The gender pay gap refers to the discrepancy between men and women's average gross hourly earnings. This is calculated on salaries provided directly to employees, before any deductions for income tax and social security contributions.
Unfortunately, this difference in pay between men and women exists in all countries and communities, and it affects several professions, preventing women from obtaining economic independence and security.Despite significant progress in women’s education and higher female labour market participation rates in many countries, closing the gender pay gap has been too slow. According to the World Economic Forum’s estimations, it will take 267.6 years to close the economic gender gap.
Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 16 %. This means that for every €1 a male earns, a female will make €0.84. This difference is even greater for women of colour, immigrant women, and women with children. This all adds up over time, and the pandemic has only made the situation worse.
What are the main causes of Gender Pay Gap?
There are three main causes of the gender pay gap:
- Occupational segregation: It results due to stereotypes that women are less able than men, somany women take jobs that are associated with low pay, such as cleaning, catering, administrative roles, care, and retail.
- Lack of flexible working: Since women are more likely to have caring responsibilities for children, sick relatives, disabled people, or older people they are usually discriminated against when looking for a job. The lack of flexible hours in many workplaces means that women cannot take on full time jobs , ending up in part-time work to balance their many responsibilities, which in turn are usually low paid. One fifth of women lost their job, or lose out on pay or promotion, simply for being pregnant.
- Discrimination in pay and grading systems: There is also widespread discrimination in pay systems, with many women being paid less for work that is the same or similar, or of the same value as male colleagues’ work.
What is it like in Malta?
According to a study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), Malta has seen an increase of 4.4% in the gender pay gap in almost a decade (2010 – 2019).
Results showed that women working in jobs with relatively high income, are the ones effected by being paid less than their male colleagues in all EU countries, with a 16% difference in the highest pay category.
What can be done?
Goal 5 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls on all countries to achieve gender equality and the economic empowerment of all women and girls. Click here to read more on SDG’s.
Further to that, Members of the European Parliament have adopted a Resolution on the EU Strategy for Gender Equality on 21st January 2021 pressuring the Commission to come up with a new gender pay gap action plan, setting clear targets for EU countries to reduce the gender pay gap over the coming five years. Click here to see how the European Parliament aims to close the gender pay gap in the EU.
In the meantime, here are some actions employers can take to overcome the gender pay gap:
- Increase female salaries - Although this can be a sensitive issue, the simplest method to address such an imbalance in a company's compensation between its male and female employees is to pay the women more. This is typically the simplest strategy to close the Gender Pay Gap, as it ensures that all employees, regardless of gender, are paid equally.
- Reassess promotions, bonuses, and benefits - Many companies unconsciously prefer male employees when it comes to promotions, bonuses, and pay increases. It's critical to make sure that the company isn't encouraging this behaviour by favouring employees who for example don't take time off for childcare. There will be no uncertainty if the requirements for getting promotions and benefits are stated clearly and concisely.
- Encourage male employees to take parental leave - Many new fathers have discovered that their employers are not very accommodating when it comes to how much time they take off to care for a new-born. Male employees should be encouraged to take shared parental leave so that their partners can continue to work. This will go a long way towards closing the pay gap.
- Encourage remote working - Flexible working hours allow women to balance caring and childcare responsibilities whilst maintaining a career and a source of income. This is a critical step towards permanently closing the Gender Pay Gap. Several studies have also demonstrated that providing more flexible working hours can benefit firms by increasing employee engagement and productivity.
Sources:
McCarthy J., Global Citizen, What is the Gender Pay Gap and How Do We Close It?, 2021, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/what-is-the-gender-pay-gap/, [Accessed on 17th February 2022]Debono J., Maltatoday, Gender pay gap highest in Malta among high-income earners, 2021, https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/113921/gender_pay_gap_highest_in_malta_among_highincome_earners#.Yg4hj4jMI2w, [Accessed on 17th February 2022]
European Parliament, Understanding the gender pay gap: definition and causes, created in 2020 & updated in 2021, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20200109STO69925/understanding-the-gender-pay-gap-definition-and-causes, [Accessed on 17th February 2022]
European Parliament, How to close the gender pay gap in the EU (video), created in 2020 & updated in 2021, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20200227STO73521/how-to-close-the-gender-pay-gap-in-the-eu-video, [Accessed on 17th February 2022]
World Economic Forum, Closing the Gender Gap Accelerators, 2022, https://www.weforum.org/projects/closing-the-gender-gap-accelerators#:~:text=The%20World%20Economic%20Forum%20estimates%20that%20at%20the,gender%20equality%20in%20COVID-19%20response%20and%20recovery%20policies, [Accessed on 21st February 2022]
UN WOMEN, Explainer: Everything you need to know about pushing for equal pay, 2020, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/explainer-everything-you-need-to-know-about-equal-pay, [Accessed on 21st February 2022]
United Nations, Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, 2022, https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5, [Accessed on 21st February 2022]
Lythgoe S., How to overcome the Gender Pay Gap, https://www.voltinternational.com/blog/2019/07/how-to-overcome-the-gender-pay-gap, [Accessed on 21st February 2022]
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