Women of Moldova earn by 16.6 per cent less than men: two extra months of work for the same income

Women’s average gross monthly salary was by 16.6 per cent lower than the one of men in Moldova in 2024, according to data presented by UN Women Moldova at the event titled, Media Brunch: Equal Pay. National and international experts, representatives of trade unions and media institutions gathered at the event, in order to discuss why women earn less than men. The action was moderated by Daniel Voda, expert of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE).

The data shows that, in 2024, women earned on average 12,787.8 lei, while men had an average gross salary of 15,335.8 lei. The difference is 2,548 lei per month.

In practical terms, women received approximately 83.4 per cent of the average income of men, which means they would need almost two additional months of work per year to reach the same level of income.

Pay gaps are more pronounced in certain sectors:

Information and communications – men earn by 39.2% more;

Finance and insurance – the gap is 34 per cent in favor of men;

Health and social assistance – a 25.5-per cent gap.

The economic impact of these discrepancies is significant. According to estimates, reducing the pay gap by one percentage point could increase the gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 0.1 per cent, turning the situation into an economic problem too.

Dominika Stojanoska, UN Women Moldova Representative, stressed that the gender pay gap had persisted for decades and was not an accidental phenomenon.

“We have international conventions on equal pay for work of equal value and recently adopted European directives. The gender pay gap is not a random phenomenon—it is systemic. We have global, regional and national data that clearly prove the existence of this problem,” Stojanoska said.

She noted that, in the context of the EU accession process, Moldova had an additional responsibility to align its legislation and practices with European standards. The parliament has already enacted legislation on pay transparency and strengthened the legal framework, but the process remains complex and requires clear criteria and phased measures, developed also in cooperation with the International Labour Organization.

Lilia Frant, Vice President of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova, drew attention to the lack of clear mechanisms to correct differences in salaries.

“Inequality begins at the very moment of employment, when there is no pay transparency. Many women do not know what pay level they can claim for a certain position. Do we or do we not have real transparency? Do we know exactly what salary a woman receives and what salary a male colleague in the same position receives?” Frant said.

She stressed that, in the absence of clear procedures, women who discover a pay gap do not know whom to turn to and what tools they have at their disposal. At present, trade unions can intervene through additional negotiations, but the lack of gender-disaggregated data makes objective analysis more difficult.

“A clear mechanism is needed, with well-defined criteria for setting wages, so that women are prepared not only professionally, but also for negotiating a fair salary,” the CNSM vice president underlined.

On behalf of the private sector, Ludmila Andronic, Corporate Affairs Director at Efes Moldova, said that internal policies ensured equal pay for equal work at the company she represents.

“Women and men have the same rights to social packages and the same pay entitlements. For equal work, the same length of service and the same position, the salary must be equal. We have an internal audit showing that we are above 95 per cent pay equality,” Andronic said.

She noted that women were encouraged to take on positions traditionally considered “male,” and at top management level two of the director offices are held by women. At the same time, both women and men can benefit from maternity or childcare leave, with their return to the job being guaranteed.

The event’s moderator, associate expert at IPRE Daniel Voda said that the statistics data prompted him to explore the topic more deeply.

“The fact that a woman has to work almost two extra months to reach the same income is a reality that makes you think. The responsibility to reduce these gaps lies with all of us—authorities, civil society and the business community,” Voda said.

Cezara Nanu, Commissioner for Research and Strategy in Gender Equality, recognized for her work in combating global workplace inequalities in the United Kingdom and included in the Queen’s Jubilee Honours List in 2022, delivered an extensive intervention on the systemic challenges underlying the pay gap between women and men.

“The World Economic Forum estimates that, at the current pace, it could take around 216 years to eliminate the global pay gap. We are not talking about a problem that can be solved in a few years,” Nanu stressed.

She compared this reality with the accelerated pace of technological progress: “By 2030, we are told we will have autonomous cars and send people to Mars. While technology advances spectacularly, gender equality remains more than two centuries away.”

The expert called for a deeper analysis of how the modern economy is defined. Referring to the theories of Adam Smith, considered the father of modern economics, Nanu highlighted the fact that unpaid household work—carried out predominantly by women—had historically not been included in definitions of economic growth.

“To this day, when we discuss GDP, unpaid work in the household or caring for children and elderly persons is not counted as an economic contribution,” she explained. “The way we evaluate work in the home also influences how we evaluate women’s work in the economy.”

This perspective, Nanu says, contributes to the undervaluation of essential professions, such as those in education, health or social and legal assistance—fields in which women are the majority and where pay levels are often lower.

According to studies analyzed at Harvard, women’s advancement into leadership positions is closely linked to the fair sharing of domestic responsibilities.

“If household work is not shared 50-50, we will not have a 50-50 distribution in leadership positions either,” Nanu pointed out.

She also referenced a recent London School of Economics study on the rising popularity of the “tradwives” (traditional wives) concept among young women in the US and the UK. The research shows that this trend is driven by the exhaustion felt by women who try to manage professional and domestic responsibilities at the same time.

“You cannot sustain 200%—100% at work and 100% at home. Burnout becomes inevitable,” the expert explained.

Participants concluded that reducing the gender pay gap was not only a matter of social fairness, but also an economic opportunity. Beyond respecting women’s rights, narrowing the gap would contribute to increased productivity, higher household incomes and overall better economic performance for Moldova.