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From today until the end of the year, the average Irish woman will effectively work for free, because the average woman earns 14.4% less than their male counterparts.
Today is Equal Pay Day, which ironically highlights the lack of equal pay.
The European Equal Pay Day is celebrated every year and the date changes according to the current figure of the gender pay gap.
The gender pay gap (GPG) is defined as the percentage difference between the average gross hourly earnings of women and men.
According to Eurostat, Ireland’s GDP has fallen from 17.3% in 2007 to 14.4% in 2017, below the EU average of 14.9%.
However, employment law partner Mary Brassil of McCann Fitzgerald attorneys emphasizes that GPG should not be confused with the concept of equal pay for equal work, adding that a GPG does not necessarily amount to discrimination.
Proponents of pay equality also acknowledge that the calculation that yields this 14.4% figure is a bit of a “blunt tool” as there can be many reasons for income disparities, such as education levels, the amount hours worked and type of work. involved.
In some sectors, men tend to be grouped into higher salary categories (for example, aviation, where most of the highest paid pilots today are men, while the lowest paid cabin crew are women).
More women may be working part-time to accommodate family needs or the lack of affordable child care, and this in turn will reduce income. Almost 70% of part-time workers are women.
The remote work for all triggered by Covid-19 had proven to be a “great leveler”
The founder of the WorkEqual Campaign, Sonya Lennon, acknowledges that Ireland has made some progress on gender equality in recent years, but says that much remains to be done as women earn less than men.
“The latest index from the European Institute for Gender Equality gives us a score of 72.2 out of 100. It shows that gender inequalities in Ireland are most pronounced in the realm of power, where we score only 55.8 points,” she said .
Ms. Lennon also cites figures that show that while a man’s career will generally last 40 years, an average woman’s career lasts only 34 years.
It celebrates the fact that a broad cross-section of Oireachtas members in almost all political groups support the campaign to advance gender equality laws and policies.
The WorkEqual campaign is sponsored by the SOLAS training authority and permanent TSB, and is hosting a series of events this month to highlight issues of wage inequality and campaign for action to reduce the gap.
SOLAS CEO Andrew Brownlee said at today’s WorkEqual seminar that his organization has 50% women on the board, 50% women on a leadership team and 59% female workforce, but the Research revealed that she still had a gender pay gap of 13%.
He noted that the vast majority of those who benefited from flexible work options and reduced hours were women, although remote work for all triggered by Covid-19 had proven to be a “great leveler.”
He stressed the importance of persuading men to take advantage of flexible work so that it is not just the dominance of female employees.
The FACT [Further Education and Training] The industry is committed to developing the skills for a more gender-balanced future workplace, “said Mr. Brownlee.
In 1975, 90% of Icelandic women went on strike to demonstrate the value of their work.
The president of the Icelandic Federation of State and Municipal Employees, Sonya Yr Thrbergsdottir, said that the turning point in Iceland came in 1975, when 90% of Icelandic women went on strike to demonstrate the value of their work.
However, despite Iceland’s strong reputation for equality since then, it still has an average GPG of around 25%.
As in Ireland, factors include part-time work, gender segregation in the labor market, work-family balance, and issues of power and influence.
However, some measures have been particularly successful in addressing gender inequality.
Ms. Thorbergsdottir described the decision to split the maternity leave between the two parents as “decisive”, without the parents transferring their three months of leave to the mother.
“Overnight that changed things,” he told the seminar. She described it as a “Trojan horse to unpaid work at home,” causing parents to take on more responsibilities.
He also highlighted that there had been universal access to childcare since 1990 starting at the age of two, but acknowledged that Iceland has yet to meet its target of 40% female representation on councils.
Chambers Ireland Director of Policy and Public Affairs Emma Kerins said that several years ago, member firms reported that they were having difficulty retaining women in the workplace due to a lack of affordable childcare services.
She told the seminar that Chambers Ireland is now pushing for policies that seek state investments in child care and flexible work.
The seminar was chaired by Senator Ivana Bacik, who has been piloting the GPG reporting legislation initially for companies with more than 250 employees, but gradually spreading to smaller companies.
Contributors expressed concern about the impact of Covid-19 on gender equality, which may affect the GPG in due course.
Several speakers noted that while telecommuting can make it easier for some women (and men) to create a work-life balance, they cited research indicating that the burden of extra care imposed by the pandemic appeared to fall disproportionately on women. .
They cautioned that this could force some to move away from the workplace and, in turn, lead to a broader GPG.
TSB Permanent CEO Eamonn Crowley said his organization was committed to creating a workplace that integrates equality at all levels.
“With the growing challenges of Covid-19, there has never been a more important time for companies across Ireland to focus on addressing barriers to the full and equal participation of women and men in the workplace, by taking direct action and proactive to make this a reality across society, “he said.
But as the GPG shutdown progresses, there is a note of caution.
Despite talking about the possible legislative, sociological, business and organizational steps that could be taken, no speaker today was prepared to guess when the GPG might actually evaporate.
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