Equality in Styria: where women earn less!

Equality in Styria: where women earn less!

Today the Equal Pay Day is celebrated, a day that puts the precarious income gap between men and women in the spotlight. This time the wage gap is 12.2 percent nationwide, a decline compared to 15.2 percent in 2020, reported news.orf.at. In Styria, women earn 16 percent less than their male colleagues. Specifically, this means that women in Styria have worked 56 working days without payment by Wednesday. The Equal Pay Day is therefore a day earlier than in the previous year. This trend reversal takes place in the context of a growing concern of the Greens via the possible return to conservative role models under the new government coalition of FPÖ and ÖVP.

Concern about the herd bonus

A controversial point is the planned “stove bonus”, which is supposed to reward women for the care of their children at home. Veronika Nitsche, the green women's spokeswoman, sharply criticizes this measure: "Real freedom of choice only exists when women have access to all -day childcare places," she said. The economist Marian Fink from WiFo also emphasizes that such measures are not the solution. He explained that the gender Pay GAP can fluctuate with various calculation methods and spoke out against the herd premium that could urge people from working life, especially women with lower income. These observations were also Puls24 confirms where it is discussed that women often increase the wage scissors in women through children's education or care for relatives.

In summary, the numbers and statements illustrate the urgent need for action to create a fair income distribution. The different calculations of the gender Pay GAP, in which the values ​​can vary depending on the perspective, are another indication that it is urgently needed to find a transparent and just solution that is not only based on statistical average values.