Globally, women earn 9-24% less than men on average because they more frequently find employment in lower salary sectors, Croatia's MojPosao job-seeking portal has said in a comment on the Paypal findings.
In central and east Europe, Estonia has the biggest gender pay gap (24%), followed by Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland (23% each) The gap is smallest in Slovenia (7%), followed by Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (9% each).
When it comes to the same job, women are paid 2-11% less than men. In Croatia, women are paid 5% less on average. The biggest gaps were recorded in Estonia (10%) and Lithuania (11%).
The gaps are biggest at managerial level. In Croatia, women managers are paid 17% less than men (HRK 11,600 as against HRK 14,000 a month).
Surveys show that men and women have equal opportunities when they finish school. However, men are more likely to take a more resolute approach to salary negotiations. Paylab and MojaPlaca surveys show than men have 14% higher pay expectations than women.
The gender pay gap is biggest between the ages of 35 and 44 due to maternity leave during which women put their careers on hold, while men make progress. Women hardly or never make up for this gap when they return to work.
In Croatia, the gender pay gap is biggest between the ages of 45 and 54, when it is 13% in men's favour. The gap is smallest at the start of a career, at age 34, when women have a 10% lower pay than men on average.