WORK
WAGE GAP
The gender wage gap is a relative difference between the average gross hourly wage of men and women in the entire economy. It is one of the key indicators in valuating inequalities between men and women in a given country.
The difference between the wages paid to men and women in Slovakia is one of the highest in European Union. According to Eurostat, the unedited gender wage gap (the average hourly wage) was 19.4% in Slovakia in 2018, compared to the EU average of 14.8%. This means that, for example, if a man earns 100 euros, a woman earns just over 80 euros for the same work.
WHY ARE WOMEN PAID LESS?
The wage gap is a result of a combination of several factors. In a simplified way, we may say that is it a result of the horizontal and vertical segregation in the labour market. But it is a bit more complicated than that.
To understand it better, watch the short Netflix documentary Why Women are Paid Less:
Here are several factors that influence the difference in remuneration between men and women:
⦁ The division of jobs into “pink” (less paid) and “blue” (more paid) is called the horizontal segregation in the labour market.
⦁ More men than women work in senior positions. This is called the vertical segregation in the labour market.
⦁ Motherhood Penalty – it is proven that the difference in remuneration for women and men gets higher after pregnancy and continues to increase until the first child reaches 20 years old. The hourly wage of women at that time is approximately one third lower than the hourly wage of men.
Watch the viral video where boys themselves clearly state that they want their female friends to get equal pay.