Equal Pay Day

Women work “for free” from All Saints’ Day

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Women work unpaid for 61 days if you compare their salary with that of men. Equal Pay Day, which marks the boundary between paid and unpaid days, falls on November 1 this year, one day later than last year. 

There is a counterpart in spring. In order to close the gap, organizations have been calling for more pay transparency and the implementation of a corresponding EU directive.

Women's salary disadvantage amounts to 16.6 percent
According to calculations by the Chamber of Labor (AK) Upper Austria based on wage tax data from Statistics Austria, the annual gross salary of full-time, year-round employees is around 59,300 euros, while that of female employees is around 49,400 euros. The disadvantage for women is 16.6 percent. However, the gap is not the same everywhere in Austria - in the vast majority of federal states, Equal Pay Day took place in October.

WEnige

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In Vorarlberg, Equal Pay Day was already on October 7
Vienna, where Equal Pay Day falls on November 22, is the best performer, while Vorarlberg, where it already took place on October 7, is the worst. The pay gap in Vorarlberg is 23.4 percent, in Vienna 10.8 percent. In between are Upper Austria (October 17), Tyrol (October 21), Salzburg (October 24), Styria (October 25), Carinthia (October 30), Lower Austria (October 31) and Burgenland (November 5).

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe)

Part of the explanation for the gender pay gap is that women take time out due to maternity leave, but also that women are more likely to work in lower-paid sectors, while men are more likely to work in better-paid sectors. According to the trade union-affiliated Momentum Institute, seven out of eleven systemically relevant occupational groups with lower average gross hourly wages than in the economy as a whole are female-dominated - such as childcare or cleaning and unskilled jobs.

As soon as the proportion of women in a sector is significantly higher, the average wage level there falls, explained the Momentum Institute. The pay gap is particularly high for women with a migration background, who receive 25 percent less gross hourly pay than men.

Fathers' participation in childcare allowance has fallen 
The higher part-time rate of women, who often take care of unpaid work such as childcare, is also repeatedly cited as a cause of income differences between the sexes. 55 percent of women work part-time on average in the municipalities, according to the Association of Cities and Towns. The figure for men is only ten percent across Austria, but 23 percent in Vienna. In a recent report, the Austrian Court of Audit also found that paternal participation in childcare allowance has fallen - only 4.1 percent of entitlement days were accounted for by men in 2022. The Städtebund is therefore calling for an expansion of childcare.

In addition to the Städtebund, the SPÖ, the AK and the Frauenring are also insisting on the implementation of the EU's pay transparency directive. This must be transposed into national law by mid-2026. "A fair division of labor is our goal," said SPÖ Women's Chairwoman Eva-Maria Holzleitner, insisting on half-and-half in paid and unpaid work. For the FPÖ, the aim is to equalize salaries in low-paid professions. Women's spokesperson Rosa Ecker also called for the "profession of mother" to be financially upgraded.