Pay gaps in some of the EU Member States
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| The Netherlands Job level is the most important variable in explaining the gender pay gap. Other variables that play a role are age (indicating experience) and working full-time or part-time. Denmark Horizontal and vertical segregation are the most important factors in the explanation of the wage gap. Human capital factors (as education and work experience) contribute to the explanation. Germany The gender pay gap can be attributed to (vertical and horizontal) occupational segregation, but seems to be connected to workplace related remuneration policies as well. Personal characteristics like age, education and years of employment play a minor role. Greece Gender differences in educational attainment play a small or insignificant role, while women’s shorter work experience plays an important role in explaining the gender pay gap. A recent decomposition study has found that the most important determinant of the gap is gender differences in labour force participation. Spain The level of education is an important factor to explain gender differences in salaries after controlling for other factors, although there is not linearity in the relationship between these variables. Empirical evidence suggests that gender wage differences increase with salaries. In particular, the gender gap increases with salaries among people with university degrees. Among people with primary or secondary education it happens the other way around: the gender gap decreases with salaries. France The most recent econometric study of the gender pay gap shows that working time is the biggest determinant. Human capital has become a positive factor for women’s wage. Ireland Findings from national research indicate that a significant part of the gender pay gap is attributable to differences in years of experience and years out of the labour market. In addition, (vertical) segregation plays an important role. Italy: open discrimination All studies applying the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition found that for the most recent years the gender pay gap is due to differences in the remuneration of the characteristics and less to differences in characteristics. In addition, research covering a long period seems to indicate that the degree of pay discrimination increases. Cyprus More than half of the gender pay gap can be explained by differences in average characteristics but much of this explanation includes horizontal and vertical segregation. Luxembourg The main studies on the gender pay gap in Luxembourg show that the occupational (horizontal) differences account for much of the pay differences between men and women. In addition, gender differences in length of career are also an important factor, women tend to have less years of experience in the labour market. Austria Only the minor part of the gender pay gap can be explained in terms of individual characteristics (qualification) and horizontal and vertical segregation (job characteristics, career years, working time). Unequal pay can be largely traced back to the unequal evaluation of ‘men’s work’ and ‘women’s work’ by the employers. Portugal Occupational differences (horizontal segregation) account for much of the pay differences between men and women; human capital factors seem to have a decreasing influence, although differences in experience and tenure seem to neutralise the effect of diminishing importance of differences in education. Finland A relevant part of the pay gap is attributable to structural components like industry and occupation; (horizontal segregation) Vertical segregation (like age, education and years of employment plays a (very) minor role. Sweden Traditional human capital characteristics like education and years of employment, similarly to Finland, play a (very) minor role. More important factors are the increased wage diversity in general and the fact that the employed in the public sector have lost in comparison with the employed in the private sector. Great Britain Differences in human capital account for a smaller share of the gender pay gap but differences in work experience do matter, with spells of part-time work having a negative impact on future earnings growth. Workplace variables are often more powerful than individual characteristics in accounting for gender pay differences. Source: The Gender pay gap. Origins and policy responses, European Commission, 2006 |  |