New data on gender inequality.
The Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH) warned on Friday, on the occasion of the European Day of Equal Pay, which is this year marked on 3 November, about “shocking and unacceptable” injustice due to differences in salaries between men and women, pointing out that feminisation of poverty should be stopped, reports N1 on November 3, 2017.
The trade union representatives stated that 3 November marked the day when women, compared to their male counterparts, actually cease to receive salaries – the final two months of a year they practically work for free.
They noted that the average hourly wage for women in Europe today is 16.3 percent less than it is for men, while the difference in Croatia is 10.4 percent. The average differences in total earnings in Croatia are 24.4 percent (and 39.6 percent in Europe).
According to Eurostat data, women in the EU achieve just as good results in education as men, or even better, but this is not reflected in the labour market. In 2016, 33 percent of women in the EU had completed higher education, compared to 29 percent of men. At the same time, the general employment rate of women is 11.6 percent lower than the employment rate of men, and women are still rare in leading positions in the largest companies in the EU – women are just one out of every 14 members of a management board and one out of every 20 CEOs.
“It is about time to stop the feminisation of poverty,” said the trade union, warning that with the current trends in salaries the gap would not be erased for another 170 years.
They also say that the wage gap in Croatia is 10.4 percent or 10,400 kuna in average gross earnings per year. “Making less money just because of a gender is simply not acceptable in the 21st century. Equal pay for men and women is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union since its inception, but today, 60 years afterwards, we are far from achieving that goal,” said SSSH president Mladen Novosel.
The trade union, therefore, stresses that it demands higher salaries, equally for men and women, and new high-quality jobs that will guarantee sustainable social security systems. “Decreasing the gender pay gap would also help reduce the differences in pensions that condemn many women to live their retirement years in poverty,” he said.
Translated from N1.
