There is a considerable gap between average earnings of Irish female workers and male workers according to new research by the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI).
This gap is much larger in the private sector where women workers are among the lowest paid workers. The accommodation, food and hospitality sectors are top of the list for low pay. Well over 85% of women workers in the Accommodation and Food sector earn less than €20,000 a year (as 82% earn less than €400 per week)
For the economy as a whole, 35.3% of all employees earned less than €400 per week in 2014. The corresponding figure for women was 42.3%.
In Financial, Insurance and Real Estate, the proportion of women earning less than this amount was 17.1% while in Public Administration and Defence, Compulsory Social Security it was 12.1%. The CSO report that, on average, women earn much less in the private sector than women earn in the public sector.
In the public sector (as defined by the CSO), median earnings of women were €766.21 per week compared to €386.50 in the private sector). The gap between men and women in the public sector is smaller.
Source: www.businessworld.ie
