The European Commission has highlighted that 3rd November was Equal Pay Day in Europe – the point in the year when women effectively stop getting paid compared to their male colleagues. This happens because the average hourly pay of women in Europe is currently 16.3% lower than that of men.
In the EU, women perform equally well or even better in education than men, but this is not reflected in the labour market, says the
Commission. In 2016, 33% of women in the EU had completed tertiary education, compared to 29% of men. At the same time, the overall employment rate of women is 11.6% lower than that of men. Women also continue to be under-represented at top-level positions in the largest companies in the EU. Only one in 14 board chairs, and one in 20 CEOs are women.
First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, Commissioner Marianne Thyssen and Commissioner Vera Jourová said:
"
Gender equality, including equal pay for men and women, is one of the EU's founding values. But it is still far from a reality. For the past years, the gender pay gap has basically refused to budge.
"This means that women work for two months a year for free in comparison to their male colleagues. This is a shocking and unacceptable injustice in the 21st century Europe.
“We urgently need to make progress with this stubborn issue, which affects women and our societies on many other points: Women still tend to work in lesser-paid sectors, get fewer promotions and are underrepresented in management positions. And single-parent households with women as the sole breadwinner are more exposed to poverty, including child poverty and consequent disadvantages.
“Pay gap is not the only problem. Recent revelations on sexual harassment underline the sometimes hostile working environments which women also have to face, with obvious consequences for their professional development and well-being.”
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