Thuringia: Wage gap for women increases from the age of 31

Erfurt (dpa/th) - women in Thuringia still earn less than men on average - but there is no wage gap among young people.

Thuringia: Wage gap for women increases from the age of 31

Erfurt (dpa/th) - women in Thuringia still earn less than men on average - but there is no wage gap among young people. This is the result of figures from the State Statistical Office on Monday - one day before the so-called Equal Pay Day, which is about equal pay for women and men. According to the state office, women earned an average gross hourly wage of EUR 18.20 in Thuringia last year, compared to EUR 19.49 for men.

However, the gender pay gap was small for employees in the 15 to 30 age group. While women aged 17 and 18 earned on average more than a fifth more than men, the average gross hourly earnings of men in the age group between 21 and 23 and between 25 and 28 years was slightly higher than that of women, as the state office further announced.

The wage gap widened in the 29-year-old age group: on average, men earned 6.0 percent more gross per hour than women. The state office stated as a statement that on average women become mothers for the first time at the age of 29.2 - many of them then went on parental leave with cuts in income.

From the age of 31, the difference in earnings increased almost continuously, the statisticians determined. Earnings are surveyed monthly in around 2,500 Thuringian companies in Thuringia.