Pay inequality means women 'work for free' until year's end, European Commission says

Equal pay is still not a reality for working women across the European Union, as men continue to earn on average 12% more per hour.

This means that from Monday, women could, in theory, stop working until the end of the year to compensate for the pay difference.

Each year, Brussels marks this date as "Equal Pay Day."

"There is no reason why men and women should be paid differently for doing the same job," European Commissioners Roxana Mînzatu and Hadja Lahbib said.

The gap has decreased by 4% over the last decade, but overall progress has been slow across the bloc and the EU is far from achieving gender equality in earnings.

Around 24% of the current gender pay gap is due to the over-representation of women in relatively low-paid sectors, such as care, health and education.

Also, women work more hours per week than men, but they spend more hours in unpaid work which could impact their career progression.

"Women continue to face the unequal distribution of care work," Belén Sanz, UN Women Director for Europe and Central Asia, told Euronews.

"This unequal situation makes access and growth in the labour market more difficult for women."

The position in the work hierarchy also plays a part in the level of pay, as less than one in 10 company CEOs are women.

Since 2020, the Commission has progressed on gender equality policies, particularly through EU initiatives on work-life balance, care services and pay transparency.

Aiming to close the gender gap in employment, the EU put forward the Pay Transparency Directive in 2023.

Under these new rules, which will come into force by June 2026 at the latest, companies will have to share information on salaries and implement changes if their gender pay gap exceeds 5%.

The European Commission is currently preparing the next Gender Equality Strategy for after 2025, which will outline the new initiatives and legislation for the following years.