European
women continue to earn less than men, according to a study by the European
Industrial Relations Observatory.
Pay
developments – annual update 2001 draws its results from government statistics in
16 European countries. Although direct comparisons are hindered by the
different ways the statistics are gathered, the research found evidence of a
continuing gender pay gap throughout the region.
Britain
was among the poorer performers. The study claims that UK women earn just 75.9
per cent of men’s wages.
This
is well below the survey average of 79.6 per cent and puts the UK in 13th place
overall.
When
compared to Europe’s other major industrial nations, it is also well below the
figures recorded for both France and Italy. However, it is 0.2 per cent ahead
of Germany. Of those studied, Austria showed the largest gap with men earning
an average of 33 per cent more than women. Portugal was next in line with a pay
gap of 27.4 per cent.
The
country with the best record was Luxembourg. However, even here the researchers
found a pay gap of 11 per cent between the sexes. This was followed by Norway,
Ireland and Denmark. www.eiro.eurofound.ie
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