The gender pay gap in Switzerland is still among the biggest in Europe. In 2020, women earned on average 18.4% less than men for equivalent work, according to new figures.
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Diferença salarial entre sexos na Suíça é uma das maiores da Europa
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reportedExternal link on Tuesday that Switzerland had a similar gender pay gap to Germany and Austria (18.3% and 18.9%, respectively).
In Europe, the earnings gap between men and women is highest in Estonia (21%) and Latvia (22.3%). The European Union average currently stands at 13%.
In the Netherlands, where female participation in the workforce is comparable to Switzerland, men earn on average 14.2% more than women, FSO said.
In Switzerland, 75.4% of women aged 15 to 64 have a job, the statistics office revealed. This is one of the highest rates in Europe after Iceland and the Netherlands. The EU average is 63.4%.
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Swiss progress on gender equality but problems remain, say experts
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Independent UN experts said on Friday that Switzerland has made advances on gender equality in recent years, but concerns remain.
But this is explained by the high percentage of women employed part-time in Switzerland (60.9% in 2021). The EU average is 28.8%.
The FSO figures also examined female participation in national parliaments in Europe. This ranges from 47.6% in Iceland to 14.1% in Hungary; the EU average is 31.3%. In Switzerland, 42% of the parliamentarians in the House of Representatives are women. Higher rates are observed in Belgium, Spain, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, the statistics office said.
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Gender equality in workplace may take ‘three generations’
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Women may have to wait more than 50 years to get equal access to top management posts, according to a Swiss university report.
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Swiss progress on gender equality but problems remain, say experts
This content was published on
Independent UN experts said on Friday that Switzerland has made advances on gender equality in recent years, but concerns remain.
This content was published on
On average, women were paid 19% less than male counterparts in the same job in 2018 compared to an 18.1% discrepancy in 2014. The latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) cover a period of intense public and political debate about the issue, which culminated in a new law in December 2018. Companies with…
Gender equality in workplace may take ‘three generations’
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Women may have to wait more than 50 years to get equal access to top management posts, according to a Swiss university report.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.