The study, which analysed differences between men and women in the workplace between 2001-2006, found that Italian women with exactly the same qualifications and experience in all sectors (public and private sector, unskilled and professional) were earning significantly less than their male colleagues. This was found to be true in northern, central and southern Italy. And the higher the professional level, the wider the income gap, the study revealed – woman managers earn up to €12,000 less a year than their male counterparts. This is because employers believe that sooner or later their female employees will have children or will have to take care of their elderly parents and therefore will be less productive in the workplace, according to the ministry of employment.