Gender salary gap slowly closing

31 January 2007
 
Average salaries for men range from EUR 21,500 to EUR 53,400 per year depending on the sector. However, average salaries for women in the same sector range from EUR 19,990 to EUR 40,700 per year.

The largest discrepancies were found in the financial and textile sectors with a 43 and 32 percent gap respectively. The only sector where women earn more then men for the same work is the construction sector, where women benefit from a slim 1 percent advantage on pay.

A strong improvement was recorded in the industrial sector, from 32 to 18 percent difference between men and women’s salaries, and in the transport industry, from 14 to 4 percent.

Despite satisfactory national results and promising trends in some sectors the gap between men and women’s average yearly income increased in some sectors such as the financial sector, from 42 to 43 percent, public administration, from 17 to 19 percent, and the heath care, from 10 to 11 percent.

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Subject: Belgian news