The coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the economy significantly. However, one good outcome points out that the increase in the average wage among women was substantial. Back in 2019, the difference in the average wage of both sexes was 18%. In the year 2020 things changed drastically, the difference between male and female wages decreased to 15.9% according to Deník . However, The reduction in the gap may be related to the payment of bonuses in fields where women currently take a major position.
” Women’s wages increased faster, not only by region, but also by educational groups and the size of companies, ” commented Dalibor Holý from the Czech Statistical Office. “We find the largest increases among nurses, social workers and primary school teachers, which are typical women jobs, ” he added.
In male-dominated occupations, on the other hand, the increases were very small, with the exception of information and communication technologies. In fields where traditionally mainly men work, there were also more redundancies. At the same time, the Czech Statistical Office points out that the narrowing of the financial gap between men and women may be only temporary, as more coronavirus releif bonuses were paid out to women for the positions that were mostly run by women anyway.
According to statistics, the average wage increased by 3.2% to 35,285 CZK in the first quarter of the year. However, this could be due to the dismissal of lower-paid employees. The average wage increased in almost all sectors except two, culture, entertainment, recreation activities, accommodation, and food services.