European Equal pay day: It’s time to close the gap

Monday 2 November marks the day in the year when women across Europe stop being paid, while men will continue to earn money until 31 December.

The average hourly wage for women in Europe is 16% lower than it is for men, so women effectively work 58 days for free each year, for work of the same value.

Ahead of this occasion, First Vice-President Timmermans, Commissioner Thyssen and Commissioner Jourová said:
“Equality between men and women is one of the fundamental values of the European Union, but this day reminds us that it is not one of its fundamental realities. The pay gap between women and men is already unfair, unjustified and unacceptable in the short term. But in the long term, it accumulates throughout a woman’s career and results in an even more significant pension gap, with women’s pensions 39% lower than men’s. Europe has laws in place on equal pay. But they are not sufficiently enforced on the ground by Member States. There has been little or no progress in recent years.  As well as guaranteeing equal pay for women on the labour market, we must give them the means to access the labour market for as long as men. In our 2016 Work Programme we will take measures to address this challenge by helping working parents with children and those caring for dependent relatives to balance care and career.”

Full statement is available here, as well as a Q&A, an infographic (pdf version) and factsheets per country.

Courtesy of the European Commission