Lisbon, Dec. 2, 2025 (Lusa) - Women in the European Union need to work one year and three months to earn the same as men earn in a year, the European Institute for Gender Equality reported on Tuesday in its latest report.
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) publishes the Gender Equality Index annually, and the 2025 report notes that "despite progress across Europe, full gender equality is still at least 50 years away".
According to the EIGE, most member states have seen setbacks in gender equality in health and education and reveals that "women across the EU earn only 77% of what men earn annually".
"This means that they have to work, on average, 15 months and 18 days to take home the same as men in a year," says the agency, calling this a "shocking gender pay gap".
The Index data gives the European Union an overall score of 63.4 points out of 100, but points out that progress is uneven, ranging from the lowest score of 47.6 points for Cyprus to the highest for Sweden, with 73.7 points. Portugal achieves the same overall score as the EU average.
"Although this represents an increase of 10.5 points since 2010, at the current and renewed pace, it means that we are still half a century away from achieving full gender equality," stresses the EIGE, underlining that this means that "women are working the equivalent of an entire “phantom quarter” for free".
Quoted in the EIGE press release, the institute's director, Carlien Scheele, stresses that this loss of income is unfair and is "an obstacle to equality and competitiveness across Europe".
She points out that these three months are time that women do not spend with their families, studying, training or resting, and that "this is compounded in pensions and lifetime earnings".
The Gender Equality Index tracks countries' progress in six areas: work, money, knowledge, time, power and health, giving ratings on a scale of 0 to 100, as well as monitoring violence against women and intersectional inequalities.
In terms of work, the Index reveals that female employment is growing, but few women reach management positions or higher salaries, and that motherhood restricts career prospects, unlike men.
On the issue of money, the main finding is that women earn 77% of men's annual income, which represents an increase from 69% in 2015, and that women living as a couple earn, on average, 30% less than their partners.
In terms of time, the EIGE says that women continue to take on most of the unpaid care and domestic tasks, limiting their involvement in leisure and public life.
On the other hand, in terms of Knowledge, it notes that "young women outperform men in higher education, but are steered towards care professions such as education, health or social services, which are typically undervalued".
The Power measure "has been the main driver of progress in the Index since 2020", but "remains the domain with the lowest score (40.5) due to persistent inequalities".
Health is the area with the highest score (86.2), but the EIGE points out that "progress has stalled and inequalities persist in terms of health behaviour and the quantity of years of healthy life, especially for women with low levels of education".
"The Index also finds that violence against women remains widespread and underreported, with data pointing to an alarming 31% of women experiencing physical and/or sexual violence in their adult lives — with greater exposure among women under 45 years old," the report reads.
The director of EIGE acknowledges progress, "but very slowly," and pointed to the lack of women in top, better-paid positions or in management roles, advocating for "care systems that do not just free up women's time, but share the burden equally with their partners."
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