Dutch women earn 14% less than their male colleagues, according to the latest figures from the European Commission from 2022. Relatively, women from the Netherlands work the last month and a half – starting from November 14th, Dutch Equal Pay Day – for free. Because for every euro a man makes, their female counterpart earns only 86 cents. That means, if you put that hourly difference into a piggybank, at the end of the year men can count themselves almost two months of salary richer. 

Women in other European countries are, generally speaking, very slightly better off. On average, they earn 13% less than men. European Equal Pay Day takes place on November 15th, the day after Dutch Equal Pay Day.

Do you want to know more about Equal Pay Day in The Netherlands and Europe? Watch the video down below with Dutch correspondent Nora van der Schoor about Equal Pay Day, interviewed by Jaani De Koker.

Text continues under the video 

This topic has been on the agenda since Ursula von der Leyen, President of the current European Commission, promised, in her campaign back in 2018, that she would tackle equal pay through binding measures within the first 100 days of her presidency. Four years later, In 2021, von der Leyen finally took some action. However, she did not deliver any binding measures as promised but only a proposal on how to deal with the wage gap. It is a major paradox that, despite it being one of her priorities, the issue keeps getting postponed and the wage gap is yet to be discussed by the college of Commissioners

Report: Nora van der Schoor
Text: Nora van der Schoor
Featured image: © CC: SPÖ Presse und Kommunikation
Thumbnail photo: © ZIJkant
Infographic: © Rafael Stroobants