The European Commission’s Equal Pay Campaign
In March 2009, the European Commission launched an EU-wide campaign to help tackle the gender pay gap. Across the EU economy, women earn on average 17.4% less than men. The simple concept of ‚equal pay for work of equal value‘ is at the heart of the campaign being launched raise awareness of the pay gap, its causes, and how to tackle it.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the pay gap and how it can be tackled. To reach out to citizens, employers and workers, the campaign will promote good practices on the pay gap from around Europe and distribute a campaign toolbox for employers and trade unions at European and at national level. Other activities include the campaign website, advertising in European press and a poster campaign.
The 2009 report on equality between women and men – also released in March 2009 – confirms that despite some progress on gender equality, significant gaps still remain in several areas. While the employment rate of women has been steadily rising over the last years (now 58.3% for women compared to 72.5% for men), women still work part-time more often than men (31.2% for women and 7.7% for men) and they predominate in sectors where wages are lower (more than 40% of women work in health, education and public administration – twice as many as men). However, women represent 59% of all new university graduates.
