According to a study by the HR management and support services company Partena Professional, women working in white collar jobs in Belgium earn an average of 15% less than their male colleagues. Partena Professional surveyed 100,000 white collar staff for its study, the results of which were released on Friday. The 15% pay gap is between female and male employees with the same skills, working in the same branches of industry. The pay gap widens as their career progresses.
The 15% average pay cap equates to women earning 500 euro/month gross less than man doing the same job.
At the start of their careers women working in white collar jobs earn an average of 7% less than men. However, over the years the pay gap grows to 20% by the end of their careers.
The pay differential between women and men starts to grow the quickest between the ages of 30 and 40 when many couples start a family. As, even in this day and age, it is mainly women that are the primary child carers they are sometimes absent from work for a few years or work part time. Meanwhile, men are able to further their careers with the positive financial implications that this brings with it. The wage gap that occurs as a result of this is never bridged.
On average women that are under 30 earn 180 euro/month gross less than their male colleagues. This is 650 euro/month gross in the case of women over 50.
The average 15% wage gap in 2018 is 2% lower than the 17% wage gap that was recorded in 2010.
Women are also less likely to be given a company car than men. A male employee is twice as likely to be given a company car as a female employee.
