From today, women in Ireland are effectively working for free due to the current gender pay gap of 14.4%.
There are multiple, complex factors that contribute to the gender pay gap including the fact that fewer women in senior or higher-earning roles, and more women are working part-time.
Ireland has made progress on gender equality in recent years, but the country still have a long way to go.
The latest Index from the European Institute for Gender Equality gives Ireland a score of 72.2 out of 100. It shows gender inequalities in Ireland are most pronounced in the domain of power, where it scores only 55.8 points.
Now in its fifth year, the WorkEqual campaign is running a series of online events and awareness-raising activities focused on gender equality in the workplace during the month of November.
The campaign will hold online panel discussions on gender stereotyping, flexible working, caring duties and women in leadership this month,.
It is also marking Equal Pay Day today with the release of a video featuring over 20 Oireachtas members and the Lord Mayor of Dublin speaking about gender equality.
Participants include representatives from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and Solidarity-People Before Profit.
Sonya Lennon, founder of the WorkEqual campaign, said the need for effective and affordable public childcare is highlighted starkly in the Index from the European Institute for Gender Equality.
The index shows that the gender gap is much wider between women and men in couples with children than in couples without children.
"The full-time equivalent employment rate for women is only 45%, compared to 61% for men. And the working life of women in Ireland lasts, on average, 34 years – compared with 40 years for men," Ms Lennon said.
"All of this means women are not yet on an equal footing - economically, socially or politically - with men. This needs to change," she added.
Sonya Lennon said that while the pay gap is a somewhat blunt tool and it must be remembered that it is a symptom of deeper issues, it is effective in proving that, across the workforce, women persistently earn less than men.
"Equal Pay Day – and the WorkEqual campaign overall – is about highlighting and challenging the reasons for this," she added.
