Julia Berchtold:

“More equality in pay”

ÖVP women's spokesperson Julia Berchtold.

(Bild: ÖVP Vorarlberg)

February 13th marks the first Equal Pay Day in Austria. The pay gap between men and women is still huge, especially in Vorarlberg. ÖVP women's spokesperson Julia Berchtold is calling for action. 

"The gender-specific difference in the annual income of full-time employees is 12.18 percent. That corresponds to 44 days", Julia Berchtold calculates. This is based on the average gross income of full-time employees throughout the year in 2023. 

Equal Pay Day

There are two Equal Pay Days every year: the one in spring marks the day by which women statistically have to work to reach the income of men from the previous year. Equal Pay Day in the fall marks the day from which women statistically continue to work for free until the end of the year due to their lower annual income, as men have already "reached" the annual income of women.

In a comparison of the federal states, Vorarlberg is statistically at the bottom of the league. Women in Vorarlberg even work one day longer to reach the income of women in Vorarlberg from the previous year: "I see this fact as a political mandate to advocate for more equal pay for men and women," emphasizes the women's spokeswoman.

Transparent payslip
From her point of view, the following levers ensure greater pay equality. "The choice of profession has a major impact on the pay slip. The more women take up technical professions, for example, the better they earn". At the same time, Berchtold would like to see a transparent payslip: "Comparison makes for certainty. In this respect, the income pyramid should be comprehensible within a company these days," she says. The EU directive on pay transparency offers good guidance here. This must also be implemented in Austria by June 2026. The new federal government in particular is called upon to quickly ensure greater comparability of salaries.

For her, a third key factor is the issue of raising children: "Parenting in partnership is an important prerequisite for women to be able to return to work quickly. We should therefore do more to support and promote partnership-based life models," says Berchtold, formulating a socio-political task for the coming years.