Equal Pay Day reminds us that women in Germany still earn significantly less money than men. But in two industries it is the other way around – in one it is even clearer.
The industry in which women earn significantly more than men may come as a surprise to many. Because in civil engineering, women receive a whopping 880 euros more than their colleagues. According to figures from the Federal Employment Agency, full-time working women there earn a median gross of 4,141 euros.
Women earn slightly more in geology, geography and environmental protection professions. You come to 4323 euros gross at the end of the month. Still 111 euros more than the men. However, the salary difference is only 2.5 percent – for civil engineers it is 21.25 percent.
There are probably different reasons why women earn better than men in these two professional fields.
“I suspect that this is because very few women work in these economic sectors, and those who do are very similar to men in terms of their individual characteristics such as training, working hours and employment history,” explains Prof. Katharina Wrohlich from the German Institute for Economic research (DIW Berlin).
Wrohlich does not have the data to explain the striking difference in earnings in civil engineering. It is conceivable, for example, that the few women in the industry primarily hold higher positions and therefore earn more than men.
Gender Pay Gap: The gap is greatest in careers in corporate management
Occupations with a high proportion of public sector employees in particular had small differences in salary, says Wrohlich. In the private sector, however, the gender pay gap is higher.
According to figures from the Federal Employment Agency, the sectors with the smallest differences include teaching positions in vocational subjects (0.15 percent difference), jobs in child care (0.33 percent difference) and in personal care (1.64 percent).
However, the gap is greatest in careers in corporate management. Men here earn a median gross of 5,505 euros in full-time employment. That’s 1,801 euros more per month than her colleagues get (48.61 percent difference). Close behind are the business organization sectors (44.07 percent difference) and accounting, controlling and auditing (41.98 percent difference).
“Typically, we observe particularly large gender pay gaps in those industries in which excessively long working hours are paid disproportionately. A typical industry where this is the case is, for example, financial services,” says Wrohlich from DIW Berlin. Salary differences were particularly persistent there.
Earnings difference of 18 percent per hour
According to figures from the Federal Employment Agency, which refer to full-time employees and their gross monthly wages, the wage difference between men and women in the 61 professional areas recorded is around 10 percent or 365 euros.
The Federal Statistical Office puts the unadjusted difference in earnings between men and women at 18 percent per hour – this also includes salaries that do not only relate to full-time work.
According to statisticians, the difference between men and women has two main reasons. On the one hand, women are significantly more likely to work in jobs that are paid less. On the other hand, significantly more women than men work part-time. This is reflected in lower average gross hourly earnings.
The proportion that the statisticians cannot explain with their data and which therefore corresponds to the adjusted gender pay gap is six percent.
Either way: an end to unequal pay between men and women is still a long way off.
Source: Stern
