Published on
Updated
Reading 1 min.
For equal working hours, female employees in the private sector earned on average 14.9% less than men in 2022, according to an INSEE study published on Tuesday, a few days before International Women’s Rights Day.
Overall, the average salary income of women in the private sector is 23.5% lower than that of men (19,980 euros net annually compared to 26,110 for men). This gap is partly explained by a lower volume of work, with women being employed less often during the year and more part-time.
But for the same working hours, the average salary of women is 14.9% lower than that of men. This gap has narrowed over time, in particular because the share of women managers has increased: in 1995, the rate was 22.1%.
“Salary differences are mainly explained by the gender distribution of professions“, explains INSEE. Women do not occupy the same type of job and do not work in the same sectors as men and have less access to the most remunerative positions.
When the positions are comparable (identical profession within the same establishment), the full-time equivalent salary gap is reduced to 4% (compared to 4.3% in 2021), indicates INSEE.
The study also notes that women are poorly represented among high earners.
In 2022, they occupy 41.8% of jobs in the private sector in full-time equivalent.
This proportion is, however, “significantly higher among low-wage employees“, notes INSEE. It reaches “up to 54.6% for salary levels around 1,340 euros net monthly“, then decreases as salaries increase. Among the 1% of best-paid employees, their share is only 22.8%.
Slide: Freedom. Equality. Femininity.