Towards a Paradigm Shift in the Gender Pay Gap: Impact Assessments, Identification of Stakeholders and Pandemic Emergency

The gender pay gap and the wage difference, although they are phenomena related to the same field and linked to each other, should not be confused. The gender pay gap indicates “the difference in average gross hourly earnings between women and men,” whereas the wage difference considers the different pay awarded to men and women for the same type and hours of work. The right to equal pay for men and women for similar value work is one of the principles contained in the Treaty of Rome. The importance of the issue is confirmed by the Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and the Council to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanism