Gender wage gap: Women earned 13% less than men last year

While the gender wage gap in the Netherlands has been shrinking for years and decreased further last year, it is still not closed. The average hourly wage for women was 13 percent lower than for men last year, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Friday.

Last year, women earned an average of 22.84 euros per hour. Men earned 25.84 euros per hour on average. The difference can partly but not completely be explained by individual differences like education level or age, the stats office said.

The wage gap is most apparent in the 15 percent of workers that earn over 32 euros per hour. Men are very overrepresented here, making up two-thirds of this group. Twenty percent of male workers have a high-paying job, compared to 10 percent of female workers. The differences between men and women in lower-paying jobs were small to non-existent. 

When looking at annual wages, including bonuses, the gender gap is much more significant. Women earned an average of 36 percent less than men last year. According to the stats office, this can largely be explained by women working fewer hours than men. Men in an employee job worked an average of 33 hours per week last year, women 25 hours. 

The gender wage gap in the Netherlands is decreasing, but slowly. Ten years ago, men still earned 18 percent more than women per hour.