Equal pay for equal work between men and women is a fundamental principle of human and social rights. Yet evidence suggests that women in Europe still earn less than men for doing similar or even exactly the same work. 

For example, the difference between male and female hourly earnings as a share of male earnings in the European Union was 15 percent in 2018, compared with 15.6 percent in the previous year. Although the figure in the most recent year is the lowest, it is still only 2.1 percent lower than in 2010, when the gender pay gap in the EU was 17.1 percent. Gender equality will never be a reality until this injustice is eliminated.