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Mixed-gender team at work: who makes how much?
Photo: IMAGO/Fotoagentur WESTEND61 / Westend61 / IMAGO
In 2022, too, women received significantly less money per hour worked than men.
They earned an average of 20.05 euros - and thus 4.31 euros or 18 percent less than men (24.36 euros), as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
Due to a changed methodology, however, the development cannot be compared directly with previous years.
In a long-term comparison, the gender-specific wage gap has decreased, but the so-called gender pay gap: At the beginning of the survey in 2006, it was still 23 percent.
At seven percent, the difference in earnings in eastern Germany is currently well below the 19 percent in the west.
"The fact that Germany has one of the largest gender pay gaps in Europe is a sign of poverty," said Marcel Fratzscher, President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).
»It contributes to the fact that Germany leaves a large part of its economic potential unused.«
Discrimination against women for the same work and the same performance, a high proportion of part-time workers, a small proportion in managerial positions and significantly lower pay for systemically important professions in which women are mainly represented are the main reasons for this.
Child care as a sticking point
The wage gap could be significantly reduced if barriers and discrimination for women were removed.
"Possible measures would be the abolition of spouse splitting and mini-jobs, the development of an efficient childcare infrastructure, the promotion of better compatibility of work and family and a higher appreciation of systemically relevant professions," said Fratzscher.
In an international comparison - especially with some Nordic countries - Germany is lagging behind here.
According to the information, the differences are mainly due to the fact that women work more often than men in sectors, professions and requirement levels in which the pay is lower.
"On the other hand, women work part-time more often, which is also associated with lower average gross hourly earnings," write the statisticians.
These factors explained a total of 63 percent of the wage gap.
The remaining 37 percent "cannot be explained by the features available in the estimation model," it said.
Even with comparable qualifications, work and employment history, there is still a difference in earnings: this so-called adjusted gender pay gap is estimated at seven percent.
"However, it can be assumed that the differences would be smaller if more information about wage-relevant influencing factors were available for the analysis - such as information on career breaks due to pregnancy, the birth of children or caring for relatives," said the Federal Statistical Office.
The adjusted gender pay gap is therefore »to be understood as an 'upper limit' for earnings discrimination«.
Apr/Reuters