Everemore equal in wages, everemore equal in poverty"

The pay gap in the EU increases

27. maj 2015 ob 11.43 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

The pay gap among workers in the EU has been increasing, especially since the economic crisis. Foto: BoBo

The pay gap among workers in the EU has been increasing, especially since the economic crisis. The difference in wages in Great Britain is already bigger than the average pay gap in the U.S. A great difference in wages is also reported in Latvia and Portugal.

In Slovenia the difference in wages has become more noticeable in recent years. "The problem is that we are evermore equal in wages, evermore equal in poverty," assesses Marko Jaklič, a professor at the Faculty of Economics. "A large part of the population lives on the verge on poverty. If we compare ourselves to Denmark, they’re more or less equal in wealth," said Jaklič. He also highlighted Denmark’s relatively low income inequality, as its citizens are employed. Even those with a lower education level find jobs with good pay without any difficulty.
"Our problem is that our economic system isn’t functioning. We don’t have any competitive companies, we have no adequate dynamics which would lead to quality work places, and that’s why we are where we are," added Jaklič.
The report put together by Eurofond contains an overview of the distribution of income in Europe between the years 2002 and 2011. It takes into account the periods before and after the crisis.