Still Unequal: Czech Women Work 65 Days More to Earn the Same as Men

At first glance, it sounds like progress paused. This year’s Equal Pay Day in the Czech Republic fell on March 25, marking the 65th day into the year — a symbolic reminder of how much longer women must work to earn what men made in 2024 alone.

That figure translates into an 18% gender pay gap, one of the widest in the European Union.

The issue took center stage last month at the Equal Pay Day 2025 Conference in Prague, hosted by Business & Professional Women CR (BPWCR), an organization that has long been at the forefront of gender equality advocacy.

The event gathered corporate leaders, policymakers, and researchers to confront a familiar but stubborn reality: Czech women continue to earn less — even when qualifications and roles are the same.

The next event will be on  26. and 27. March, 2026. Here is the link to buy tickets.

A Reversal in Progress

The pay gap had narrowed in previous years, dipping to 15% in 2021, thanks in part to government interventions like minimum wage hikes and targeted raises in female-dominated fields such as education and healthcare. But those improvements, experts warn, were short-lived — temporary fixes rather than structural reforms.

“We need sustainable, long-term measures. What we’re seeing now is a regression, not stagnation,” said Lenka Šťastná, president of BPWCR.

The disparities are particularly stark in leadership, academia, and technical fields. Despite women surpassing men in university graduation rates, the pay gulf only widens at the top end of the professional ladder.

Motherhood and the Career Gap

The wage gap peaks between the ages of 35 and 44, when many women return to work after maternity leave. That’s where the financial penalties for parenthood become especially clear — fewer promotions, limited access to part-time roles, and a childcare system still playing catch-up.

Even though Czech law allows for shared parental leave, cultural norms often keep fathers at work and mothers at home. Flexible roles remain rare, and remote work policies are only slowly being adopted.

Some recent steps have tried to address this. The government has expanded support for “neighbourhood childcare groups”, a more flexible alternative to traditional kindergartens. Updates to the Labour Code have pushed employers to offer hybrid work models, and since 2022, companies providing part-time jobs have been rewarded with insurance discounts.

Tools for Change, But Are They Used?

The Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is also promoting equity through its “Rovná Odměna” (Equal Pay) project. The program offers tools like the Fair Pay Calculator, allowing companies to evaluate compensation gaps by job role and employee characteristics. The initiative was also a formal partner of this year’s Equal Pay Day conference.

But tools alone won’t fix the problem.

“Data doesn’t change things unless leadership is willing to act on it,” said one HR director attending the conference, who asked not to be named.

Several large employers — including Philip Morris, Allianz, LEGO, Mars, and Danone — participated in the two-day event, sharing strategies around transparent pay structures, inclusive leadership, and equitable hiring practices. Their message was consistent: fairness is no longer just a moral imperative — it’s also a business one.

The Czech branch of BPW International, active in more than 100 countries, has also helped companies align with global standards such as the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). In recent years, firms like GasNet, HOPI Holding, and Allianz have publicly signed on.

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