3 November is European Equal Pay Day, representing the day in the year when women across Europe stop being paid due to the gender pay gap; with the average hourly wage for women in Europe being 16.7 % lower than it is for men, they in effect work 16% of the year for free.

"If the average European man stops work today, he still gets paid as much this year as the average European woman who keeps working until 31 December...

...The glass-ceiling still exists: although more women have a university degree than men, less than 5% of company leaders in the EU are women. This is a waste of female talent. In general, women often work in lower paid sectors, and in addition, men are less likely to interrupt their careers and to take care of their children or of dependent relatives. As a result, it is most of the time women who spend less time in paid work and have a harder time to combine work and family.

These inequalities are reflected in the hourly pay for women. It is still 16.7 % lower than that of their male colleagues. At the current pace the gender pay gap is declining so slowly that it will be 2086 before women are paid as much as men," First Vice-President Timmermans, Commissioner Thyssen and Commissioner Jourová said

Read full statement.