The UK ranks 25^th out of 30 European countries analysed for gender pay gap – data analysed by home rental company Spotahome ahead of International Women’s Day on 8^th March has ranked the UK 5^th from the bottom in Europe for gender pay equality. Contributor – Melissa Lyras, Brand and Communications Manager at Spotahome.

The gender pay gap is the percentage difference between average hourly earnings for men and women. Spotahome has standardised the latest equality data available to rank each country on a scale of ten for individual equality categories and overall equality*. Here’s how European countries compare for the gender pay gap (GPG)**. The higher the GPG score, the smaller the pay gap:

The best and worst European countries for overall equality (OE) are: The picture looks a little brighter for the UK when overall equality is considered, ranking 13^th overall. However, where the UK ranks highly in 2^nd place for LGBTI friendliness, this is offset by middle-of-the-road rankings for immigrant acceptance (12^th), quality of life (12^th) and political rights and civil liberties (16^th). From April 2018, the UK Government is requiring every company with more than 250 employees publish its gender pay data on its dedicated website, in a measure to dissipate the pay gap.

The best and worst European countries for overall equality (OE) are:

The Nordic countries are accepted as some of the happiest in the world, so it’s no surprise to see them in the top five. Eastern Europe hasn’t fared so well, with Turkey, Russia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine making up the bottom five.