Maltese women only earn more than men in clerical occupations

In Maltese business and administration, years of experience do not account much for the small gender pay gaps that do exist.

These range from just 1% difference in favour of men in the 11 to 20 years of tenure category, to a 7% difference for people with 6 to 10 years of working experience.

Amongst managers, technicians, sales and elementary workers, service workers and plant operators, the gender pay gaps are more evident.

Data released from Wageindicator.com, which is financed by a European Commission PROGRESS grant, compared male and female wages at the level of occupational groups.

The gender pay gap is defined as unequal pay for work of equal value which is performed with the same skills and qualifications. This pay gap results from gender segregation attitudes and practices. These attitudes and practices reinforce the existing unequal development opportunities for men and women, as well as unjustified remuneration within occupational groups and professions. Note that the gender pay gaps portrayed below are for the analysed occupations and professions only.

There is just one occupational group where women earn slightly more than men, which are clerical support workers in their first years of tenure (2% more up to 5 years). In the other tenure groups the wage differences favour men, with 8% difference the 6 to 10 years of work experience group, 5% in the 11 to 20 years of tenure group and a 8% difference after more than 20 years experience.

The largest gender pay gap (21%) in favour of men has been recorded for elementary occupations with 11 to 20 years of experience.

Men earn more (12%) also with 6 to 10 years of tenure. Technicians and associate professional men earn 18% more when with 6 to 10 years of experience. Plant and machine operators and assemblers earn more than women in their early careers, with up to 22% difference in the 6 to 10 years of tenure group, but later on, after 11 to 20 years of working, men earn just 2% more than women.

A large gender pay gap (18%) is found also in service and sales, where the differences between men and women are most visible for people with 6 up to 20 years of experience.