BPW International

Lesha Witmer, BPW Netherlands, created a BPW Equal Pay group on the social network of BPW International.

Take part to the discussion !

www.bpw-international.org > members > bpw community
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The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) today welcomed the launch of the first ever European Equal Pay Day that will in 2011 fall on Saturday 05 March, an initiative that already existed in many Member States and that is supported by women’s organisations. The concept of Equal Pay Day aims to illustrate the gap between women’s and men’s wages in Europe which stands currently at 17,5% [1]: the average European woman would have to work until 5 March 2011 to earn the same income as her male counterpart in 2010. ‘Equal pay for equal work was supposedly guaranteed by the 1957 founding Treaty of the EU. It is about time that the EU finally takes action to effectively fulfill this commitment’ says Alexandra Jachanova Dolezelova, Vice-President of the EWL. ‘Awareness-raising and symbolic actions can only be a first step however’, she added; ‘To truly make a difference we need a multidimensional strategy which tackles the gender inequalities that are behind the pay gap.’

The EWL is calling for concrete actions and targets to complement the information campaign on equal pay that the Commission has been running for the last few years. More

The European Women's Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women's associations in the European Union (EU), working to promote women's rights and equality between women and men. EWL membership extends to organisations in all 27 EU Member States and the three candidate countries, as well as to 21 European-wide organisations, representing a total of more than 2500 associations.

03 March 2011
The European Women’s Lobby - EWL

BPW Germany was able to co-operate with IKEA at this years Equal Pay Day. From 21. - 25 March IKEA announced the "Kvinna-Week". Nationwide 46 IKEA stores will distribute 1 Mio. BPW-flyers and red carry-alls. More (only German).

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Cem Özdemir, Thomas Sattelberger, Klaus Wowereit  und and many others have already participated! They signed the petition of the national EqualPayDay-Alliance. Did you? Please support us by signing the petition

In each country, the Equal Pay Day date is linked to the national pay gap: because it takes a woman till this day to earn as much money as her male counterpart earned for the previous calendar year.

New Zealand: on February 18. Read this article to see what BPWNZ President, Angela McLeod, has initiated for Red Bag Day.

European Commission : on March 5 : 17,5% pay gap. More

Switzerland: on March 11 : 19,3% pay gap between women and men : www.equalpayday.ch
BPW Ticino is organizing a big Equal Pay Day event with the presence of Mme Simoneschi-Cortesi,  a national council member.

Canada :on March 18, more

Germany : on March 25 : 23% pay gap www.equalpayday.de and sign the petition !

Belgium : on March 30 : 26% pay gap more

Austria: on April 14 : 27% pay gap www.equalpayday.at

France : on April 15 : 16,5% pay gap more

Australia : on September 2011 : 19% pay gap www.equalpayday.com.au

Europe

Gender pay gap in %, 2009, sources : eurostats

Gender Pay Gap in Europe : Map, Gender Pay Gap in Europe : Graph.

Read all about Equal Pay Day in Europe on the bpw-europe website

More on Equal Pay Day

According to Eurostat data across the European Union in 2007 the pay gap in Estonia amounted to 30.9 % which is the highest figure of all EU countries. According to the Estonian Workforce Survey the average gender pay gap amounted to 28.7 % in the period 2000 to 2008.

In Estonia Equal Pay Day campaign will take place on April 12th. To mark the occasion BPW Estonia / Estonian Association of Business and Professional Women is organising a spirited action called “Tilliga ja tillita”.

On April 12th public cafes and restaurants all over Estonia offer salmon (also means “gap” in Estonian language) sandwiches or other dishes with and without dill at two different prices. The salmon dish with dill is 30.9 % pricier than the exactly same one without dill. With the wordplay and humorous approach we point out that in Estonia the gender pay gap for equal work is up to 30.9 %.

Through our “Tilliga ja tillita” campaign we would like to raise public awareness of the following shortcomings. The gender pay gap in Estonia is the highest of all EU countries and the gap is worsening. This demonstrates that in our community the resources are distributed unequally between men and women. Women’s wages are nearly a third lower and this has an impact on the economic independence of women as well as the poverty risk of children. The wage level not only determines people’s current quality of life, but it also forms the basis for calculating various future benefits and pensions.

People are entitled to receive equal pay for work of equal value regardless of whether they are men or women. According to gender equality monitoring data 92 % of Estonian inhabitants support this basic human rights principle.

Gender pay gap is a complex issue, showcasing the predominant inequality of society that has been brought about by various separate and interconnected factors. That is why there cannot be one single measure to close the pay gap, but numerous measures have to be implemented on different levels of our society (on the individual, organisational and national levels). At the same time activities aimed at closing the gender pay gap have to be long-term and consistent. More attention should be paid to three areas by the implementation of measures: the role of the public sector, combining work and family, and timely and detailed data collection on wages.

The pay gap can only be breached by women becoming aware of the situation, thus getting bolder and more able to demand higher appreciation for their contribution on the labour market.

More on Equal Pay Day

The German national coalition for action is conducting a signature campaign under this headline from January 1, 2011 until Equal Pay Day 2011 - which will be March 25 in Germany. We'd like to ask BPW members worldwide to sign this petition online so that we achieve our goal of 100.000 signatures.

You can find all information about the petition on this website: ipetitions/equalpayday2011

Sabine Osmanovic
Vice President 2010 - 2013 BPW Germany

BPW New Zealand (BPWNZ) President, Angela McLeod stepped up to the challenge in 2009 when the National’s Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson announced the disestablishment of the Pay and Employment Equity Unit on the 30 June 2009.  Representatives from various organisations including: the Auckland Women’s Centre, NZ Council of Trade Unions, NZ Meat Workers Union and Rural Women to name a few, formed the Pay Equity Challenge Coalition and Angela McLeod became the Chairperson and spokesperson.  Her work during this period has raised the public profile of BPWNZ, the gender pay gap and the reduction of women in leadership roles over the last two years.    An example of some of the press releases and TV reports presented over the last year can be accessed from the website.

Angela McLeod, BPW New Zealand President.

Read the complete BPWNZ Bulletin
Read the Factsheet, Equal Pay Day NZ
Read the Timeline Equal Pay Day NZ

NZ Pay Gap 12%. Equal Pay Day February 18, 2011.

Sandra Cook, National Director of Policy reports on Equal Pay Day (EPD) 2010: As the gender pay gap in Australia hits a high of 18 per cent, BPW clubs across the nation stepped up their campaign to raise awareness of this issue with members, employers, employees and business owners. Building on the ideas of our international sisters, Australian members took to the streets: in fact they took to the clubs, the pubs and the parks; to the cafes, the unis and banks – anywhere we thought that we could display a banner, wear a red purse or sell a red bag.

The BPW Equal Pay Taskforce rallied our members, with the state representatives encouraging and participating in many events. As Fay Helou, our NSW rep said, “the active participation of members can galvanise clubs and their positive attitude is contagious.” NSW took the idea of “unhappy hour” to a new level with the Mean Fiddler tavern hosting an entire “unhappy day” while South Australia took the opportunity to glam up Equal Pay Day with a gala red purse dinner. SA rep Gillian Lewis said they set out to acknowledge business leadership in gender equity and believe that next year’s event will be bigger and better as some guests are already asking if they can book tables. South Australia would like to encourage other States to hold a similar event and make the Red Purse Gala Dinner a National event – they are even prepared to mentor you through the process.

See the BPW Australia National Bulletin

Sep. 17, 2010

SIGNIFICANCE: Women across Europe continue to earn less than their male counterparts, despite legislation at the EU and member-state levels that makes it illegal to pay women less than men for equal work. Research shows that this is likely remain the case for at least several decades. Yet by failing to close the gender pay gap, European businesses and countries are exposing themselves to serious problems and risks, and holding back their growth. Go to conclusion

ANALYSIS: All EU member states adhere to a body of legislation that was consolidated into a single directive in 2006, with the aim of ensuring that men and women receive equal pay for work of equal value. Nonetheless, research from the EU in 2010 and the OECD in 2008 confirm a gender pay gap in every EU member state.

Causes. The gender pay gap has multiple causes:

Gender segregation. Women tend to dominate low-paid occupations and industries. However, even here the gender pay gap persists.

Straightforward Discrimination. Women are also underpaid in highly lucrative industries. For example, in 2009, the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission found that women in the financial sector were being roughly half their male colleagues, even though they were doing the same work. It was only slightly better among the highest earners, with those in fund management and futures trading suffering the greatest loss of earnings.

Part-Time Work. Many women work part-time to balance family responsibilities, which fall disproportionately on women, and the need to earn a living. Not only are these women disadvantaged by the comparatively lower rates of pay in part-time work, they also suffer from a gender pay gap within those low rates of pay. In the United Kingdom, part-time female workers earn 35% less than their male counterparts (as compared to 16.4% less for full-time work). The proportion of part-time jobs filled by women is higher than the OECD average (72.1%) in several EU countries: Germany (81.1%), France (79.4%), United Kingdom (77.6%) and Netherlands (75.5%).
Lack of transparency. The culture of secrecy surrounding pay prevents employees from knowing whether they are being paid fairly. Research shows that where transparency about remuneration exists, the gender salary ratio is more equal. For this reason, the UK coalition government is implementing an equality act from October 1, which will make pay secrecy clauses unenforceable and allow hypothetical comparators for direct gender pay discrimination.

Low Female Boardroom Representation. Research has found that there is a correlation between higher numbers of women in boardrooms -- a minimum of three is needed to change the culture -- and more equal pay along gender lines (see EUROPEAN UNION: Commission may impose women quota - August 23, 2010). In August, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice and fundamental rights, announced that the European Commission would consider a 20% quota to increase the representation of women in boardrooms if EU companies failed to address their boardroom gender balance within one year. In an interview published today in Die Welt, Reding says that the European Commission will consider a quota in which women hold at least 30% of all supervisory board members by 2015, and 40% by 2020. Norway, Iceland and Spain have already adopted quotas on the national level, France and the Netherlands are considering legislation to do so, and Germany has imposed quotas at the Laender level.

Bad for Business. The gender pay gap exposes businesses to unnecessary problems while preventing them from maximising their talent:

Safeguarding Talent. Companies that do not ensure equal pay for equal work risk losing their top female employees to competitors who are willing pay them fairly.
Return on investment. Companies invest significant time and money recruiting and training their employees. To get a good return on that investment, they need those employees to perform well and to stay. Therefore, to lose female employees over unequal pay for equal work is a permanent loss of that prior investment.

Unbalanced Leadership. Pay and promotion are informal shaping mechanism with cross-generation impacts. Unequal pay for equal work is a disincentive for women to make the investments and sacrifices necessary to advance, creating a shallower talent pool from which to draw when it comes to making senior-level appointments.
Risk of tribunals. Companies that pay women less than men for equal work make themselves vulnerable to being taken to an employment tribunal. In the United Kingdom alone, the number of such claims has risen by 56% this year.
Draining Europe's future. The gender pay gap is hurting Europe's economies and societies, with long-term effects:

Loss of Tax Revenue. From the moment a woman drops out of the labour market, she ceases to contribute tax revenue to the state. The gender pay gap is a major factor in the decision of many women to drop out of the labour market, often because it coexists with expensive childcare costs. This loss of revenue is hurting many EU member states. In March, Reding told Die Welt that Germany's GDP would increase by as much as 30% if the gender payment gap were closed. Fully closing the gap between male and female employment rates in the euro-area would raise GDP by as much as 13% -- closer to 20% for Southern Europe, according to Goldman Sachs.

Demographic Decline. Birth rates decline when women feel they cannot combine work with children, according to research from the Berlin Institute for Population and Development. The demographic crisis in Germany, where the gender pay gap is 23.3%, is a case in point -- Germany now has the lowest birth rate in Europe (see GERMANY: Low birth rate has high impact - August 26, 2010). By contrast, EU countries with a high proportion of women in the labour force, and relatively equal numbers of working men and women, typically show higher fertility rates (see EUROPE: Ageing population clouds economic outlook - October 15, 2009). In particular, the Nordic countries and France, where there are subsidised and readily available childcare provisions, enjoy some of Europe's highest birth rates and female labour participation rates.

CONCLUSION: Closing the gender pay gap in Europe will benefit more than the region's women and their families. Businesses that ensure equal pay for equal work will eliminate unnecessary problems and risks while maximising their competitiveness, capitalising on their employee talent and growing their leadership. Countries that do so will see higher rates of labour market participation and thus economic growth.

Summary By: Elizabeth Cox, Regional Program Director,

UNIFEM, Part of UN WOMEN in the Pacific

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Goals Equal Pay Day Awareness Campaign

The ultimate aim of our efforts through the Ad Hoc Taskforce Equal Pay Day is to reduce the damaging and substantial income gap that exists all over the world between women and men. In order to combat the pay gap, our initial task should be to advocate, and raise awareness about, the issue of equal pay among all BPW International affiliates at the international level. To do this we want to encourage and motivate BPW affiliates all over the world to establish an Equal Pay Day in their own country.

The Equal Pay Day marks how far into the current year women would need to work to make up for the wage what men earned more during the previous year. Each country celebrates this day to raise awareness, with the support of the Awareness Campaign and especially the Ad Hoc Taskforce for the Equal Pay Day.

As a community, we must raise awareness and mobilize all actors. We should encourage more women to take up leadership positions, more full time women employees, and more women in committees or on panels. Women tend to work in positions that society has branded as traditional women’s positions and that are often paid less or nothing at all. Furthermore, we must encourage a change within society such that women do not feel obliged to take so much time away from work to raise a family. Not only is it important that we increase awareness, but as women ourselves we should also demand, and work towards a change in our society and personal matters.

History of the Equal Pay Day Awareness Campaign

The initiators were the American Business and Professional Women (BPW/USA), who brought the “Red Purse Campaign” to life in 1988 to highlight the existing wage gap and who established a day to campaign for equal pay of both genders. BPW Germany took up these thoughts and launched a red purse initiative. The first Equal Pay Day was established in 2009, which was a big success. BPW International launched the Equal Pay Day Awareness Campaign during a session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Since 2009 a lot of BPW affiliates have joined the campaign and have launch an Equal Pay Day in their own country, for example Australia, Austria, Switzerland and Netherland. The BPW Taskforce supports the campaign to bring about a world wide movement for equal pay, to close the existing wage gap between men and women across the globe.

Chair of the Taskforce Equal Pay Day:

Dr. Bettina Schleicher

Klingelhöferstraße 4, 10785 Berlin, Germany

phone: +49 30 84187-137

fax: +49 30 84187-155
email: b.schleicher@js-law.de