Malta's gender pay gap is lowest in EU

Malta's gender pay gap of 3.6 per cent is the lowest among EU member states, a report has found.

The report, entitled Gender Mainstreaming: The Way Forward, says that according to data published in 2005, the gender pay gap in the EU15 was widest in Austria (26 per cent) and narrowest in Luxembourg (11 per cent).

Among the new EU member states, it was widest in the Czech Republic (25.1 per cent in 2002) and narrowest in Malta. The average gap across all states was estimated at 17.5 per cent.

The report was compiled by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality with the help of the European Social Fund and presented last week at a conference on gender mainstreaming.

It found that gender pay inequalities have persisted in spite of an increase in women's participation in the labour market, legislative measures to protect women from occupational discrimination, higher educational levels achieved by women and the efforts made to foster a culture of gender parity.

In female dominated industries, annual earnings of women workers are lower than those paid in male dominated sectors.

Women are paid less because it is assumed that they do not need to earn as much as men and because equal pay would pose a threat to the traditional gender roles and balance of power within the family, according to the report.

It points out that Malta is a signatory to various International Labour Organisation conventions that obliges equal remuneration and conditions of work regardless of gender.

Malta's Constitution also prohibits any form of discrimination on the basis of sex and the Employment and Industrial Relations Act set provisions for equal remuneration not only for equal work but also for work of equal value.

According to the report, the gender pay gap is not the result of sex discrimination but stems from the objective realities of men and women in the labour market.

When women return to their career after bringing up children, they are normally accorded lower status and pay because they have lost out on training and promotion opportunities.

The report notes, however, that the difference in earnings among men and women has witnessed an improvement over the past five years.

Family Minister Dolores Cristina said that the government was committed to equal opportunities for men and women. Having more people in employment would make the country more competitive and reduce the percentage of people at risk of poverty.

She pointed to the many family-friendly measures that have been introduced as well as to the fact that the Social Services Act has been revised as has the national insurance and income tax systems.

However, women were still subject to a number of social attitudes which had a big effect on the relationship of women with employment.

And the number of female graduates was not reflected in the number of female employees and voluntary workers, she said.