Equal Pay Day

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Flag for Equal Pay Day on March 21, 2014 in Alsbach (Hessen, Germany)

The Equal Pay Day ( EPD ), the international day of action for equal pay between women and men, draws attention to the existing gender pay gap and is celebrated on different days in numerous countries. In Germany, the day of action symbolically marks the wage gap between women and men. The average unadjusted difference in wages of 21% corresponds to a period of 77 calendar days per year. In the various countries, it usually denotes the day up to or from which women would work free of charge if they received the same wages as men from or up to that day. The “ adjusted gender pay gap ”, which is determined on the basis of comparable activities and qualifications, is 2–7% in Germany.

Emergence

The “day for equal pay” has its origins in the USA . Equal Pay Day was launched there in 1966 by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE). The NCPE is an amalgamation of American women's and civil rights organizations, trade unions and religious and professional associations, which aims to draw attention to the unequal pay between men and women, especially African-American women, and to close the wage gap. In 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was signed in the United States, women got an average of 59 cents for every dollar that men received. Every year since 1966, tens of thousands of women and men in the USA have been using the EPD to draw attention to the wage difference with a wide variety of campaigns.

Equal Pay Day in individual countries

The Equal Pay Day is now taking place in 23 European countries: Belgium , Germany , France , Great Britain , Ireland , Italy , the Netherlands , Austria , Poland , Romania , Switzerland , Spain , Sweden and the Czech Republic are taking part . The day of action is also celebrated in the USA , Australia and New Zealand . In 2011 the European Commission launched the European Equal Pay Day, which has been celebrated annually since then. In 2015 the day of action took place on November 2nd.

Belgium

In Belgium , on February 16, 1966, around 3800 women stopped work in Herstal without warning and called for a one-day strike , which then extended to 12 weeks. Their protests were directed against the unworthy conditions in the workplace and against the unequal pay. At the time, women were getting around 25 percent less than their male colleagues. In 2005 the women's movement zij-kant and ABVV Women launched the first Belgian Equal Pay Day based on the American model. 2016 was Equal Pay Day on March 13th.

Germany

An alliance from all of Lower Saxony on Equal Pay Day 2014 in Hanover

development

The Business and Professional Women USA, a member organization of the NCPE, initiated the “Red Purse Campaign” in 1988 to draw attention to the existing differences in pay with a red bag. The women's professional network Business and Professional Women (BPW) Germany eV picked up on this idea in 2007 and started the “Red Bag Initiative”. Other associations followed such. B. webgrrls.de with the weblog Rote Taschen . The red pockets stand for “red numbers” and for the fact that women have “less in their pockets” than men.

This campaign gave rise to the idea of ​​introducing the Equal Pay Day in Germany, which was first implemented in Germany in 2008 on the initiative of the BPW. From the beginning, the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth supported the Equal Pay Day with funds and commissioned the BPW to carry it out.

date

year Equal Pay Day
2009 March, 20th
2010 26th of March
2011 25th March
2012 March 23
2013 March 21st
2014 March 21st
2015 19th March
2016 19th March
2017 March 18th
2018 March 18th
2019 March 18th
2020 17. March

The first Equal Pay Day in Germany took place on April 15, 2008 on the initiative of Dr. Bettina Schleicher of the BPW. The professional women's network initially took over the date set in America for the day of action. In 2009, it was decided to calculate the day using the current figures on the difference in pay between women and men. In Germany, the Equal Pay Day date has been calculated using the following formula since 2009: 365 days times the statistically current difference in pay in percent. Equal Pay Day thus stands for the day up to which women work for free, while men are paid for their work from January 1st.

In various media reports it was repeatedly pointed out that this type of calculation is wrong if the day of action is to mark the day in the following year until which women would have to continue to work in order to work together with the previous year, men only in the previous year Year earned. With this calculation, the day of action would have to be in April: if women actually earn 21% less than men, they would have to earn 28.2% more or work to get the same earnings. Correctly - as indicated by the initiative - the day indicates the time in the year "up to which women work for free, while men have been paid for their work since January 1st".

Destinations in Germany

The aim of Equal Pay Day in Germany is to provide information about the gender pay gap and its causes, to address the various causes of pay differentials, to mobilize action partners in order to reduce gender-specific pay inequality in the long term. Because the aim is to show all the causes and consequences of the difference in earnings, the day of action refers to the unadjusted gender pay gap of the Federal Statistical Office. The day of action is part of the federal government's strategy to reduce wage differentials to 10 percent by 2020.

Forum Equal Pay Day

From 2009 to 2011 the German day of action was carried out by a national action alliance under the leadership of BPW Germany. In addition to BPW Germany, the action alliance included the Federal Working Group of Municipal Women's Offices and Equal Opportunities (BAG), the Federal Association of German Employers' Associations (BDA), the German Women's Council (DF) and the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs (VdU). In September 2011, Business and Professional Women (BPW) Germany opened the Equal Pay Day forum in Berlin to strengthen the Equal Pay Day initiative beyond the day of action through year-round commitment. The Equal Pay Day forum provides guidelines for events, advertising material and information material on the respective focus topic. The Equal Pay Day forum supplements the day of action with information events in the run-up to the Equal Pay Day on the current focus and is therefore the official point of contact for matters of pay inequality in Germany and is supported by the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth.

France

In France , the EPD was initiated by Business and Professional Women (BPW) France and took place for the first time in 2009.

Great Britain

In the UK , the EPD is organized by the Fawcett Society.

Austria

In Austria the EPD takes place in both spring and autumn. That is the day of the year when women in Austria work “for free”. This means that up to this day men earn on average just as much as women throughout the year. The first EPD in Austria took place in 2009 and was initiated by Business and Professional Women (BPW) Austria.

In 2016, the Austrian Equal Pay Day took place on March 10th. This means that women earn around 18 percent less than men.

Switzerland

In Switzerland , the EPD has been taking place since 2009 on the initiative of "Business and Professional Women Switzerland" in cooperation with other actors (trade unions, women's organizations, universities and government agencies). The touring exhibition Lohnmobil was launched in 2015, which until further notice draws attention to the wage inequality between women and men in various cities. The exhibition is a project of the Conference on Equal Opportunities for Eastern Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is supported by the Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men. The wage mobile was officially opened on March 30, 2015 by Federal Councilor Alain Berset in St. Gallen.

In 2016, Equal Pay Day in Switzerland was on February 24, 2016. In 2019, Equal Pay Day will take place on February 22, 2019.

criticism

Critics complain that the Equal Pay Day gives - against the better knowledge of the organizers - the impression that women are paid less for the same work, mainly because of gender-specific discrimination . In fact, the wage difference can largely be explained by the fact that women deliberately choose lower-paid jobs and often work part-time.

See also

Publications

European Union

  • European Commission (ed.): Report on equality between women and men 2015. 2015
  • European Commission (Ed.): Combating the Gender Pay Gap in the European Union. 2014

Germany

  • Juliane Achatz among other things: work, remuneration and equality in the private sector (= research from the Hans-Böckler-Foundation , volume 110). edition Sigma, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-8360-8710-0 .
  • Jutta Allmendinger: Women on the go. How young women want to live today. The Brigitte study. Pantheon, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-570-55126-4 .
  • Silke Anger, Anita Kottwitz: More housework, less earnings. In: DIW Berlin weekly report. No. 6/2009 German Institute for Economic Research
  • Karsten Böhne: The same work, less money - the road to fair wages remains rocky. (March 5, 2017) Broadcast: Funkstreifzug , B5aktuell, Bayerischer Rundfunk ; The road to fair wages remains rocky
  • Thomas Hinz, Hermann Gartner: Gender-specific wage differences in industries, occupations and companies. In: Journal of Sociology. Volume 34, Issue 1, 2005, pp. 22–39
  • Sinus Sociovision: Pay inequality between women and men. Attitudes, experiences and demands of the population regarding the gender pay gap. published by the BMFSFJ, 2008
  • Sinus Sociovision: women in management positions. Barriers and bridges. published by the BMFSFJ , 2010
  • Kirsten Wüst, Brigitte Burkart: How did we deserve it? - Less money with better performance. In: WSI-Mitteilungen. No. 06/2010
  • BMFSFJ: Gender Pension Gap. Development of an indicator for fair income prospects for women and men. Created by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT). 2012
  • BMFSFJ: Atlas on equality between women and men in Germany. 2013
  • Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency: Same work, unequal wages. Facts and figures on pay inequality in Germany and Europe. 2013
  • Federal Statistical Office: On the way to equality? 2014
  • BMFSFJ (Ed.): Transparency for more equal pay - Influences on the gender pay gap (choice of occupation, labor market, partnership, role stereotypes) and perspectives of the population for equal pay between women and men. 2015
  • BMFSFJ (ed.): In the middle of life - wishes and realities of life of women between 30 and 50 years. 2016
  • Ulrike Richter: All gender - or what? The contribution to the equality of women and men of the projects of the 2nd funding phase in the program "XENOS - Integration and Diversity" Deutsches Jugendinstitut, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-86379-127-8 , ( full text online PDF, accessible free of charge).

Web links

Commons : Equal Pay Day  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gender Pay Gap: difference in earnings between women and men at 21% - Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Retrieved July 9, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Thomas Moser: Ten Years Gender Pay Gap Mistake - A mistake turns ten years old. Retrieved May 19, 2018 .
  3. ^ Press conference - Employment and career prospects for women. Retrieved May 19, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Joachimiak, W .: Women's earnings - men's earnings: How big is the gap really? Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden 2013, in: Policy Brief 07/2016, Institute for Economic and Social Sciences of the Hans Böckler Foundation, p. 6. Accessed on July 9, 2019.
  5. ^ National Committee on Pay Equity (accessed September 13, 2010)
  6. ^ [1] Press release from the European Commission. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ [2] Link to the EU campaign It's time to close the gap . Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ Homepage of Business and Professional Women (BPW) Belgium (accessed on September 14, 2010)
  9. ↑ Equal Pay Day | Equal Pay Day, an initiatief van Zij-kant vzw. In: www.equalpayday.be. Retrieved August 16, 2016 .
  10. ↑ BPW International (accessed on September 13, 2010)
  11. ↑ http://rotetaschen.webgrrls.de/ Rote Taschen Weblog
  12. ↑ Homepage of the Red Bag Initiative and homepage of the National Action Alliance for Equal Pay Day (accessed on September 8, 2010)
  13. ^ First German Equal Pay Day on April 15, 2008. Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, March 19, 2008, accessed on March 21, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Homepage of the National Action Alliance for Equal Pay Day (accessed on March 21, 2018)
  15. ↑ BPW Germany: Seven years of Equal Pay Day. A demand becomes a campaign. BWV Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-8305-2068-9 ( PDF ).
  16. ↑ Equal Pay Day 2009 on the homepage of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth (accessed on September 13, 2010)
  17. ↑ Federal Family Ministry supports Equal Pay Day 2010 (accessed on September 13, 2010)
  18. ^ First Europe-wide Equal Pay Day. March 4, 2011, accessed October 21, 2016 .
  19. ^ Equal Pay Day 2012 in Europe. In: http://bpw-europe.org/ . Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
  20. ^ Equal Pay Day 2013 in Europe. In: http://bpw-europe.org/ . Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
  21. ↑ a b Equal Pay Days Dates 2015 in Europe. (PDF) Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Action Day 2016
  23. ↑ Home. In: www.equalpayday.de. Retrieved August 16, 2016 .
  24. ↑ Day of Action 2018
  25. ↑ Equal Pay Day 2019. Accessed March 4, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Equal Pay Day 2020. Accessed February 4, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Wiki Equal Pay Day: The Equal Pay Day in Germany. In: http://www.equalpay.wiki/Historie_des_Equal_Pay_Day . Wiki Equal Pay Day, accessed November 22, 2019 .
  28. ↑ About the Equal Pay Day (accessed on August 16, 2016)
  29. ↑ About EPD. In: www.equalpayday.de. Retrieved August 16, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Equal pay for women: Equal pay initiative is offset by 22 days. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved November 11, 2017 .
  31. ↑ Page of the campaign alliance for Equal Pay Day (accessed on July 17, 2015)
  32. ↑ Homepage of the National Equal Pay Day Alliance and the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, BMFSFJ, Report 2010, p. 22
  33. ↑ Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ): Department report 2010, reduction of the earnings gap between men and women. P. 3
  34. ↑ Homepage Equal Pay Day (accessed on August 16, 2016)
  35. ↑ Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ): Dossier Pay Inequality Between Women and Men in Germany. 2009, p. 52
  36. ↑ Homepage of the European Commission (accessed on September 8, 2010)
  37. ^ Homepage of the Fawcett Society ( Memento of the original from December 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on September 8, 2010) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fawcettsociety.org.uk
  38. ^ Homepage of the Equal Pay Day initiative in Austria (accessed on September 14, 2010)
  39. ^ BPW Austria: The calculation of the equal pay day. Retrieved August 16, 2016 .
  40. ^ Homepage of the Equal Pay Day initiative in Switzerland (accessed on January 18, 2013)
  41. ^ Equal Pay Day Switzerland. In: www.equalpayday.ch. Retrieved August 16, 2016 .
  42. ↑ Thomas Moser: Ten Years Gender Pay Gap Mistake - A mistake turns ten years old. Retrieved March 18, 2017 .