Equal Pay Day - until today, women in Austria have worked for free
"Because your skills count, not your gender" is the motto of the international women's network BPW - Business and Professional Women - to draw attention to Equal Pay Day in 2025. BPW has been calculating Equal Pay Day (EPD) for Austria since 2009. The figures for EPD 2025 are based on the 2023 income statistics.
The gender pay gap currently stands at 12.18 percent. That is 44 calendar days on which women work without pay, i.e. from January 1st to the present day - or in other words: every eighth year. The current trend means that we will not reach equal pay until 2080 at the earliest.
The lower income not only has a negative impact on the everyday lives of those affected, but also in the long term in the form of currently 30 percent lower pensions on average.
Austria is in second last place in a European comparison! In a comparison of federal states, Vorarlberg is in last place. While the pay gap in Vienna is relatively small at 4.3% (2024: 3.2%), there is a gap of 20% in Vorarlberg (2024: 21.2%). However, while the pay gap has widened in Vienna, it has shrunk slightly in Vorarlberg - albeit at a high level.
"Nothing has changed in the situation of women. There are significantly more women in the lowest-paid sectors. Childcare places are still in short supply. At the same time, the effects of global crises are intensifying, which have a strong impact on the income situation of many people, especially women and single parents," says Rita Volgger, President of BPW Austria.
BPW demands
- Income transparency
- tax concessions for companies that demonstrably pay equal wages for work of equal value
- Revaluation of low-wage sectors
- nationwide expansion of childcare
- higher investment in education and research.
This requires data from companies and measures from politicians! Only this will lead to fair pay that puts women and men on an equal footing.
