EWL Welcomes Commission's Initiative to Tackle the Gender Pay Gap, but More Concrete Steps Needed

The European Women’s Lobby welcomes the Communication from the European Commission 'Tackling the pay gap between women and men'  issued on the 18th of July, which outlines the measures to be taken by the EU to address the issue.

Women's employment is key for women's economic autonomy and equality between
women and men. Although the principle of equal pay was established in the EU treaties fifty years ago, there is still a significant gap between women and men's wages. The average gender pay gap in EU countries - defined as the
difference between the average hourly pay for women and men before tax and across the economy- is 15%. The figure ranges from a surprising 26% in Germany and 4% in Malta.

One of the measures proposed by the Communication is for Member States to set objectives and national deadlines for reducing the pay gap between women and men. While welcoming this proposal, EWL would like the Commission to be more concrete, notably by setting targets, indicators and a timetable for the elimination of the pay gap for the whole of the EU. EWL also support the proposal of the ETUC to introduce a specific target and timetable on the elimination of the pay gap in the European Employment Strategy.

The Commission states that the gender pay gap can not solely be attributed to objective factors such as education or occupational skills and gender based discrimination. Instead it reflects segregation in the labour market and unequal division of unpaid work between women and men at home.

Figures show that it is the countries where women to a large extent work part time that have the largest gender pay gap. This demonstrates the need for a comprehensive approach to the problem. For example, the elimination of the gender pay gap will necessitate stronger measures for the conciliation of private and working life including the promotion of an equal sharing of care responsibilities between women and men. In this respect, the Commission has launched a consultation with social partners, which EWL hopes, will lead to further concrete European action for the conciliation of working and private life, notably in relation to parental leave and paternity leave.

Read more : EWL-website