We celebrate Mother's Day with Mia Andersen, Caroline Tromer Dragsdahl, Mette Lundsbjerg Jespersen and all other women who show the world that mothers don't need to be paid 20% less than fathers.
Studies* show that women with children receive lower salaries and fewer promotions and bonuses than men with children.
Even 10 years after maternity leave, mothers are still on the wrong side of the pay gap, and the higher up the career ladder you go, the bigger the gap gets.
A new study* shows that female managers earn 11.7% less than male managers. And no, work experience, maternity leave, sick leave and more can't explain the difference.
Fortunately, there are women and workplaces that are leading the way forward and actively working to erase the inequalities.
Because it's possible to be a great mother, a fantastic employee and a razor-sharp leader at the same time.
And we all know it: Mothers are the best in the world. Also in the workplace.
In the short term, women's labor income decreases by an average of 30% due to maternity leave, but even after 10 years, their labor income is still on average 20% below what it would otherwise have been. For men, on the other hand, labor income is largely unaffected by whether he has children or not.
Source ku.dk
Caroline Tromer Dragsdahl, mother of two and Global Product Owner.
Mette Lundsbjerg Jespersen, mother of two and Vice President.
"... roughly speaking, each child costs the mother ten percentage points of her salary. Men's earnings, on the other hand, are relatively unaffected by whether they have children or not," says Jakob Egholt Søgaard.
In the short term, women's labor income decreases by an average of 30% due to maternity leave, but even after 10 years, their labor income is still on average 20% below what it would otherwise have been. For men, on the other hand, labor income is largely unaffected by whether he has children or not.
Of this, 7.9% cannot be explained by work experience, maternity leave, sick leave, etc.
In a survey of 1,000 Danish managers, 75% of women responded that they feel that men have far better opportunities to get a top management position.
Pay gaps are often explained by the fact that female managers are not good at negotiating salaries. But the reality is far more complex.
"It's a myth that women are worse at negotiating salaries than men. On the other hand, we know from research that when women ask for more in the pay packet, it is more quickly perceived negatively," says Karen Bro from Lederen.
On average, a male manager in a private company earns almost DKK 100,000 more per year than a female colleague for the same job. For ordinary employees, the difference is DKK 50,000 per year.
Unfortunately, there are no signs that the gender pay gap for the same job has narrowed. In 2016, the gender pay gap for employees without managerial responsibilities was 6.6% - the same as in 2023. For managers, the gender pay gap has even grown from 6.6% in 2016 to 8.7% in 2023.
