A few comments on the tendencies

1. We might think that the pay gap is the smallest in the non-profit sector. On the contrary, it is 22% here, compared to the 18% of the private sector and the same 18% national average.

2. Increasing incomes go with increasing inequalities. If we sort our sample of 10.000 persons by wage and divide them into 100 equal partitions, in the first group (so-called percentile) the pay gap is under 5%, in the last group with the highest wages it is above 30%.

3. The largest pay gap can be found in case of people with the highest wage category and the highest education level (30%). The smallest difference is within the group of people with completed secondary education level: their wage difference is 17% on a national average.

4. We have a surprising result that on the contrary of common beliefs, the largest wage difference is not that between men and women working in managerial positions (15%), but that within the group of intellectual, administrative workers (26%). And although it is sure that the wages of women working in managerial positions are the highest, their number is low and thus their weight is not enough to remarkably influence the large wage difference which is characteristic of the highest wage groups. That is, it is worth learning also for women, especially if they get into managerial positions.

5. The net wage difference between men and women reaches or exceeds 20% in Budapest, and in Győr-Moson-Sopron, Pest, Vas and Zala counties.

6. Salaries are also the highest in Budapest and in cities. The smallest pay gap can be found in the county towns, where many women with secondary and higher education are employed in the local public administration.

7. The initial pay gap of 5% of the age group of 24 years increases slightly with age, and in the age group of 30-39 years it starts increasing rapidly, exceeding 20%. This is the age group where young mothers returning from maternity leave start working again in worse positions. Between the age of 40-49 years women partially regain their positions and the wage difference also decreases slightly (around 16%). After the age of 50 they have to face a rapidly growing pay gap again. (In the age group 50-55 the pay gap is 20%, and it is 25% above 56 years.) This can partly be explained by structural factors (achieved position, working experience, years in work, which is less than that of men because of the maternity leave, etc.), and men probably learn better how they can manage to enforce their interests.

8. The difference between men and women without a child is 8%, in case of one child it is 14%. In the case of 2 children it is 25%. In the case of 3 children the growth of the difference becomes slower, the value is 26%. Having more children generally also leads to the decrease of the family income per capita, and sometimes it causes child poverty. (According to a survey, new born children (0-2 years), children in families with 3 or more children and children living with one parent have to face the highest poverty risks.)

9. The pay gap is 9% in the industry of public administration, defence and compulsory social security. In this case the wage categories are fixed and valid for both genders, and the industry is characterised by a high rate of highly educated professional women. We can state that one way to reach wage equality is the use of wage tariffs. In the private sector this could primarily be achieved by promoting collective contracts. In the building and construction industry a small number of women work, but they have mainly white-collar positions which require a higher education level. The pay gap is -14%.