Vienna has Austria’s smallest gender pay gap

Vienna has Austria’s smallest gender pay gap, but women working full-time in the city still earn an average of more than 7,000 euros less than men, ORF reports.

On Equal Pay Day, men have already earned as much as women earn in a full year. The pay gap in Vienna is 10.6 percent, compared with 15.5 percent across Austria.

The gap varies widely between Vienna’s districts. It is largest in Innere Stadt at 35.9 percent, followed by Wieden at 20.4 percent and Döbling at 20.3 percent. Brigittenau has the smallest gap at 3.8 percent, followed by Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus at 4.4 percent and Ottakring at 4.9 percent.

Iris Dullnig-Scheurecker of the Vienna Chamber of Labour said inequality often begins in childhood. Studies show that girls are more likely than boys to be expected to do housework, while boys receive more pocket money, she said. The differences continue through working life and into retirement, when women receive lower pensions.

Vienna city councillor for women’s affairs Elke Hanel-Torsch of the SPÖ said the city’s smaller pay gap was due in part to policies such as free kindergarten and all-day schools. But she said she would only be satisfied when pay was truly equal.

Women are more likely to work part-time, to work in lower-paid sectors and to be underrepresented in management roles, Dullnig-Scheurecker said. Childcare also plays a major role. The Chamber of Labour is calling for more early-childhood education facilities and a fairer division of parental leave. Fathers can also take parental leave and part-time parental leave, she said, and should do so more often.

The Chamber of Labour is also urging the government to implement the EU pay transparency directive quickly. It is intended to make salaries and pay differences visible, helping to expose unequal pay. Hanel-Torsch said the directive should have been implemented in June and called for it to be put in place soon.