Women in Berlin to receive public transport discount to highlight gender pay gap

The Frauenticket will give women a 21 per cent discount on public transport for one day

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Women in Berlin are to receive a 21 per cent discount on public transport in the city to raise awareness of the gender pay gap in Germany.

The discount, which will be enacted on Monday 18 March, has been organised by Berlin's public transport operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG).

The concession will be implemented on the same day as Equal Pay Day in Germany, an event observed on various dates around the world.

Equal Pay Day signifies how far into the year women must work in order to earn the same amount of money men did by the end of the previous year.

Under the slogan "Mind the Pay Gap", women in Berlin will be able to purchase a Frauenticket on the day, which translates from German to English to mean "woman ticket".

The discounted ticket will provide them with access on Berlin's metro, buses and trams.

The Frauenticket, a day travel pass for the two central zones of the city, will be available for €5.50 (£4.70), down from the usual €7 (£5.98).

It will be available for women to purchase from 0.00am on Monday 18 March until 3pm on Tuesday 19 March.

In the announcement for the ticket, BVG outlines how Germany's gender pay gap - which is 21 per cent - is the largest in Europe.

"This 21 per cent corresponds to about 77 calendar days a year. That means a woman would have to work 442 days to earn as much as a man in 365 days," the public transport operator states.

BVG states that it "publicly advocates" for women to be given the same opportunities as men.

The company also explains its "goal" to break down gender stereotypes that continue to negatively impact professions within the public transport industry.

"It is not our intention that men feel discriminated against by the action," the BVG says in the announcement.

"On the other hand, who apologises to the women who earn on average 21 per cent less?" the company adds.

According to a report published on legal web service Lexology by law firm Seyfarth Shaw, the gender pay gap in the European Union currently averages at around 16 per cent, despite Europe's "long-standing legislation" that requires men and women to receive equal pay for the same work.

Equal Pay Day last took place in the UK on 10 November 2018.