Earnings tend to rise steeply through a person's 20s and 30s as he or she gains experience. In Spain and Sweden and especially the UK there is then a tendency for people near the end of their working lives to earn less than those up to 45. France is exceptional. It has a less important role in Sweden and the UK . Overtime remains largely a male preserve.
Men do three times as much as women in the UK and twice as much in the other three countries.
Apart from different living costs, gross earnings are subject to deductions that vary according to national systems of taxation and social security.