Gender Pay Gap: Equal Pay Day: Still no equality

In Germany it is Unequal pay between men and women remains strong pronounced. On average, female workers will continue to earn a good 18 percent less than their colleagues in 2023. This emerges from current figures from the Federal Statistical Office, which the authority published on Tuesday.

The main causes of the so-called unadjusted gender pay gap between women and men are, among other things, lower hourly earnings for women. While almost a quarter of the Female workers in low-wage jobs in 2022 This was the case for 16 percent of workers. In addition, there is a gender difference in the distribution of part-time work. Men worked an average of 148 hours a month in a paid job, while women only worked 121 hours.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, these factors taken together explain twelve percent of the adjusted earnings gap. The remaining six percent remained statistically unexplained, as the authority itself reports.

One explanation lies in direct discrimination against women, says sociologist Virginia Kimey Pflücke. She researches feminist perspectives on labor relations under capitalism. “The moment a profession becomes more female, it is devalued and paid less,” she explains in an interview with “nd”. “If you look at how individual professions are classified in collective agreements, you can see that there is misogynistic thinking involved.”

This is also shown by a current research report from the trade union-affiliated research institute European Trade Union Institute. Accordingly, wages in those sectors fall significantly if they are considered women’s jobs. “The mere presence of women in a profession appears to lead to a devaluation of these jobs and lower appreciation and pay,” the report says.

In order to counteract this direct discrimination, the Federal Government should, according to the wishes of the service union Verdi, improve the Pay Transparency Act. This has been in force since 2017, but according to Verdi it is not enough. The union criticizes the fact that the law does not allow representative actions and that the individual right to information only applies to companies with more than 200 employees.

Verdi receives support for this from the Greens, among others. In response to nd’s request, Bundestag member Beate Müller-Gemmeke said that a binding and certified testing procedure was required. She demands that employees should be able to assert their individual rights through associations through litigation. This would mean that third parties would be authorized to conduct proceedings on behalf of those affected. “Voluntariness doesn’t help,” she warns. Müller-Gemmeke did not respond to the question of whether the federal government has planned concrete steps.

However, an exclusive focus on direct discrimination is a problem, says the sociologist Pflücke. As a result, we lose sight of the deeper social causes, which can be better identified with the unadjusted gender pay gap. »When you get to the bottom of the matter, you see that Women in civil society continue to be responsible for the unpaid sector are. “Historically, they were only supposed to earn extra money with their jobs,” explains the sociologist.

Women still take on a large part of the unpaid care and housework. Current figures from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs show that on average they spend 43.8 percent more time on unpaid care work every day than men – the equivalent of 77 minutes per day.

“Many men remain in traditional patterns and leave childcare, housework and care for the elderly to their partners,” says DGB deputy chairwoman Elke Hannack when asked by nd.

A current research report on the unequal distribution of housework and care work by the trade union-affiliated Institute of Economics and Social Sciences also speaks of a double burden on women. “They should contribute to the household income, but continue to take on the main responsibility for care work,” explains sociologist Eileen Peters about the study.

Against this background, there is a need for a state expansion of daycare centers and kindergartens, demands WSI director Bettina Kohlrausch. In addition, parental allowance must be reformed by expanding partner months and abolishing spouse splitting because it offers tax incentives for an unbalanced division of paid work in couples. And at the company level, flexible working time and workplace arrangements are required. Shorter full-time work of 35 or 32 hours per week with full wage compensation is also important.

Support for a four-day week also comes from the Left Party, as chairwoman Janine Wissler and Heidi Reichinnek, chairwoman of the Left Bundestag group, confirmed in a statement. And they are demanding relief and better pay, especially in jobs that are predominantly carried out by women. »Over 80 percent of employees in social and nursing professions are women. “In these sectors in particular, low wages are often paid that do not correspond to the qualifications,” they criticize.

In a year-on-year comparison, the so-called gender gap labor market remained unchanged at 39 percent in 2023. The value also includes working hours and wage levels. The gender pay gap has only fallen by four percentage points since 2014.