Germany's family minister urges gender pay gap closure
March 18, 2019
To highlight Germany's "Equal Pay Day," Franziska Giffey has called for action to eliminate the gender pay gap. Women in Germany are paid 21 percent less compared to men in terms of average gross hourly earnings.
Image: picture-alliance/Empics/P. Toscano
Advertisement
Germany's minister for family affairs on Monday called for action to close the pay gap between men and women. Franziska Giffey told a rally celebrating "Equal Pay Day" at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate that greater transparency is needed to achieve equality between the two genders.
Since 2018, a law has given employees at companies with a staff of more than 200 people the right to information on pay scales under certain conditions. Giffey said this right should be extended.
Germany failed to close its gender pay gap last year, even marginally, federal statisticians revealed earlier this month that gross pay for women was on average 21 per cent less than men. In other words the average woman in Germany earns 21 percent less than the average man, without taking into account what work they do.
Much of the difference has been attributed to heavier family obligations on women. The statistics office also said women tended to choose professions that were poorly paid and frequently worked part time.
The pay discrepancy narrowed to around 6 percent when comparing men and women with comparable experience and qualifications, according to the most recent available figures, from 2014. German law insists on identical base payment for identical work, although even there, it's usually possible to augment a salary with other bonuses based on factors like time served with a company.
Equal Pay Day is celebrated in a string of countries but held on different days. In Germany, it falls on the 77th day of 2019, marking the number of additional days women need to work before they earn the average annual salary of their male colleagues.
To mark the day, Berlin's public transport company, the BVG, reduced the cost of its day travel ticket by about 21 per cent, charging €5.50 ($6.20) instead of the usual €7.00.
Germany's justice minister, Katarina Barley, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper that the discrimination against women in Germany would not be tolerated.
8 pioneers in women's rights
They paved the way for equal rights in Germany, were visionaries in male-dominated fields and leading feminists: Here are eight pioneers from German-speaking countries you need to know.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Anita Augspurg (1857 - 1943)
A feminist with an unconventional lifestyle, Anita Augspurg was determined to study law — even though women were not allowed to in Germany. She studied in Zurich and became the first doctor of law of the German Empire in 1897. However, it took 25 more years for women to be licensed to practice law in the country. The feminist movement activist left Germany when the Nazis took power in 1933.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Hedwig Dohm (1831 - 1919)
While it was widely believed at the time that gender roles were determined by biological factors, Hedwig Dohm was one of the first feminist thinkers to maintain that it was culture, socialization and education that imposed the patterns. She campaigned to allow equal access to education for boys and girls and was convinced that women's employment was the path to independence and a free life.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Louise Dittmar (1807 - 1884)
While the constitution proclaimed by the National Assembly in Frankfurt in 1848 was based on democratic principles, it was an all-male domain. Women had no right of assembly, no suffrage and no right to work at the time. "Freedom for all is currently a widely discussed topic, yet the word 'all' seems to refer to men only," wrote women's rights activist and journalist Louise Dittmar in response.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Agnes Schultheiss (1873 - 1959)
Active in the city of Ulm (picture), Agnes Schultheiss was committed to social and political causes. In 1908, she founded the Good Shepherd association, which took care of young girls who were expelled from their families for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. "Act politically by educating through the press, by influencing men and above all by participating in the election!" was her rallying cry.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Marie Munk (1885 - 1978)
In 1930, the pioneering reformist Marie Munk became Germany's first judge. "The more I study and practice law, the more I realize I feel my passion for freedom," she once said. She, however, did not get to keep her position for very long. She was dismissed in 1933 because of her Jewish roots. She fled to the US in 1936.
Image: Landesarchiv Berlin/Helene Lange Archiv
Elisabeth Selbert (1896 - 1986)
Like most young girls at the time, she learned to embroider, knit and sew. No one could have predicted the political role she would late play. After she got married in 1920, she joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In 1948 she was elected to the Parliamentary Council, the body in charge of drafting the Basic Law. The council included 61 men and 4 women, among them Elisabeth Selbert.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Bildarchiv
Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000)
"Any girl can look glamorous, she only has to stand still and look stupid," actor Hedy Lamarr once said. The Hollywood star, however, had way more to offer. At the beginning of World War II, the tech genius developed a radio guidance system that was later incorporated into Bluetooth technology.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
Mileva Marić-Einstein (1875 - 1948)
Mileva Marić, who was born in Serbia, was the second woman to finish a full program of study at the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Zurich's Polytechnic. No one knows how much she may have contributed to the first theory of relativity, but she was definitely Albert Einstein's most important intellectual partner at that time, and they founded a family together.
