European Equal Pay Day | Equal Pay Day

European Unequal Pay Day: 15 November 2022

Apply your skills to the household

Your skills are transferable – gender pay gap campaign invites men to do their fair share of housework and care

A celebration of men applying their skills inside the home – this is the reality depicted in a new campaign raising awareness of the gender pay gap in Europe.

Today, progressive organisations PES Women and ZIJkant present their 2022 Unequal Pay Day campaign, produced by creative agency mortierbrigade and production company CZAR. The clip was directed by Jeroen Mol.

PES Women President Zita Gurmai said:

“This year we are asking men to apply their skills in the home. If you can turn a steering wheel, then you can clean a toilet. If you can operate a sander, then you can master an iron. These are transferable skills.

Through this campaign we want to draw attention to the extra household and care work done by women. This is one of the biggest factors behind the gender pay gap. If these tasks were split more evenly, women and men would be much more equal in the labour market.”

The gender pay gap stands at 13% in the EU, with stark differences between member states. In Luxembourg the gap is just 0.7%, but in Latvia it is 22.5%.

That is why PES Women and ZIJkant join forces every year to raise awareness and mark European Unequal Pay Day, the day in which symbolically, at EU level, women cease to be remunerated for their work until the end of the year.

While equal pay for equal work has been part of the European Treaties since 1957, European women still earn 13% less on average than men for the same work. This equals almost two months’ salary.

Unpaid work remains a key factor behind the gender pay gap. On average, women in dedicate significantly more time to important unpaid tasks, such as household work and caring for children or relatives. Working men spend on average 9 hours per week on unpaid care and household activities, while working women spend 22 hours – that’s almost 4 hours more every day.

This inequality has long-term implications for the labour market, as women can feel pressure to reduce their professional commitments to meet caring and household responsibilities. More than 1 in 3 women reduce their paid hours to part-time, while only 1 in 10 men do the same. Women are also more likely to take breaks from the labour market. These career interruptions not only influence hourly pay, but also impact future earnings and pensions.

From childcare to household chores, the campaign video – released one week ahead of European Unequal Pay Day (15 November) – addresses men directly, asking them to “apply your skills to the household and close the gender pay gap”.

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Championing equal pay – conference 4/11

When? 4 November 2022, 9:30 – 15:00, followed by a reception
Where? Townhall of Brussels, Grand Place 1, 1000 Brussels; Salle des Milices & Salle Ogivale, access through Grand Place central court

Please find the photo coverage of the event here and the recording of the debate here.

Championing equal pay. What are the ways forward?

In the year 2022, unequal pay between men and women is still a reality. At EU level, the gender pay gap is still at 13%, which means that women work “for free” as of 15 November until the end of the year. To make matters worse, in the past 10 years, the gap has barely been reduced, so at this rate, it will take over 80 years to close it. In some EU member states the gap is even higher than 20%. What can we do to close the gender pay gap and to close it faster? There is a lot to be done to achieve gender equality in this area. This is why PES Women & ZIJkant, hosted by the city of Brussels, which has committed itself to be an equal pay partner, have come together for a joint conference where we will explore the reasons behind the gender pay gap and bring forward practical proposals that cities, companies and legislator can put in place to become real partners and close this gap once and for all.

Join us and become a champion for equal pay!

What are the reasons behind the pay gap and why is progress so slow? We know they are multi-faceted, from an overrepresentation of women in low-paid sectors, to women taking up so many care responsibilities. We will explore these and present good practices from different countries on how to tackle the gap.
What can we do to strengthen the understanding between the gender pay gap and other gaps in our society, such as the care and employment gap or discrimination in hiring and promotion? We need to explore the use of transparency, awareness raising and structural change as tools to close the pay gap.
How can cities and employers become champions for equal pay and what are the ways towards an equal pay label?

Program

9:30 – Arrival and welcome coffee

10:00 – Opening

• Welcome by ZIJkant Secretary General Vera Claes, and Zita Gurmai, PES Women President
• Keynote by Brussels Alderwoman Lydia Mutyebele Ngoi

Moderator: Lesia Radelicki, Adviser to the European Commissioner for Equality

10:30 – Panel 1: Champions for equal pay

There are many underlying causes for the gender pay gap, but also many good practices and tools on how to close it. In this panel, we will look at different policy solutions and good practices from city, regional and national level.

Laeticia Thissen, FEPS Policy Analyst for Gender Equality
Michaela Kauer, Head of Brussels office of the city of Vienna
Genevieve Letourneux, Municipal Councillor of the city of Rennes

Q&A with the audience

11:30 – Première of new campaign for European Unequal Pay Day, produced by Czar and Mortierbrigade, followed by a coffee break

12:00 – Panel 2: Equal pay: a win-win for employers and employees

Equal pay can be reached on many different levels. In this panel we are looking at some further good examples and also on solutions in theory and practice. We know bridging the gender pay gap is a win for the economy, for the well-being of companies and workers.

Evelyn Regner, MEP vicepresident EP, rapporteur on the pay transparency (video message)
Esther Lynch, Deputy Secretary General ETUC
Véronique de Baets, Expert from the Belgium Institute for Gender Equality
Syl Arnols, Head of HR at Ethias

Q&A with the audience

13:00 – Lunch Break – Salle Ogivale

13:45 – Panel 3: The way towards an EP-label

This panel will share two concrete examples on how the public and private sector can close their gender pay gap by acquiring an equal pay label. PricewaterhouseCoopers presents their Equal-salary certification and the Fair Pay Innovation lab their Universal Fair Pay Check.

Aurore Zadeling, PwC Senior Manager Reward & Personal Income Tax & Johannes (Joop) Smits, PwC Partner
Henrike von Platen, Founder of Fair Pay Innovation Lab

Q&A with the audience

14:45 – Closing remarks

Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality (video message)
Zita Gurmai, PES Women President

15:00 – Reception – Salle Ogivale

With support from the Brussels mayor Philippe Close and the Alderwoman of Equality Lydia Mutyebele Ngoi, the Institute for the equality of women and men and Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities Sarah Schlitz.