Few women who earn the most: "Take the pay gap and take care to leave"

The proportion of women among the highest-paying employees in large firms and organizations (500 or more employees) has increased, but not much.

In 2010, the top of the payroll was still made up of 15% of women, 2017 was only 20 percent appears new statistics from the statistics office. In these companies and organizations, as many men as women worked, as in 2010.

Increase "too optimistic"

A steady and substantial increase in the number of women who earn the most, according to Statistics Netherlands. But it's a bit optimistic, says Suzan Steeman, a labor market expert with the Women's Network, against RTL Z. "It's an increase of less than 1% a year."

In addition, 20% are also below the target of the Dutch government in terms of women in positions of responsibility. And this despite all the efforts and campaigns to get women to the top and to ensure equal pay. Work at the store.

Wage gap 15.5%

As for women at the top, they can and should be better, says Steeman, both in terms of numbers and wages. Women still earn 15.5% less than men, calculating Women

. This wage gap is calculated by taking the average gross hourly earnings of all men who work and the average gross hourly wage of all women working in the Netherlands. 19659009] Who are the best paid?

The Netherlands had 6,600 highest paid employees in 2017. In addition, Statistics Netherlands examined 0.2% of paid jobs in private and public organizations on the basis of annual salary. Women who receive such a salary work primarily in the areas of care, services or education.

In 2017, 64% of the highest-paid people were aged 50 and over. The situation is different for women: among the highest-paid people aged 30 to 40, 26.3% were women. Among those aged 40 to 50, 25.7% were women and 17.2% were over 50 years old.

Part-time work at the top?

The unequal position of men and women in the labor market is related to: women working part-time more often than men and more unpaid care, says Steeman.

Part-time work and reaching the top do not seem to go well either. But in the recently released report (pdf) of the McKinsey consulting firm, titled "Tackling the Potential: Enhancing Gender Equality in the Dutch Labor Market," says that no relationship cause-and-effect has been demonstrated between part-time work and access to positions of responsibility.

& # 39; Unintentional discrimination & # 39;

And as far as wages are concerned, women simply can not negotiate better? "Women ask about as many times as men ask for a pay raise, but they receive it less often," Steeman said. "It's 25% more likely that a man will receive a pay raise than a woman."

This may be related to discrimination, she says. "It is likely that this discrimination usually occurs unintentionally and results in unconscious images and prejudices."

Making Public Wages

What would help, is greater transparency of wages, as it already exists in Iceland, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Steeman. "There is a legal obligation for companies to publish information on the remuneration of their employees and, for example, to perform an analysis of their remuneration for men and women."

Mijntje Lückerath is Professor of Corporate Governance at the University of Tilburg and annually compiles the Female Board Index. According to her, companies themselves must do their best to get women to the top.

Previously, she told RTL Z: "Because despite all the good intentions and measures, we simply do not see any results."