Three days before, on 5 March, the first EU-wide Equal Pay Day had taken place. Up to 5 March, women had to work additional hours to receive the same pay as men in 2010. Women in the EU earn on average 17.5 % less than men during their working life. In Austria, the Equal Pay Day will be a month later, on 13 April. With 25.5 %, the pay gap is far higher than the EU average: Austria is third from the bottom above Estonia and the Czech Republik. With regard to the share of women working part time, Austria, at 42.9 % of female workers is also significantly above EU average (31.5 %); concerning the share of women in leading positions, Austria, at 30.5 % is below EU average. An AK survey showed that of the 200 TOP businesses only 4.4 % of chair positions were held by women – and this share has been decreasing.

Breaking through the glass ceiling
It is not enough to wait for voluntary self-regulation, but it is time to act. Viviane Reding, Vice President of the EU Commission for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship urges all major listed companies to increase their quota for women on boards. The aim is to reach 30 % by 2015. If no progress has been made by March next year, we will aim at regulation. “If it has not happened, you [the businesses] can count on my regulatory creativity”, said Reding. Austria too plans to decide on a quota next week; however, initially only for organisations close to the state.

Equal pay for equal work
Measures, such as introducing a quota to increase women's presence on corporate boards are not enough to combat the fact that women are facing a greater risk of poverty, that they are paid less and that they hold the greater share of precarious jobs. A first step towards disclosing pay gaps in Austria is pay transparency - which came into force on 1 March - by preparing corporate salary reports.
Social and economic framework conditions have to be created to move closer towards equality. And it has to be analysed, especially during the crisis, who is particularly affected by the cuts in social expenditure and who benefits from changes in the tax system or who loses, to fight inequality and to ensure that the gap does not widen any further.

Further information:

AK: Women in leading positions: Quota a must! (German Only)

EU Commission: First European Equal Pay Day highlights EU earnings gap

EU Commission: Gender pay gap statistics - Austria (PDF)