Women’s average basic salary trails by almost €4,000 but gap with men is closing

Women earned an average basic salary that was €3,641 less than that for men in June this year but figures out today point towards a diminishing gap.

According to the Labour Force Survey, released by the National Statistics Office, the annual basic salary for women stood at €17,473 in the second quarter of 2019. The equivalent for men stood at €21,114.

However, when compared to the same period last year the gap in average annual salaries between men and women reduced by almost €800.

In 2018, the difference between the annual average salary for men and women stood at €4,418.

The figures suggest that the disparity in salaries between men and women is three-pronged: there are fewer women in higher paying managerial posts, more women have part-time work as their main source of income, and the average pay for women in the different occupational groups is below that of men.

The LFS shows that 13,361 men employed as managers earned an average of €37,579, while the 7,916 women employed as managers earned an average of €29,030. The disparity at managerial level was the widest among all occupational groups.

The closest gap was among technicians and associate professionals, where men’s annual average salary was €1,616 higher than that for women.

In the second quarter of 2019, the overall average annual basic salary was €19,484, an increase of €542, on the same period last year.

Average annual salaries varied from €34,399 among managers to €12,370 among persons employed in elementary occupations.

The highest overall basic salary was recorded in the financial and insurance activities sector at €26,015 (average for men stood at €29,331; for women €22,667). The lowest basic salary was in the wholesale and retail sector at €16, 317 (average for men stood at €18,937; for women €12,536).

Female employment rate up

The LFS shows that there were 251,700 people in employment, of which almost 16% are self-employed.

The figures show that 8,815 people are unemployed, while 164,001 are considered inactive.

The figures show that 73% of people between 15 and 64 are employed. Among men, 80.7% are employed, a figure that has remained almost static in a year.

However, the female employment rate increased by more than three points to 64.6% in June this year, when compared to the same period in 2018.

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