One in 3 women in Ireland officially low paid

Almost one in three female employees is low paid, with those women earning, on average, more than €2 less than the €11.45 figure set as the threshold for low pay.

In its latest Quarterly Economic Observer, the Nevin Economic Research Institute pointed out that the 207,000 women earning less than €11.45 per hour equated to 29.3% of the female workforce. That compared to two out of every ten men in a similar position.

The trade union economic thinktank said, on average, the earnings of those low-paid women represent 55% of their household’s total earnings. Furthermore, 45.6% of low-paid women are the main earners in their households, while 34% provide all of their home’s total earnings.