Unadjusted gender pay gap rises marginally

According to figures published by the Central Statistics Office in August 2011, the unadjusted gender pay gap in Ireland was 12.8% in October 2009 compared with 12.4% in October 2008. The National Employment Survey 2008 and 2009 found that, in October 2009, men were more significantly represented in higher earnings brackets than women and a far higher proportion of female employees worked part-time than male employees. The latter partly explains the gender pay gap.

In August 2011, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the results of the National Employment Survey (NES) for 2008 and 2009 (790Kb PDF). The NES is a sample survey of employers and employees with a particular focus on earnings data.

Key findings

Gender pay gap

Between March 2006 and October 2009, the lowest unadjusted gender pay gap was recorded in October 2007 when it was 10.7%. The unadjusted gender pay gap is estimated as the difference between male and female average (mean) hourly earnings as a percentage of male average hourly earnings (CSO, 2011, p. 7). This gap widened in each of the subsequent two years, reaching 12.4% in October 2008 and 12.8% in October 2009. Between March 2006 and October 2009, the unadjusted gender pay gap ranged between 10.7% and 13.8%.

When the gender pay gap is measured on a basis comparable with other EU countries, the gap is 15.7%, which is slightly less than the EU average reported by Eurostat of 17.1% in 2009. Estonia had the highest gap (30.9%), followed by the Czech Republic (25.9%), Austria (25.4%) and Germany (23.2%). The lowest gap was in Slovenia (3.2%), followed by Italy (5.5%) and Malta (6.9%).

Earnings distribution

When examining earnings distribution, the NES figures show that in October 2009:

• men were more significantly represented in higher earnings brackets than women;

• 22% of men earned more than €30 per hour compared with 16% of women;

• 12% of women earned less than €10 per hour compared with 8% of men.

Employment status

The NES found that a far higher proportion of female employees work part-time than male employees. In October 2009, female part-time employees made up 18% of the total workforce whereas male part-time employees accounted for just 5% of the workforce.

The largest single group of employees in the workforce were male full-time employees (42% of all employees), followed by female full-time employees (35%). This means that just under a third of female employees worked part-time compared to just under one in 10 male employees.

It was found that ‘the gender pay differences are lower for full-time and part-time employees than for all employees (and indeed female part-time employees had higher mean hourly earnings than males)’ and thus ‘the overall unadjusted gender pay gap is at least partially explained by the heavier representation of part-time employment among female employees than males’ (CSO, 2011, p. 12).

Economic sector

Among full-time employees, the largest gender pay gap in October 2009 was found in the ‘professional, scientific and technical’ sector where female full-time employees earned on average 29.8% less per hour in October 2009 than male full-time employees. The next largest gap (28.6%) was recorded in the ‘financial, insurance and real estate’ sector. The lowest level of difference was recorded in the ‘public administration and defence’ sector where female full-time employees earned 8.2% less than male full-time employees.

The unadjusted gender pay gap for full-time employees in the public sector (9.9%) was lower than in the private sector (17.3%).

Occupation

Male full-time employees in October 2009 earned more than female full-time employees across all occupational groups. The highest gender pay gap for full-time employees in October 2009 was recorded for ‘sales’ where full-time females earned 23.8% less than full-time males. The next largest gap was recorded for ‘managers and administrators’ (23.0%). The gap was lowest at 4.9% among ‘clerical and secretarial’ staff, followed by ‘professionals’ (6.1%).

Educational attainment

For all levels of educational attainment, mean hourly earnings for full-time female workers in October 2009 were lower than those for males. At the highest educational attainment level (that is, third level degree or above), a gap of 16.4% was recorded. The lowest gap was recorded for people with higher second level education (8.1%).

Reference

Central Statistics Office, National Employment Survey 2008 and 2009 (790Kb PDF), Stationery Office, Dublin.

Roisin Farrelly, IRN Publishing