EU: Gender pay gap still at 13%, commission says

European women still make 13% less than men doing the same job, on average, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

In 2023, for every €1 that a man earns, a woman will earn 87 cents. This was the same rate as in 2022.

The gender pay gap — the difference in average pay between men and women workers — has decreased by 2.8 percentage points over the last decade, but the Commission wants to speed this progress up.

"Equal pay for the same work or work of equal value is one of the founding principles of the EU. It was laid down in the Treaty of Rome in 1957," the Commission said in a statement.

"Yet progress on the elimination of the gender pay gap is stagnant this year and has been slow over the years," it said.

What is the EU doing to address the gender pay gap?

The European Commission set out a strategy to close the gender pay gap by 2025 in March 2020. The Pay Transparency Directive was introduced in June 2023, making it possible for workers to determine if they're being discriminated against, or for employers to make sure they're applying the principles of equal pay.

The Commission also said that it has earmarked €6.1 million ($6.62 million) to help member states implement the directive.

They will have three years to do so.

"Transparency is key to make a real change and this new legislation is an important step in that right direction," the Commission said.

"The implementation of the Directive by the Member States will now be key to enforce the principle of equal pay for all EU citizens."

ab/lo (Reuters, KNA)