European wage gap 15 between genders

BRUSSELS, June 9 (UPI) -- More women than men are joining the workforce in Europe but the wage gap between women and men persists, an EU Commission study showed.

Germany has among the largest wage gap with women earning 22 percent less than male counterparts, Deutsche Welle reported Monday. That gives Germany the fourth widest gap in Europe with Estonia, Cyprus and Slovakia showing larger discrepancies, the report said.

In the European Union, the pay differential between men and women averaged 15 percent, the report said.

The study showed that 7.5 million more women joined the workforce in Europe between 2000 and 2006 but about one-third of third works only part time. In the same period, 4.5 million men joined the workforce with one out of 12 working only part time.

In a recent newspaper interview, EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Vladimir Spidla called for "employers to really apply the principle of equal pay for equal work," Deutsche Welle reported.