A persisting gender pay gap

The 'gender pay gap' is a measurable indicator of inequality between women and men. It generally refers to the average difference between the remuneration of employed female and male workers.

Although the gender pay gap is measured by different methods and indicators, data clearly show that women around the world still earn less than men. Across OECD countries, on average, the gender wage gap stands at 10.1 % – meaning that the median full-time working woman earns about 90 cents to every dollar or euro earned by the median full-time working man. This rate has barely moved in recent decades. Despite the increase in women's educational attainment and participation in the labour market over the years, the gender pay gap remains a persistent and multi-dimensional issue in all countries and across all economic sectors. For women with children, women of colour, migrant women, and women with disabilities, the discrepancy is even larger. In 2024, women's gross hourly earnings were, on average, 11.1 % below those of men in the EU (Eurostat, EU-27); the gender pay gap varied widely among Member States, from -0.8 % in Luxembourg to 18.8 % in Estonia.

International Equal Pay Day

European Union initiatives

Equal pay for equal work is one of the EU's founding principles, enshrined in Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Since then, there have been initiatives to address the gender pay gap at both EU and Member State levels. While some progress has been achieved, the gender pay gap remains a persistent feature of European labour markets. Building on the EU gender equality strategy 2020-2025, the new gender equality strategy 2026-2030 places particular emphasis on tackling gender pay and pension gaps. It supports Member States in the full and effective implementation, monitoring and enforcement of the Pay Transparency Directive, alongside wider action on women's labour-market participation, work-life balance, occupational segregation and gender equality in economic decision-making.

The Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970), adopted in May 2023 and in force since 6 June 2023, marks a recent step in the EU's efforts to address pay transparency. It introduces pay-transparency requirements in recruitment, prohibits questions about applicants' pay history, gives workers the right to obtain pay information, and establishes phased gender-pay-gap reporting obligations for employers with at least 100 workers. Where an unjustified gender pay gap of at least 5 % is identified and is not remedied within six months, employers must carry out a joint pay assessment with workers' representatives. The Directive also strengthens enforcement through rules on compensation, the burden of proof and penalties. The deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive into national law was 7 June 2026, although implementation remains incomplete in several Member States.

Other relevant legislation includes the Women on Boards Directive (2022), which requires listed companies to meet gender balance targets on corporate boards by mid‑2026, and the Work-Life Balance Directive (in force since 2022), which promotes equal sharing of care responsibilities by introducing new rights to paternity leave, parental leave, and flexible working.

European Parliament position

Parliament has consistently called for binding EU action to reduce gender pay inequalities and strengthen the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. Since its 2015 resolution on the application of the 2006 directive on equal opportunities and equal treatment of women and men in employment and occupation, Parliament has called for more effective enforcement of equal-pay rules and greater pay transparency. Its resolutions of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap and 21 January 2021 on the EU gender equality strategy reiterated the need for robust transparency requirements, effective enforcement and a strong role for social partners and collective bargaining.

In its 15 December 2021 resolution on equality between women and men, Parliament called on Member States to develop an action plan with clear objectives to tackle the gender pay and pension gaps.

Parliament played a central role in shaping the Pay Transparency Directive. In its resolution of 11 March 2026 on gender pay and pension gaps in the EU, it called for an EU action plan addressing structural drivers of inequality – including work-life balance, occupational segregation and the undervaluation of work in female-dominated sectors – alongside the effective implementation and enforcement of the Directive.