Nothing has improved

In 60 years, we will have equal pay

In nursing, in hospitals and in kindergartens - women are the fighters everywhere.

(Bild: APA/Barbara Gindl)

"Systemically relevant" was a key term during the pandemic. Nursing staff and supermarket employees were publicly applauded at the time. Years later, it is clear that little has improved in their professional situation. "The system" is still mainly maintained by poorly paid women.

Of a total of 16 system-relevant occupational groups, eleven are paid less than the average. Seven of these occupational groups with below-average pay are clearly female-dominated, with women accounting for well over 60 percent in some cases. The majority of these women are migrants. This is the result of an analysis by the Momentum Institute on the occasion of Equal Pay Day on November 1. This is the international day of action for equal pay between women and men.

We have achieved equal pay in 60 years
From November 1 to the end of the year, women in Austria statistically work "for free" on average - at 61 days, that's exactly two months. That is only one day better than last year. If things continue at this snail's pace, equal pay will not be achieved for another 60 years. This gender pay gap is even more pronounced in some of the federal states: in Vorarlberg, for example, women in full-time jobs are paid almost a quarter less than men. The pay gap is smallest in Vienna, but even here full-time women are paid around eleven percent less.

In childcare, around 97 percent of employees are female.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/candy1812 - stock.adobe.com)

System-relevant occupations include the activities that are necessary to keep our society running. In two thirds of the 16 systemically important occupational groups surveyed, the proportion of women is at least 50 percent - often far higher. A particularly large number of women work in the care and nursing professions as well as cleaning staff and cashiers. In childcare, around 97% are female, meaning that almost the entire occupational group is made up of women. The situation is similar in the group of cleaners and assistants, where 91 percent of workers are women.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe)

Migrant women even more disadvantaged than Austrians
Around half of the female kitchen assistants and cleaning staff have a history of migration. Four out of ten cashiers and a third of caregivers and childcare workers are female and migrants. The overall economic analysis reveals: Women with a migration background are at an even greater disadvantage than women without a migration history. Migrant women have a gender pay gap of a quarter compared to men, compared to eleven percent for women without a migration background.

While the average hourly gross wage for female doctors is 45.5 euros, it is eleven euros for kitchen assistants. Teachers receive an average of 24 euros, nurses 16 euros and childcare workers and cashiers 13 euros. Systemically relevant occupations dominated by men include waste collection and disposal, agricultural workers, technicians, soldiers and police officers. 

Higher minimum wages demanded
In order to eliminate this injustice, the Momentum Institute recommends adjusting the minimum wage to at least 2,500 euros gross and upgrading female-dominated industries and professions, especially in the low-wage sector. It would also be helpful to have mandatory salary transparency, not just in large companies and the public sector, and mandatory quotas for women at all levels - both in public institutions and in the private sector, especially at board and management levels and not just on supervisory boards.