Women work part-time more often than men. However, that is not the only reason for the gender pay gap.
The wage gap between women and men in the German labor market did not narrow last year. Women earned an average of 20.84 euros gross per hour, 18 percent less than men, according to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.
This “unadjusted gender pay gap” was also 18 percent in the previous year. In the long term, however, earnings inequality has fallen. The authority announced the first data on this in January.
According to the information, a large part of the wage gap is due to the fact that women are more likely than men to work part-time and in sectors or professions where the pay is lower. There is therefore no clear explanation for the remaining third of the difference of around six percent (adjusted gender pay gap). Even with comparable jobs, qualifications and employment histories, women earn six percent less than men.
The statisticians attributed the decline in the earnings gap from 22 percent in 2014 to 18 percent last year primarily to the fact that women’s gross hourly earnings rose more sharply than men’s. The gender gap in the labor market, which, in addition to the earnings gap, also takes into account the differences in paid monthly working hours and in the labor force participation of women and men, decreased from 45 percent to 39 percent during this period. The number of hours worked by men fell and women’s labor force participation increased.
Source: Stern
