Equal pay for equal work – many women, even in Germany, can only dream of that. Why are women still paid less than men in this country and how can this be changed?
Imagine you are a woman and you have been working for free since the beginning of the year until today, March 7th, while your male colleagues have been on salary for more than two months. Not a nice idea? Unfortunately, that's how it is – at least in Germany.
One third of the salary difference cannot be explained
According to the Federal Statistical Office, women in Germany earn an average of 18 percent less than men. It also looked worse – in 2006, for example, it was 23 percent less. The statistics office explains almost two-thirds of this wage gap by the fact that women work part-time more often and have chosen typical female jobs that pay lower salaries.
According to the authority, however, one third of the salary difference (i.e. the adjusted gender pay gap) cannot be explained. This salary gap means that female employees earn an average of seven percent less per hour than men, even with comparable work, qualifications and employment history. There are only guesses about the reasons. According to the statistics office, interruptions in professional life, such as pregnancy, raising children or caring for relatives, could play a role.
In 1988, the American Business and Professional Women (BPW) pointed out the gender pay gap. In 2007, BPW brought the subject of Equal Pay Day to Germany.
According to a ruling by the Federal Labor Court at the end of February, this adjusted gender pay gap could narrow somewhat. Accordingly, the justification for the fact that men earn more than women for the same work because they would have negotiated better is not sufficient. Rather, employers must be able to give objective reasons for unequal pay, according to the court, otherwise it would be act prohibited discrimination based on gender.
Germany performs poorly in an EU comparison
A look at other European countries shows: There shouldn't be any inequality between the sexes. In Europe, women are only paid less than men in Estonia, Latvia and Austria than in Germany. In contrast, the unadjusted salary gap was 13 percent on average in the EU. In individual countries such as Luxembourg, Romania or Slovenia there was hardly any measurable gender-specific difference in salaries in 2020.
Pay inequality is not fair. In addition, a country like Germany can no longer afford such a thing. There is already a shortage of skilled workers everywhere. This skills shortage could be reduced if workers are mobilized who previously work part-time or not at all. This also includes women. Equal pay is an important factor if you want to get more women into the workforce, says Elke Hannack, Vice President of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB).
Women are not paid equally badly in every sector
According to a new study by the Economic and Social Sciences Institute (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation, which is close to the trade union, women will earn less than men in 45 of the 46 sectors examined in 2022. How big the difference is between the salaries of women and men varies from industry to industry. While men earn four percent more in passenger and freight transport, they even get 32 percent more in legal and tax advice. In health care, women get 30 percent less salary, even though 80 percent of the employees here are women. The only industry where women fare better than men is postal services. Here they even have two percent more than men in their wallets.
The inequality also persists in management positions. In 26 out of 34 industries, women are less likely to hold managerial positions than men, according to the WSI study. The inequality is particularly pronounced in the area of education and teaching, where 50 percent of men but only 28 percent of women hold a managerial position. Almost three quarters of the employees in this area are women.
Reasons for unequal pay
One of the reasons for the inequality is that more men work in managerial and decision-making positions. In addition, women interrupt their careers more frequently and for longer periods, for example when it comes to caring for children or relatives. “These absenteeism and subsequent barriers to entry result in long-lasting losses in wage and income development, which is reflected right into the retirement phase,” says the Business and Professional Women (BPW) association, which initiates the Equal Pay Day in Germany.
In addition, women often choose professions in the field of personal and social services, for example as nurses or educators. Here there are usually few opportunities for earning, advancement and development, in contrast to the situation in so-called male occupations. According to the study, many areas of the economy, especially in industry, are still male-dominated. In mechanical engineering, building construction and civil engineering as well as in building installation and finishing trades, the proportion of women is only 17 percent. According to the BPW, which profession someone chooses is still strongly influenced by role stereotypes.
In addition, typical female jobs are often undervalued and there is not enough transparency when it comes to pay. The federal anti-discrimination commissioner, Ferda Ataman, also criticizes this. According to Fratzscher, the wage gap could be significantly reduced if obstacles and discrimination for women were removed. “Possible measures would be the abolition of spouse splitting and mini-jobs, the development of an efficient childcare infrastructure, the promotion of better compatibility of work and family and a higher appreciation of systemically important professions.”
Women are doing well at the top
When women make it to the top of the income ladder, the situation is very different. According to the testing and consulting company EY in November, women are still in the minority on the boards of top listed companies, but on average they earn more than their male colleagues. With an average annual salary of 2.4 million euros, women in the 160 companies in the Dax family had a lead of around 348,000 euros.