Women in Croatia are still paid less than their male colleagues. Why?

Even when it comes to the same job, women are paid less than their male colleagues.

8. March 2022.

Despite efforts made in recent years to promote greater gender equality in the domestic labor market, women in Croatia are still underpaid compared to men.

This was confirmed by a survey conducted by the service on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day. My salary, comparing the monthly earnings of men and women in different occupations. Somewhat surprisingly, the largest differences in monthly earnings are found among those with the highest level of education.

Salaries are still on the side of men

According to research, Women in Croatia have a salary that is as much as 16% lower than men. More specifically, The average salary for men is 7.933 kuna, which is as much as 1,200 kuna more than the monthly income of women (6.651 kuna).

Interesting, the biggest differences In terms of salary, we find it among those with the highest level of education – women with a postgraduate degree or MBA have 21% lower salaries than equally educated men. The smallest differences are present among employees with a secondary education, where female workers are paid 17% less than their male colleagues.

Along with years of work experience, the income gap also grows.

Also, instead of the gap in monthly income is reduced by years of work experience, it is increasing.

Namely, women with less than a year of work experience earn 10% less than equally (in)experienced men. Among those with 3 to 5 years of experience, the salary gap increases to 16%, and the largest disparity (18%) is found among employees with more than six years of experience.

Relatedly, the pay gap is smallest among workers aged 17 to 24, where women are paid an average of 13% less than their male counterparts. The gap increases to 16% among those aged 25 to 34, to 18% in the age group of 35 to 44 years old, while the earnings gap is largest among the workforce older than 45 years old (21%).

The largest gap is found in Međimurje County.

The greatest inequality The gap between men and women's salaries is found in Međimurje (-22%) and Split-Dalmatia County (-20%). On the other hand, this gap is least pronounced in Požega-Slavonia (-1%) and Virovitica-Podravina (-4%) counties.

Foreign-owned private companies make the biggest difference

Among companies, at least when it comes to their size, there is not much difference in how much They underpay their female workers. Thus, the smallest difference in monthly earnings between men and women is in companies with 50 to 249 employees (-14%), while the largest (-16%) is in companies with over 1000 employees.

On the other hand, the wage gap is more visible in private companies than in state-owned companies. More specifically, in domestically owned private companies, women are paid 15% less than men, while in foreign companies they are paid 18% less. In state-owned companies, men earn 8% more, as well as in public and local self-government and associations.

The disparity in income is most present among companies in the Sales (-19%), Finance (-17%), IT and Telecommunications (-17%), Tourism (-17%) and Manufacturing (-17%) sectors.

The most efforts in equalizing wages were made by companies operating in the field of Agriculture (-4%) and Public Administration (-5%).

In the same job, women are paid on average 8% less than men

One of the reasons why women earn less than men, in addition to the fact that they more often put their careers on hold for family reasons, is that women more often work in lower-paid industries such as tourism and hospitality, and sales. If we look at salaries by position, women on average earn 8% less than men in the same job..

Looking by job position, the biggest difference in salaries by gender is present in the following positions: designer (women are paid 38% less on average), tailor (-33%), finance director (-33%), database administrator (-33%) and client relations manager (-30%).

On the other hand, women are on average paid more in the jobs of radio or TV presenters (women are paid 40% more than men), media planners (+39%), IT managers (+35%), occupational safety coordinators (+25%) and business development managers (+20%).

Salaries in other countries - Paylab

The latest analysis by the international website Paylab.com, which is also part of the MojaPlaća service, confirms that women earn less in other countries as well.

In the countries of Central Europe, we can see more significant differences in salaries than in other European countries. This is mainly due to the different orientation of the economy with a more balanced representation of both sexes in the most sought-after positions on the labor market.

Compared to the countries in the heart of the oldest continent, the difference in Croatia is significantly smaller. While women in Croatia earn 16% less than their male colleagues, in Poland the difference is as much as 26%, while in Slovakia and the Czech Republic women earn 24% less than their male colleagues.

Happy Women's Day.