Gender Pay Gap – an economic phenomenon manifested in the earnings differences between men and women. How much do women earn in European countries?
At the beginning, it is worth emphasizing that the data that will be given below are averaged. Some companies have already tackled the wage inequality problem, while others are just starting to tackle it.
Every year the World Economic Forum publishes a report on wage inequality in Europe, and not only. Under each Gender Pay Gap report, it is noted that the data does not reflect the reality in 100%. The main reason is the lower participation of women in the labor market. There are several reasons for this: maternity leaves and a small percentage of women employed in the so-called blue-collar positions (physical jobs).
Gender Pay Gap in the world
It is worth emphasizing that so far no country in the world has completely equalized salaries. Nevertheless, the Scandinavian countries are at the top. The pay gap in these countries is reduced by 90%.
The average global pay gap is around 68.1%.
By comparison, the average global social security access gap in 2022 is 95.8%; with educational achievements – 94.4%; with access to participation in the development of the economy – 60.3%; with political activity – 22%.
Below we present the top 5 countries where the difference in wages between women and men is practically equalized.
| Country | Salary similarity percentage |
| Iceland | 90.8% |
| Finland | 86% |
| Norway | 84.5% |
| New Zealand | 84.1% |
| Sweden | 82.2% |
Are you planning a trip to Scandinavian countries? Start by learning Swedish, Norwegian or Danish!
The top 10 countries that are actively fighting the Gender Pay Gap also include Ireland and Germany.
However, below we will see a list of other European countries with a slightly lower % similarity in salaries:
| Country | Salary similarity percentage |
| Austria | 78% |
| Netherlands | 76% |
| Italy | 72% |
| Czech Republic | 71% |
| Romania | 69% |
“Female” and “Male” occupations
Researchers compared the career paths of men and women. It turned out to be that in lower positions, the percentage of employees of both sexes is practically equal. On the other hand, the percentage of male managers and directors employed is much higher (on average 31% – female managers/directors, 50% – male managers/directors).
Below we will see what is the percentage of men and women, in managerial positions in individual industries:
| Industry | % Women | % Men |
| NGOs | 47% | 53% |
| Education | 46% | 54% |
| HR | 45% | 55% |
| Healthcare | 42% | 58% |
| Public sector | 40% | 60% |
| Media and communications | 40% | 60% |
| Production | 34% | 66% |
| Professional services | 32% | 68% |
| Tourism | 32% | 68% |
| Retail and wholesale | 32% | 68% |
| Finance | 30% | 70% |
| Entertainment | 29% | 71% |
| Real estate | 29% | 71% |
| Technology/Engineering | 24% | 76% |
| Agriculture | 23% | 77% |
| Logistics | 21% | 79% |
| Power engineering | 20% | 80% |
| Warehouse work | 19% | 81% |
| Infrastructure | 16% | 84% |
Unfortunately, the labor market is still divided into the so-called “female” and “male” occupations. This has an impact on the lower percentage of employment of a particular gender in the industry, and significantly lower salary compared to the dominant gender.
| “Female” occupations | “Male” occupations |
| Education | Information technology |
| Administration | Uniformed Services |
| Accounting | Production |
| Care | Heavy industry |
| Retail | Construction |
| Entertainment | Logistics/Warehouses |
| Cleaning | Gardening/Harvesting/Farm |
| Hospitality/Gastronomy | Assembly of electronic equipment |
| Media/image communication | Anesthesiology |
Are you thinking about emigrating? Check out the Top 10 best countries to live in.
Gender Pay Gap in the UK
The report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 2021, says that the gender pay gap among all employees in the UK was 15.4%, down from 17.4% in 2019. Among full-time employees the gender pay gap in April 2021 was 7.9%, down from 9.0% in April 2019. The gender pay gap is higher among all employees than full-time employees because women fill more part-time jobs, which tend to be lower paid per hour in comparison to full-time jobs.
This combination of working fewer hours in jobs which pay less per hour, is why women are more likely than men to be living in poverty. 37% of women in employment were working part-time in 2021, compared with 13% of men. Part-time employees have median hourly earnings of £10.65 (€12.03) compared with £15.59 (€17.61) for full-time staff. This “part-time pay penalty” is one of the biggest contributors to the gender pay gap. Other contributing factors are occupational and sectoral segregation.
For more information about the Gender Pay Gap in the UK, CHECK HERE.
In the latest Gender Pay Gap report (for 2022), the United Kingdom is ranked 22nd. For comparison, women from Namibia – 8th place, Albania – 18th place, or South Africa – 20th place earn more than women in the UK.
What can we do?
First of all, we should consider about:
- the promotion of paternity leaves
- increasing the employment of women in the blue collar sectors
- the introduction of laws / orders for pay equalization
- building the awareness of citizens / entrepreneurs that the pay gap exists
There is no shortage of job offers for women on our portal!
