Factors determining disproportions in men and women’s wages in the European Union countries

Abstract

The primary aim of the presented study was to identify how selected factors determining gender-based inequalities affected the volume of the unadjusted pay gap among employees hired in the European Union after the 2007 crisis compared to the pre-crisis situation.An additional purpose of the study was to indicate changes in the employment rates of men and women, as well as changes in the pay gap between the two sexes (measured by means of the gender pay gap index – GPG), which became noticeable in the EU countries after the crisis, as compared to the pre-crisis period. The study was conducted using single-equation descriptive econometric models describing the wage gap. The analysis was based on the results of the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS), both published by Eurostat. Due to data availability issues, data for 2006 were assumed to be representative for the situation prior to the crisis (the study took into account also countries which became member states in later years), while data covering the year 2012 (employment rate) and the years 2014–2018 (GPG) were assumed as representative for the post-crisis period. The analyses of the male and female employment rate and gender pay gaps indicate that following the crisis, the employment in the 24 EU countries became increasingly ‘feminised’, while no significant reduction of the pay gap was observed in the years 2006–2018. The obtained results indicate that greater ‘feminisation’ of employment is connected with greater gender pay gaps. A similar correlation occurs in relation to the professional activisation rate. In addition, significant differences are observed in terms of the impact some of the analysed factors have on the volume of the gender wage gap in different age and occupational groups.