There are many reasons why women in Germany are still paid less than men. Even if certain factors are eliminated, a gap remains for comparable jobs. After all, the difference narrows over the years.
In Germany, women earned 18 percent less per hour than men in 2022. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the average hourly wage for women was EUR 20.05 and for men EUR 24.36. With “comparable qualifications, work and employment history”, the earnings gap is still around 7 percent. In an EU comparison, Germany is in a bad position when it comes to the so-called gender pay gap.
As the statistical office explained, almost two-thirds of the gender-specific pay gap is due to the fact that women are more likely to have lower-paid jobs and that they work part-time more often. If these factors are eliminated, the "adjusted earnings gap" remains at seven percent.
The statisticians point out that there are likely to be other reasons for the difference in earnings that have not yet been taken into account, such as career breaks due to pregnancy, the birth of children or caring for relatives. "The adjusted gender pay gap is therefore to be understood as an 'upper limit' for merit discrimination," they explained.
The value of 18 percent is roughly the same as in the previous year, but is at least smaller in a long-term comparison. At the beginning of the measurement in 2006, it was still 23 percent. There is still a big difference between western and eastern Germany, but it is narrowing: in the east, women earned 7 percent less last year, in the west it was 19 percent. In 2006, the gap was only 6 percent in the east and 24 percent in the west.
"The pay gap in Germany is still one of the highest in the European Union," explained Elke Hannack, deputy chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). The DGB refers to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, according to which the EU average earnings gap is 13 percent. That is five percentage points less than in Germany, which is fourth from last in the EU. The situation is worse only in Latvia, Estonia and Austria. Luxembourg and Romania are at the top with one and two percent respectively.
The pay gap will only decrease "when the personal service professions are finally upgraded," explained the DGB Vice President. In particular, employees in female-dominated professions such as care and day-care centers should "simply earn more". At the same time, you can “make these systemically important professions more attractive”.
The Bavarian Business Association criticized the determination of the Gender Pay Gap. It is not very meaningful to compare men and women with completely different qualifications, professions and employment histories, explained General Manager Bertram Brossardt. In Bavaria, the earnings gap is particularly large at 21 percent.
