New laws could force EU countries to provide equal pay for equal work
The European Commission has been asked to introduce new laws which would force EU countries to provide equal pay for equal work.
According to Eurostat figures the gender pay gap in the EU averages around 16.5% while the pension gap is as high as 38.5%.
Fine Gael MEP Deirdre Clune has said more girls must be encouraged to take up maths and science subjects in school to help breach the pay gap between men and women.
“We need to move away from the gender stereotyping,” Ms Clune said.
“We have the typical employment areas where we expect women and young girls to go into, we need to move away from that, we need to encourage them to take up maths and sciences and to go into those type of careers.
“The figures actually show it is worse in recent years that girls actually aren’t going into the ICT area that is why we need more females and companies need females in their workforce as well so it’s an open door really for these young girls.”
