Gender pay gap remains

After years of debate, the pay gap remains. Every day, European women continue to experience one of the most deep-rooted injustices - being paid less than a man for work of equal value. Furthermore, the well-known "glass ceiling" continues to prevent many women from career advancement, which in turn has an impact on salary levels - and later, pensions.

The salary gap between women and men in most European countries is between 15 percent and 20 percent and some countries have sharper differences. When it is measured over a lifetime rather than based on hourly earnings, the wage gap is still wider.

Part of the gap is due to flagrant gender discrimination in salary setting: women being paid less than men for the same job. This is a human rights violation. The right to equal pay for equal work was recognized as a fundamental right more than 60 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The same right is a core standard of the International Labor Organization and a provision in the European Social Charter.

The general pay gap as reflected in statistics also arises from the fact that job sectors dominated by females - like health care and social work - tend to be less well-paid than those occupied primarily by men. Another factor is "glass ceiling" prejudices that prevent women from gaining promotions for which they are qualified.

In many cases, this injustice is hidden by discriminatory evaluation and promotion systems. The fact that women are paid less for similar jobs is often disguised by different job titles.

One pretext for denying women promotion, or employment, is the fear that women may become pregnant or have to spend time looking after their children. This in turn underlines the need to work for gender equity on several fronts at the same time.

Though there has been some progress in recent years in some countries, the sad truth is that child-rearing and household work are still not shared equally between men and women.

This is reflected in statistics about part-time work in which women are grossly over-represented. This, in turn, has repercussions on career possibilities but also economic consequences, including pension levels.

Women simply do not have access to the labor market on an equal footing. States must tackle the problem more forcefully than ever before:

- Public employers must set an example on equal pay for equal work.

- Collective labor market agreements must comply with the principle of equal pay for equal work. If not voluntarily, then through legislation.

- Wage penalties linked to part time working must be reconsidered.

- It is crucial that state authorities collect relevant data on gender inequalities in the labor market and provide the data to the private sector.

- Governments should promote equal access to education and training and develop a childcare system to make it possible for women and men to combine work with childcare.

- The system should guarantee women who claim to be discriminated against are offered legal remedies, without fear of losing employment.

- The author is commissioner for human rights for the Council of Europe.

Thomas Hammarberg can be reached at
features@praguepost.com