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Women the big earners in Danish public sector
Christian Wenande
February 17th, 2016
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This article is more than 8 years old.
New wage system in 2003 has helped balance the gender books
The battle of the sexes is still very much alive in Denmark, as portrayed by men earning more than women in the private sector. In the public sector, however, the tables have turned.
A new report from the union HK Stat has revealed that its female members working in the public sector earn more than male members. And it’s not a coincidence.
“When we transferred over to a new wage system in 2003, we were extremely focussed on not increasing the wage disparity,” Tina Green. A spokesperson for HK Stat, told Ritzau news service.
“We changed the wage structure so that we had to negotiate wages more locally and define how a local wage system would function.”
READ MORE: Wealth disparity increasing in Denmark
Women on top
As a result, HK Stat told its union representative to be aware than men had been better to negotiate and to arrive at a gender-balanced result during negotiations. That stance seems to have made an impact.
The report showed that every time a male clerk earns 100 kroner, his female colleague takes home 102 kroner. The same development has taken place among IT workers and laboratory workers in the public sector.
HK Privat – the union’s department for its members in the private sector – showed last year that its male members earned 10 percent more than its female members in 2014.
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