The gender pay gap stands at 4.5% in Romania, the figure being almost four times lower than the 16.7% average registered in the EU, according to a study released for the European Equal Pay Day, which is celebrated on November 3.

The gender pay gap is the difference in average gross hourly wage between men and women across the economy. The highest value in the EU is registered in Estonia – 28.1%.

The gender overall earnings gap, meaning the difference between the average annual earnings between women and men, stands at 26.9% in Romania, which is also lower than the EU average of 39.8%, according to the report.

One of the factors that contribute to the gender pay gap in Romania is that men hold most of the management and supervisory positions. Within each sector men are more often promoted than women, and paid better as a consequence. This trend culminates at the very top, where less than 4% of the CEOs are women, reads the factsheet for Romania.

Women also take care of important unpaid tasks, such as household work and caring for children or relatives on a far larger scale than men do. Working men spend an average of nine hours per week on unpaid care and household activities while working women spend 26 hours. In the labour market, this means that more than 1 in 3 women reduce their paid hours to part-time, compared to only 1 in 10 men.

The pay discrimination, although illegal, also continues to contribute to the gender pay gap.

November 3 is European Equal Pay Day, representing the day in the year when women across Europe stop being paid due to the gender pay gap. With the average hourly wage for women in Europe being 16.7% lower than it is for men, this means women actually work 16% of the year for free.

"If the average European man stops work today, he still gets paid as much this year as the average European woman who keeps working until 31 December. That is not fair, not sustainable and frankly not acceptable. European employers must stop sending the message that women are worth two pay cheques less than men each year,” according to the statements of European Commission’s First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Commissioners Marianne Thyssen and Vera Jourová.

All EU and country specific factsheets are available here.

Romanian women’s salaries, 9.1% lower than those of men

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com