EU gender pay gap means women work for free from November 3

From November 3, women across the European Union symbolically stop getting paid for their work this year if you compare their average salaries to those of their male counterparts, the European Commission announced on Friday.

The so-called equal pay day serves to highlight the fact that women continue to earn less than men for the same work.

In the EU, women earn an average 16.2 per cent less than men, according to the latest data.

"Women and men are equal. This is one of the EU's founding values," said EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, Employment Commissioner Marianne Thyssen and Vice President Frans Timmermans.

"But women still effectively work for two months unpaid each year, compared to their male colleagues. We cannot accept this situation any longer," they added in a statement.

The commissioners urged EU lawmakers and member states to approve initiatives put forward by the EU's executive aimed at tackling the gender pay gap, for example by improving the rights of working parents.

Survey data released on Friday shows that there are still significant differences between men and women when it comes to taking parental leave.

Across the EU, 36 per cent of men said they did not want to take parental leave or were not thinking of doing so, while 19 per cent of women gave the same answer, according to the Eurobarometer survey.

"One in three Europeans was not able to take any family leave last year, and only four in 10 men took - or intend to take - parental leave. This is not fair or sustainable," the commissioners noted, citing the survey.