Germany's big pay gap: Why is the booming economy leaving women behind?

The lower pay, along with more part-time work for women, mean they earn about 50 percent less over their working lives than male peers

Germany has flourished under Chancellor Angela Merkel over the last 12 years, with record-low unemployment and robust economic growth. But that success hasn’t translated into better pay for women in the country, where one of the worst gender pay gaps in Europe looks unlikely to get better soon.

Despite having a woman running the government, a new law aimed at highlighting the issue lacks the teeth to boost women’s standing in the corporate sector. The so-called Wage Transparency Act, which took full force in January, puts the onus on individual employees to step forward and request information on wage discrepancies,