You may have missed it but yesterday was the second European Equal Pay Day. Last year in March we were reporting that women in the EU earn on average 17.5% less than men (
International Women's Day...). This year the statistics are not much better since the percentage lowered by one (
Equal Pay Day: Women in Europe still earn 16.4% less on average than men). The EU-wide event marks the extra number of days that women must work to match the amount of money earned by men (last year it was the 5th of March). The goal thereof is to raise awareness of the inequalities that still exist in the EU between the sexes.Interestingly, Poland has the lowest discrepancy - ca 2%, while the biggest one may be noted in Estonia - ca 27%. Despite the recent years showed a downward trend, in some countries the gap is widening, e.g. in France, Bulgaria, Latvia, Hungary, Portugal and Romania.
"European Equal Pay Day reminds us of the days and hours that women have been working 'for free' since 1 January. The principle of equal pay for equal work is written in the EU Treaties since 1957. It is high time that it is put in practice everywhere," said EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, the Commission’s Vice-President.
To see more statistics go to the
Gender pay gap website.
