'Women paid €25,000 less than men in banking sector'

Overall, men earn an average of €74,000, women €49,000. Female workers dominate the lower pay scales, while the gap shifts decisively in men's favour once pay tops €60,000 (stock photo)

Shawn Pogatchnik

Women employed at banks and other financial firms are paid €25,000 less than their male colleagues.

That's a core finding from a CSO study of 2018 trends in banking and financial services. It shows that while men and women are almost equally employed across the sector, the amount they earn is not.

Overall, men earn an average of €74,000, women €49,000. Female workers dominate the lower pay scales, while the gap shifts decisively in men's favour once pay tops €60,000.

Nearly 9,000 men in the sector are paid more than €100,000, triple the number of women. Around 900 men top €300,000, while just 200 women make that much.

"This under-representation of women at and near the top drives the pay gap," said Gillian Harford, country executive of the 30pc Club, which lobbies businesses to set gender balance goals.

The CSO found men earn more than female colleagues in every age bracket from their teens up.

The gap widens each decade. Men in their 50s are paid double - €112,000 versus €56,300 for women.

The percentage of women employed at financial firms also has declined over the past decade, falling from 55.1pc of the work force in 2009 to 50.2pc in 2018.

But the gender pay gap is narrowing. In 2011 women were paid 61.2pc of average men's pay. Eight years later, women had reached 66pc.