Working women in Greece are paid an average of 15% less than men; the same percentage on an EU level is 16.4%. This was highlighted by European Commission data on the wage gap between men and women in the EU. The data was released today on the occasion of the European Equal Pay Day organized on February 28, for the fourth consecutive year.
The Commission noted that the most recent figures show that in 2012, the difference in wages between men and women remained stagnant at 16.4% on EU average, compared to 2011. The data also indicated stagnation after a slight downward trend during recent years, as in previous years the percentage was around 17% or higher.
This slight decline is explained, according to the Commission, by factors such as the increasing percentage of women with higher education and the biggest impact of the economic crisis in certain male-dominated sectors such as construction and engineering. Therefore, the change is not only due to the improvement of wages and working conditions for women.
The Commission also stressed that some obstacles to equal pay have to do with the lack of transparency in pay systems and the lack of legal clarity regarding the definition of work of equal value.
Furthermore, another obstacle is the fact that employees do not have all necessary information to successfully claim equal pay or data concerning the categorization of employees and the salaries corresponding to each category.
The Commission is currently considering alternative courses of action to improve pay transparency and address the salary gap between men and women.
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