Equal pay for women - not yet

Published: 8 March 2010 y., Monday

Piniginė
Women in the EU earn on average 18% less than men - a gap that has scarcely narrowed over the last 15 years and in some countries has even grown.

The continued wage disparity is not only unfair to women, it is hobbling economic growth, says Viviane Reding, the new commissioner for justice and fundamental rights. With its greying population, the EU needs women to expand the labour pool.

“In these times of crisis, the gender pay gap is a cost Europe cannot afford,” she said, joining President Barroso at a news conference ahead of international women's day on 8 March.

She pledged to raise awareness among employers, promote gender equality in the workplace and support the development of tools to measure the gap. Employers could face harsher punitive measures, she said.

Mr Barroso said women will be a high priority during his second term, with all policies over the next five years taking account of gender issues. He set out five key areas for action, including labour markets, decision-making roles, gender-based violence and external relations. This ‘women's charter' will serve as a basis for a new EU strategy to be introduced later this year.

A new EU survey shows that 80% of Europeans support urgent action to address the gap, which refers to the average difference in hourly earnings between women and men across the economy as a whole. Translated into cash, women make only 82 cents for every euro that men earn.

Varying widely from country to country, the measure is affected by the different work patterns of men and women, such as the proportions in different occupations, their length of time in jobs and whether they work full-time or part-time.

It does not necessarily indicate differences in rates of pay for comparable jobs. And in fact, EU studies show that direct discrimination has declined in recent years. Rather, they attribute the lopsided earnings to a combination of traditions, stereotypes and problems balancing work and private lives.

The number of European women in the workforce is rising and nearly 60% of all new university graduates are female. But they hold fewer positions of responsibility than men and are concentrated in less lucrative professions.

 

Šaltinis: ec.europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Simulation technology could help prevent future financial crises

How will economic policies adapt in 2020 when a quarter of the EU population is over 65? Can economics better predict how banks will react to credit crunches in the future, and what their impact will be on the wider economy? more »

EBRD supports one of the first modern food retail chains in Turkmenistan

The EBRD is supporting the development of one of the first modern food retail chains in Turkmenistan with a $1.9 million equity investment in Ak Enar. more »

Ukrainian electricity to be supplied to Lithuania without intermediaries

While on a working visit to Ukraine, President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė has underlined that Ukraine might become a very important energy partner for Lithuania and for the whole European Union but only transparent and open relations will lead to success in this area. more »

Cooperation between the Nordic Investment Bank and Lithuania was discussed in Vilnius

On 25 November in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Nordic Investment Bank discussed the issues of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics (the secretariat of which is being established at the Bank), issues of the NIB cooperation with Lithuania and perspectives of the NIB’s activities in the country. more »

EBRD adopts new Russia Strategy for 2010-2012

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has adopted a new strategy for the Russian Federation. more »

Made in where? MEPs want clear rules on origin marking

Consumer protection requires transparent and consistent trade rules, believe MEPs. more »

EIB provides CZK 2 billion for regional infrastructure in South Moravia (Czech Rep.)

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending CZK 2 billion (approx. EUR 76 million) to the South Moravia Region for co-financing the Region’s priority infrastructure projects supported by the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds over the period 2007 – 2013. more »

Israel-Lithuania Chamber of Commerce Established

Seeking to strengthen business partnership between Israel and Lithuania the Israel and Lithuania Chamber of Commerce has been recently established in Lithuania. more »

Dr. J.Titarenko appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Bank DnB NORD Group

AB DnB NORD Bankas, notifies that on 24 November 2009, the member of the Management Board and Executive Vice-president of AB DnB NORD Bankas dr. Jekaterina Titarenko has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Bank DnB NORD Group. more »

Financial aid for Serbia, Bosnia, Armenia and Georgia

Parliament gave its backing on Tuesday for €400 million-plus in budget aid to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and Georgia. more »