Equal pay for equal work—that’s the ideal of politicians and labor sociologists. However, reality tells a different story. Women across the EU still earn less than men. All attempts to address this issue, including the 2017 Pay Transparency Act, have failed to make a difference. The statistics prove it.
Germany ranks fourth in Europe for its wage gap, a dismal achievement. Since 2020, the gender pay gap has remained steady at 18 percent. The promising trend of narrowing wage disparities between male and female employees has come to a halt.
What are the reasons for the wage deficit among women?
The causes are largely gender-specific. Women are more likely to choose professions in the social sector, which, while socially important, pay less than careers in marketing or investment banking. Women are also underrepresented in STEM fields.
Motherhood is another critical interruption in a woman’s career and income trajectory. Despite parental leave policies, it is often women who stay home longer to care for children. Their return to work typically begins with part-time jobs. Some employers still hold the outdated belief that mothers are more likely to miss work to care for sick children. A “part-time director” in a bank, for instance, remains a rarity even in 2024. As a result, women—despite having similar qualifications—are overrepresented in middle- and low-wage sectors.
When children are old enough for mothers to consider full-time employment, they often lack the updated skills needed to reenter higher-paying jobs due to industry advancements. Furthermore, many women take on caregiving responsibilities for elderly parents, with daughters often bearing this burden during the initial years.
Countries like France provide a better model by enabling women to return to the workforce through more robust childcare services. In Germany, nearly half (49%) of employed women work part-time.
The statistics also fail to account for women being disadvantaged in wages, even under collective bargaining agreements, despite equal work and performance.
What are the solutions for leveling unequal wages in the future?
One starting point could be to emulate the systems in countries with smaller gender pay gaps. Luxembourg, with a gap of just 0.7 percent, seems to be doing something entirely different. Italy ranks fourth with a 4.2 percent gap, following Romania (2.4%) and Slovenia (3.1%).
Since childcare and eldercare are significant contributors to unequal wages, addressing these issues would be key. But the question remains: who will take on this challenge?
As noted, women predominantly work in these poorly paid professions. The first step would be to raise wages in the social sector to reflect the value of the work performed. This would not only help close the gender pay gap but also address the critical issues of childcare and eldercare. Both professions are far more socially relevant than the higher-paying roles of copywriters or creative directors in marketing agencies.