ZAGREB, November 6, 2018 – Men in Croatia annually earned as much as 11,500 kuna more on average than women in 2015, which is almost one and a half average Croatian gross monthly wage more, gender equality ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić said in Zagreb on Tuesday while presenting the European project “Equal Rights – Equal Pay – Equal Pensions”, which aims to achieve gender equality and prevent poverty in Croatia.
The average monthly gross wage in Croatia in 2015 was about 7,500 kuna (1,000 euro) for women and 8,400 kuna (1,130 euro) for men, which means that the average monthly wage for women was 88.7 percent of that for men, the ombudsman said.
She warned that the gender pay gap leads to a pension gap, as a result of which women face social exclusion, poverty and economic dependence on the husband or partner after leaving the labour market.
The project “Equal Rights – Equal Pay – Equal Pensions” aims to ensure standards and measures that will raise awareness of this problem with a view to reducing the risk of poverty for women.
The 470,000 euro project was launched on October 1 and will last until the end of September 2020. It is the fourth European project to be implemented by the gender equality ombudsman in the last five years through which a total of 2 million euro has been absorbed.
As part of the project, an in-depth study of the situation will be carried out at national level, educational programmes will be designed, workshops will be held in four cities and a national legislative framework for equal pay and pensions is expected to be drawn up. The target groups of the project include executive and legislative authorities, public- and private-sector companies, trade unions, and secondary school students.
For more on the position of women in Croatia, click here.
