In 2012 a Belgian woman earned on average 9% less per hour than a man, which represents a 1% decrease in the gender wage gap compared to 2011, said IEFH (Institute for Sexual Equality) in its 2015 annual report. There was an hourly wage gap of 10% in 2011 and 2010, of 11% in 2009 and 2008, and of 12% in 2007. The wage gap for annual salaries, however, remained stable at 22% in 2012. Part-time work is the explanation given by the Institute for the difference between these two trends for the same year (2012).
There are many more women in part-time work than men. “Working part-time is not just a question of personal preference,” said IEHF director, Michel Pasteel. “22% of women working part-time and 26% of men working part time state they cannot find full-time work.”
One in four women working full time earn a gross monthly salary of less than 2,250 euros, compared to only one in six men. The percentage of women who earn more than 5,000 euros gross a month is on the rise and hit 7.5% in 2012. “Yet men continue to make up the larger part of the highest wage category,” points out IEHF.
Although nationality seems to have a “limited” impact on the employment rate of men, it is more pronounced when one looks at the employment rate of women, the report highlights. Women of non-European nationality therefore have a 50% smaller likelihood of getting a job than men.
These figures are from the 2012 survey data which were provided by the Ministry of the Economy's statistics bureau and the Federal Planning Bureau.
(Source: Belga)
