Equal pay for women and men is still not a reality in Europe. This is why we organize Unequal Pay Day, a symbolic day to make aware that women effectively start working for free until the end of the year. This year’s campaign highlights the role that men can play to contribute to close the gender pay gap. Men already have the skills needed to carry out household chores and other care activities. When men do their share, the burden which still falls predominantly on women lessens substantially.

This year’s campaign highlights the role that men can play to contribute to close the gender pay gap. Men already have the skills needed to carry out household chores and other care activities. When men do their share, the burden which still falls predominantly on women lessens substantially.

In 2022, we mark European Unequal Pay Day on 15 November. The European Unequal Pay Day is a symbolic day to raise awareness on the fact that female workers in Europe still earn on average 13% less than men (on average gross hourly income of full and part-time workers, Eurostat, 2021). The differences between European member states are big. In Luxembourg, the pay gap is under 1%; while in Austria, Estonia and Germany, the gap is close to 20%, and in Latvia it is 22.3%. The reasons behind the pay gap are broad: blatant pay discrimination, women take on more unpaid work, more leave to take care of others, there is horizontal and vertical segregation of women and men in the workspace, and more. This affects not only their pay but also pensions later in life.