WOMEN are still paid between a third and fifth less than men for the same work, the European TUC warned today.

The organisation compared wages for jobs with similar skills in Germany and Romania.

In each case it looked at the wages of manufacturing workers of the “same age, working full time with a permanent contract in a middle-sized company for a year,” with case studies provided by affiliate IndustriALL Europe including women working in production of household appliances and men working in car manufacturing.

In Germany women earned €865 (£770) less a month on average — €3,516 compared to €4,381 for men, a 19.7 per cent difference.

In Romania wages were much lower overall, with men averaging €750 a month in total and women €506, a €244 (£217) or 32.5 per cent disparity.

The work was deemed equivalent in terms of skill, physical effort and responsibility, and the results “highlight how deep-seated bias about the value of jobs predominantly done by women continues to be the root cause of low pay for millions of workers,” it said.

This is “the root cause of low pay for millions of workers, including the cleaners and carers on the Covid front line,” it said.

IndustriALL Europe deputy general secretary Judith Kirton-Darling said the pay gap was “unacceptable.

“Many production workers across Europe have continued to work through lockdowns as their work was defined as ‘essential work.’ We owe it to both men and women workers that the full value of their work is recognised,” she said.

ETUC deputy general secretary Esther Lynch said: “The Covid crisis has also exposed the deep-rooted bias behind wages for professions dominated by women, with carers and cleaners recognised as ‘essential’ despite being amongst the lowest paid.”