Equal Pay Day on All Souls' Day: How Austria's Federal States Perform

The Equal Pay Day falls this year on All Souls' Day. On November 2, men have on average already reached the annual salary of women - one day later than the previous year. The wage gap is 16.3 percent; men have an average annual income of 63,451 euros gross, while that of women is 53,128 euros gross. Two Equal Pay Days draw attention every year to the still existing gender pay gap, the first took place in February.

Equal Pay Day Has Shifted by Three Weeks

The Equal Pay Day in autumn is calculated annually by the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria based on the average annual gross salaries of full-time employees throughout the year, using the - currently most recent - income tax statistics from 2023. According to this, women work "paid" for 305 days and "free" for 60 days when comparing their salary with that of men. In the last ten years, the Equal Pay Day has shifted by about three weeks - in 2015 it fell on October 11, with women working 82 days "free".

Federal States and State Capitals in the Ranking

The Equal Pay Days of the individual federal states vary widely. While Vienna is once again a pioneer with November 22 and a wage gap of 11 percent, Vorarlberg is at the bottom with October 10 and a gap of 22.7 percent. In between are Burgenland (November 6), Lower Austria (November 1), Carinthia (October 31), Styria (October 27), Salzburg and Tyrol (October 25), and Upper Austria (October 19).

The Association of Cities has also looked at the state capitals. These generally perform better than the federal state they are in - exceptions are Bregenz as the last with October 7 and Eisenstadt with October 30. Innsbruck is at the top with November 23.

Unpaid Care Work Remains a Point of Contention

Reasons for the income gap include factors such as the unequal distribution of paid work and unpaid work - such as child-rearing - between women and men. Before the Equal Pay Day, for example, the Secretary General of the Association of Cities, Thomas Weninger, called for sufficient childcare facilities and fairness in partnerships.

The next step towards more income equality, according to the chairwoman of the Women's Committee of the Association of Cities and Vienna's Deputy Mayor Kathrin Gaál (SPÖ), is wage transparency. A corresponding EU directive must be implemented next year. The Association of Cities, along with the Trade Union Federation and women's and girls' counseling centers, will also participate in a press conference of the Chamber of Labor on Thursday, which will also advocate for wage transparency.

(APA/Red)

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