Another International Women’s Day — Why Does the Pay Gap Persist?

On International Women's Day, industriAll Europe highlights the ongoing struggle for equal pay in Europe. Read the blog by the chair of industriAll Europe’s Equal Opportunities Network on why pay transparency and strong implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive are crucial to closing the gender pay gap.

Equal pay for women and men remains one of the greatest challenges in working life. The Pay Transparency Directive could offer Europe an opportunity to address this problem, but unfortunately it appears that in many countries it has not been taken up with sufficient determination.

Trade unions have worked to promote equal pay for decades. The right to equal pay for the same work and work of equal value has been a fundamental EU principle since 1957. Yet in practice, comparing work of equal value remains inadequate. Pay systems are still opaque, particularly in the private sector, and overall pay awareness remains weak.

Women earn only 77% of men’s annual earnings in the EU. The gender pay gap between women and men is narrowing, but on average at an extremely slow pace. This means that without new policy measures, pay equality will not be achieved in the coming decades. According to EIGE’s Gender Equality Index, countries with strong pay transparency, comprehensive collective bargaining coverage and robust public care infrastructure perform better.

Occupational gender segregation contributes to the pay gap, but it does not fully explain it. Evidence from many countries shows that men often earn more than women in nearly every sector. Since the gender division of occupations and sectors changes only slowly, attention must therefore shift to ensuring that work of equal value is also paid equally.

Pay transparency is essential for achieving equal pay. In many countries, existing legislation already requires equal pay for the same work and work of equal value. In practice, however, discrimination can be difficult to detect because pay information is not transparent. More transparent pay systems could also reveal possible gender bias built into pay-setting practices, as well as job evaluation and classification systems.

Without binding measures, pay equality will not progress

It is worrying that, in many countries, the implementation of the directive is being pushed to the very last moment, with even signs that the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline may not be met in all cases.

In some countries, governments have indicated that they intend to aim only for the minimum level required by the directive in their national implementation. Even more concerning is that, following political negotiations, some legislative proposals being prepared for national parliaments appear problematic and incomplete in several respects.

Trade unions have warned that if some of these proposals are adopted in their current form, they will not meet the requirements of the Pay Transparency Directive, nor will they promote pay transparency or equal pay in the way intended. In some cases, the proposals are so unclear that their application could create challenges at workplaces and increase the workload of trade unions, employers, authorities and the judiciary.

Worst of all, some proposals give the impression that pay gaps are acceptable. This is hardly surprising given that, at EU level, employer representatives are currently doing everything they can to weaken the Pay Transparency Directive.

Promoting equal pay requires coherent regulation and, through it, concrete action at workplaces. We need a strong directive and its proper national implementation. If pay systems are fair, why should they not be transparent?

International Women’s Day should not be a yearly reminder of a persistent pay gap. Trade unions will keep pushing for pay transparency, so that payday delivers full pay — not the “women’s euro.”

Written by Tanja Lehtoranta, chair of industriAll Europe’s Equal Opportunities Network

Sources:
EIGE: New EU data shows women need to work 15½ months to earn what men make in a year
Eurostat: Gender pay gap statistics
Pekka Laine, Statistics Finland: Changes in working life, the position of the genders in the labour market and equal pay. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2024:26