Gender pay gap vs pension gap: Why is inequality worse in retirement?

The gender pay gap is evident. In the EU, women earn 11.1% less than men. The gap worsens in retirement. The gender pension gap is significantly higher than the gender pay gap. On average, women pensioners in the EU receive 24.5% less than men, more than twice the pay gap.

But why is the pension gap so much larger? How does the gender pay gap compare with the gender pension gap across Europe? And in which countries is the gender pension gap the worst?

According to Eurostat, the gender pay gap ranges from -0.8% in Luxembourg to 18.8% in Estonia among 30 European countries in 2024.

Apart from these two, Belgium (0.7%), Romania (3.7%) and Poland (4%) have the lowest gap whereas Czechia (18.5%), Austria (17.6%) and Hungary (16.9%) have the highest.

The gap is also 15.6% in Germany, 13.3% in the UK, 11.8% in France, 7.3% in Spain and 5.3% in Italy.