WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2042/96 by Freddy BLAK to the Commission. Pay statistics
Date: 1996-07-19
Institutions: BLAK, European Parliament
Subjects: EU publication, Eurostat, action programme, equal pay, equal treatment, female work, source of information, statistics













EUR-Lex - 91996E2042 - EN






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91996E2042

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2042/96 by Freddy BLAK to the Commission. Pay statistics  


Official Journal C 365 , 04/12/1996 P. 0072 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-2042/96 by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission (19 July 1996)Subject: Pay statisticsDoes the Commission have statistics to enable accurate comparisons to be made between men's and women's pay in the Member States?Disparities between men's and women's pay in the Union can only be eliminated if the exact figures are known. Compiling detailed statistics on pay should therefore be a top priority.Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (2 October 1996)As confirmed by the Essen, Madrid and Cannes European Councils, the question of equal opportunities for women and men constitutes, along with the fight against unemployment, a priority issue for the European Union. Accordingly, the Statistical Office of the European Communities brought out, in 1995, a publication giving a statistical analysis of the situation of women living in the European Union.This publication shows in figures how women live and work, and how their situation compares with that of men. It highlights the main areas where inequalities continue to exist between women and men. One of the sections looks at the situation of women in working life and includes data on pay differentials between women and men. It should, however, be noted that the available statistics show average earnings and are therefore not suited to giving precise information on the relationship between pay and the individual characteristics of employees (e.g. sex, age, occupation, education, length of service and economic activity performed). Only a few Member States have the necessary statistics for analysing in greater depth women's and men's pay and the differences between them. In any case, such figures reflect the national situations and must not be compared, since they are not harmonised on a European scale.Faced with this lack of information at European level, the Commission organised, in 1995, a survey on the structure and distribution of earnings, whereby it will be possible in the future to analyse precisely, among other things, pay differentials between men and women. This survey, covering more than 2 million employees, concerns the reference year 1995 and is at present being carried out in all the Member States (plus Norway and Iceland).A further source of statistics, the European Community Household Panel, which is designed to monitor, from 1994 onwards, a sample of households at European level, contains questions on earnings. Subject to certain conditions, it makes for an overall approach to analysis of earnings; the results of the first wave (1994) are already available.It should also be noted that provision is made, in the fourth medium-term Community action programme on equal opportunities for women and men (1996-2000), for reinforcing the statistical machinery in the field of equal pay.