A woman employed full-time all year round misses out on an average of 19,205 euros per year compared to her male colleagues
Equal Pay Day falls on February 14th this year. Only on this day did women reach the salary that men had already earned until December 31, 2023. On average, the gender pay gap is 12.4 percent – only a small improvement compared to the previous year (13 percent).
However, if you look at individual groups of employees, the gender pay gap is much more drastic. Civil servants have already achieved equal pay – they are pushing the average down.
Employed women, on the other hand, earn an average of 29 percent less than men, which is 19,205 euros per year. The gender pay gap for workers is also 26 percent.
“Over a working life, this amounts to incredible sums. Money that women lack: later on when they retire, but also to build an independent existence, to be financially independent or to treat themselves to a well-deserved vacation,” says Christa Kirchmair, President of Equal Pay – Initiative for Income Equality.
When it comes to income equality, there is still a culture of silence in Austria. “We can only encourage women to talk about their income in their environment and at their workplace and to ask colleagues about their salary,” says Christa Kirchmair.
But politicians must also finally take responsibility. “We recently heard from the Chancellor that women should not work part-time if they earn too little. The gender pay gap shows that even full-time working women miss out on an average of 6,189 euros every year. At the same time, they do significantly more unpaid work, as the most recent time use study has shown. “This is a scandal, the government must take comprehensive measures towards equal pay,” said Kirchmair.
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Equal Pay – initiative for income equality is a non-profit organization.
The initiative was founded by a group of women who have been working on, raising awareness and educating people about Equal Pay Day for over 15 years. The initiative Equal Pay would like to invite everyone across the boundaries in our minds to participate in finding and implementing solutions. We are working together to make income equality and equal pay possible in Austria.
Website: www.equalpay.center
Questions & Contact:
Monika Feichtner
Board member
+43 664 381 7278
monika.feichtner@comunicare.at
Christa Kirchmair
President
+43 664 9160060
Kirchmair@equalpay.center