UK ranks 25th in Europe for gender pay gap

Gender-pay

The United Kingdom (UK) has been ranked 25th out of 30 European countries analysed for gender pay gap, according to research by Spotahome.

Its gender pay gap analysis, which uses data from the Eurostat Gender Pay Gap Statistics across 30 countries, with high scores indicating a small gender pay gap, shows that the UK has a gender pay gap score of 2.85. This compares to Luxembourg and Italy, which topped the list with gender pay gap scores of 10. Also in the top five countries is Romania (9.86), Belgium (9.53) and Poland (8.97).

At the opposite end of the table, Estonia recorded the lowest gender pay gap score of 0, followed by the Czech Republic (2.06), Germany (2.29) and Austria (2.43).

The research additionally ranked European countries in terms of overall equality, measuring countries’ data across six categories including male versus female labour participation, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) friendliness, quality of life, immigrant acceptance, political rights and civil liberties and the gender pay gap. This created a list of 36 countries, in which the UK ranked 13th overall. The UK additionally ranked second for LGBTI friendliness, 12th for immigrant acceptance, 12th for quality of life and 16th for political rights and civil liberties.

In terms of overall quality, Norway topped the list with a score of 8.53 out of 10. Also in the top five of this list is Denmark (8.39), Sweden (8.30), Luxembourg (8.24) and Finland (8.23). In comparison, the five countries with the lowest scores for overall equality include Turkey (1.35), Russia (2.31), Belarus (3.35), Bosnia and Herzegovina (3.36) and Ukraine (3.47).

The top 10 countries for gender pay gap are:

  1. Luxembourg: 10
  2. Italy: 10
  3. Romania: 9.86
  4. Belgium: 9.53
  5. Poland: 8.97
  6. Slovenia: 8.79
  7. Macedonia FYROM: 8.32
  8. Croatia: 7.71
  9. Ireland: 6.07
  10. Sweden: 6.03

The lowest-ranking 10 countries for gender pay gap are:

  1. Estonia: 0
  2. Czech Republic: 2.06
  3. Germany: 2.29
  4. Austria: 2.43
  5. United Kingdom: 2.85
  6. Slovakia: 3.41
  7. Portugal: 4.25
  8. Switzerland: 4.30
  9. Iceland: 4.39
  10. Finland: 4.49

Melissa Lyras, brand and communications manager at Spotahome, said: “Our analysis has shone a light on how far behind the UK is falling [versus] other European countries when it comes to gender pay equality. While it’s heartening to see strides being taken in some European countries to improve and uphold pay equality, it’s evident there is still a lot of work to do. The gender inequality score has hindered the ranking for many of Europe’s largest economies including the UK and Germany and should be a key focus for improvement across the board for governments, corporations and citizens.”