Tackling the pay gap in the European Union

Published: Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What is the gender pay gap?

The gender pay gap is the difference between men's and women's pay, based on the average difference in gross hourly earnings of all employees.

On average, women in the EU earn around 17 % less per hour than men [1]. The gender pay gap varies across Europe. It is below 10 % in Belgium, Portugal, Slovenia, Poland, Malta and Italy, but wider than 25 % in Estonia and Austria [2]. Although the overall gender pay gap has narrowed in the last decade, in some countries the national gender pay gap has actually been widening.

The gender pay gap exists even though women do better at school and university than men. On average, 81 % of young women reach at least upper secondary school education in the EU, compared to 75 % of men. Women also represent 60 % of university graduates in the EU [3)

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