Owen Smith to pledge equal representation of women in Labour (The Guardian, 23/07/2016)
• Startup sexism: why won't investors give women business loans? (The Guardian, 17/07/2016)
• Women are the engines of the Indian economy but our contribution is ignored (The Guardian, 16/07/2016)
• The startling statistics on pocket money: how much should your children get? (The Guardian, 15/07/2016)
• Universities need to help women beat the gender pay gap (The Guardian, 14/07/2016)
• A Diagnosis That Hasn′ed for Female Physicians: Lower Pay
• Female doctors paid $20,000 less than males on average, US study finds (The Guardian, 11/07/2016)
• UK Government calls for action after number of female appointments on boards falls to five-year low (The Independent, 08/07/2016)
• However unfair, female politicians must still face the gender thing (The Guardian, 07/07/2016)
• UK Government calls for action after number of female appointments on boards falls to five-year low (The Independent, 07/07/2016)
• Vrouw verdient 21 procent minder (De Standaard, 29/06/2016)
• Vrouwen verdienen 8 procent minder dan de mannen (De Standaard, 28/06/2016)
• Gender discrimination present among students as young as 16, schoolgirls report (The Independent, 29/06/2016)
• US firms sign pledge to tackle gender pay gap (BBC, 15/06/2016)
• The university gender pay gap is down to neoliberal orthodoxy (The Guardian, 14/06/2016)
• The gender pay gap won't just go away, but new regulations are a start (The Guardian, 24/06/2016)
• Closing the gender wage gap (The Globe and Mail, 14/06/2016)
• How to end UK gender pay gap (The Guardian, 12/06/2016)
• Gender pay gap: Survey reveals women expect less than men in order to be ′successful′ (The Independent, 09/06/2016)
• Stubborn Gender Gap in Retirement Benefits (The New York Times, 04/06/2016)
• Essex university gives female staff one off pay rises to close gender pay gap (The Independent, 03/06/2016)
• Gender pay gap in children's pocket money as boys get 12% more than girls (The Independent, 03/06/2016)
• Men are making more money off their homes than women (CNN, 27/05/2016)
• Der Lohn der Frauen (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19/05/2016)
• Comment Robin Wright a fait pression pour avoir le même salaire que Kevin Spacey (La Libre Belgique, 19/05/2016)
• UK ranks as one of the worst countries in Europe for gender equality at work, Glassdoor finds (The Guardian, 18/05/2016)
• Kersverse Belgische moeders leveren minste loon in (Knack, 18/05/2016)
• Loonkloof iets kleiner, vrouwen verdienen nog altijd minder (De Volkskrant, 11/05/2016)
• Hoe (hoger) onderwijs de loonkloof niet helpt te dichten (Knack, 07/05/2016)
• Emma Thompson: ′I do not want to die before closing the pay gap′ (The Guardian, 02/05/2016)
• Daniel Radcliffe on film′s gender pay gap: ′How can this still be happening?′ (The Guardian, 26/04/20016)
• Being a Female Architect in a Male-Dominated Field (The New York Times, 20/04/2016)
• Calling for equal pay, Hillary Clinton shares little about her own experience (The Guardian, 13/04/2016)
• Equal Pay Day: When, where and why women earn less than men (CNN, 13/04/2016)
• GRAFIEK: Internationale Equal Pay Day (De Redactie, 12/04/2016)
• One way to close the pay gap for women (CNN, 12/04/2016)
• Carli Lloyd: Why I′m Fighting for Equal Pay (The New York Times, 10/04/2016)
• Feminist cupcake sale that charged men more to highlight pay gap leads to rape and death threats (The Independent, 06/04/2016
• Low-paid women have 42% less super than men on same income, data shows (The Guardian, 05/04/2016)
• Waar is het eenheidsstatuut in de verloning? (De Standaard, 02/04/2016)
• Only 16% of Australians in Stem professions are women, and pay gap is ′unacceptable′ (The Guardian, 30/03/2016)
• Mind the gap: when will women finally be able to celebrate equal pay? (The Guardian, 22/03/2016)
• Gender pay gap has barely improved in four years, say MPs (The Guardian, 22/03/2016)
• As Women Take Over a Male-Dominated Field, the Pay Drops (The New York Times, 18/03/2016)
• Gender pay gap: three-quarters of employers yet to analyse wages (The Guardian, 11/03/2016)
• Vrouwen verdienen 20 procent minder dan mannen en wat daar aan te doen (De Wereld Morgen, 10/03/2016)
• Vrouw zkt. werk (en dat mag ook voltijds) (De Standaard, 10/03/2016)
• This chart shows the state of the gender pay gap across the developed world (The Independent, 09/03/2016)
• Make me mayor and I'll close gender pay gap, says Sadiq Khan (The Guardian, 08/03/2016)
• Canada′s gender pay gap widens since recession (The Globe And Mail, 08/03/2016)
• ′Nog 70 jaar werken tot loonkloof gedicht is′ (De Standaard, 08/03/2016)
• Vrouwen, zo kunnen jullie wél opslag krijgen (De Standaard, 08/03/2016)
• ′Vrouwen verdienen tot 30% minder: dan is deze dag ook gewoon Mannendag′ (Knack, 08/03/2016)
• Isabelle Simonis : Plus on est payé, moins on retrouve de femmes (La Libre Belgique, 08/03/2016)
• Gender pay gap has roots in school years, when girls opt out of Stem subjects (The Guardian, 08/03/2016)
• "Loonkloof tussen mannen en vrouwen pas over 70 jaar volledig gedicht" (De Morgen, 07/03/2016)
• Silicon Valley′s gender problem extends beyond pay gap (The Guardian, 06/03/2016)
• Reken af met ongelijke beloning van vrouwen (De Volkskrant, 29 februari 2016)
• Vrouwen over discriminatie op de werkvloer: #tisnietoké (De Knack, 22/02/2016)
• Progress slow for gender, pay equality in global workforce-report (The New York Times, 27/01/2016)
• Scottish Government has UK's smallest gender pay gap in top civil service jobs (The Independent, 26/01/2016)
• Gillian Anderson: I was offered less pay for 'X-Files' reboot (CNN, 24/01/2016)
• 'Pink taxes': higher expenses for women add insult to gender pay gap injury (The Guardian, 22/01/2016)
• How to Bridge That Stubborn Pay Gap (The New York Times, 17/01/2016)
• Enkel alleenstaande vrouwen zonder kinderen verdienen meer dan mannen (De Standaard, 16/01/2016)
• Vrouwen, blijf alleen en neem geen kinderen (De Standaard, 16/01/2016)
• Soccer star on inequality: 'Enough is enough' (CNN, 15/01/2016)

More genderrelated news?

RoSa centre of expertise on gender equality compiles a daily review of international press coverage on gender. You can subscribe to this mailinglist through this link.

Presentations of the Gender Pay Gap Project

All the presentations made in the final conference of the Gender Pay Gap Project which took place June 8th at the European Parliament in Zagreb, Croatia can be downloaded.

• Opening Statement
  Welcoming word and efforts made for implementation of equal opportunities in the labour world by Visnja Ljubicic, ombudswoman for gender equality


• Introduction of the project
  ′Gender Pay Gap - New solutions for an old problem′ by Nadja Bergmann and Elvira González Gago


• Country specific findings and overview of the actions done
  Germany - Alexandra Scheele
  Spain - Cristina Castellanos
  Spain - Mercedes Valcárcel
  Belgium - Hildegard Van Hove
  Estonia - Liina Osila
  Austria - Nadja Bergman
  Croatia - Maja Gergorić


• Gender pay gap in elderly age
  Union for Retired Persons - Jasna Petrović,Croatia
• Presentation of the tool ′eg-check′ a tool-box for testing equal pay
  Andrea Jochmann - Döll, Germany
• Importance of legal mechanisms
  Sandra Konstatzky, Ombud for Equal Treatment, Austria
• Presentation ′PPIINA′
  Ignacio Gil, Spain
• Presentation of Belgian Law on Gender Pay Gap
  Hildegard Van Hove, Belgium
• Presentation ′15:57′
  Gertrud Astrom, expert and support on the project

Final conclusions conference Gender Pay Gap Project in Zagreb

Following the goals of the project, activities taken and in line with the discussion that had been raised on the conference all participants and partners on the project agreed to formulate eight main final conclusions.

The main conclusions (in English) can be downloaded.

Country factsheets

The national factsheets on the gender pay gap in the participating countries are published. The focus is on the situation of the gender pay gap in these countries and more particular in the financial sector and the health sector.

Read more

Comparative report

This ′Comparative Report′ has been prepared as part of the project ′Gender Pay Gap: New Solutions for an Old Problem. Developing Transnational Strategies Together with Trade Unions and Gender Equality Units to Tackle the Gender Pay Gap′ which is a project funded by the PROGRESS Programme of the European Union. The main objective of the project is, in close cooperation with trade unions, gender equality units and other relevant stakeholders, to develop new, innovative strategies to tackle the gender pay gap.

On the one hand, the project concentrates on the gender pay gaps in the financial and insurance sector, and, on the other hand, on the human health sector.

Researchers from each of the participating countries have contributed extensive country-specific in-depth research (country context and sector specific analysis including the financial and insurance sector and the health sector) in cooperation with representatives from trade unions and gender equality units.

The ′Comparative Report′ at hand is a summary of the work conducted by the researchers in each country. This work is based on different methods and approaches including analyses of literature and statistics, interviews with various experts, focus groups with relevant stakeholders and mutual learning meetings on national and transnational levels. The aim of the ′Comparative Report′ is to give comprehensive insights into the situation of the six involved countries concerning the gender pay gap and to propose actions to close the gap. Similarities and dissimilarities regarding each country′s situation might support common action and learning from one another. The focus of the report lies, as in the entire project, on the financial and insurance sector as well as the human health sector.

The report is one element of a multi-faceted approach including research, networking, mutual learning, implementation of initiatives, awareness-raising activities and dissemination strategies and should support activists and stakeholders with arguments and ideas in their struggle to close the gender pay gaps.

The full report can be downloaded in English - in Spanish.

Genderpaygap.eu in your language!

Have you already noticed the language icon in the top right corner? If not, click on it and find the multilingual version of this website. Available languages are those of the partner organisations of this project, meaning Croatian, Dutch, Estonian, German and Spanish.

New action tool - Street interviews: What do you think about the gender pay gap

Within the project, all partner organisations went on the streets in their countries. We wanted to know how big the awareness around the gender pay gap is amongst the broader public. The result was astonishing. Not only do most people, both young and old, know about the gender pay gap, most of them are also aware of (parts of) the mechanism that cause the difference in wage between men and women and most of them don't think the gender pay gap is fair!

You can find these videos on our website under the heading actions & tools.

New action tool - Clocks

Analogue to the Swedish 15:56 movement, we decided on the last partner meeting in Vienna in January 2016, to make clocks for the partnering countries. These clocks represent the time, based on a working day from 9.00 till 17.00, from which women are working for free, if you compare it to a men's wage.