BRUSSELS - Kids, job segregation and a "glass ceiling" for promotion keep women earning less than men in the European Union and there are no clear signs of improvement, the European Commission will say on Wednesday.

The EU executive will say in a report that women in the 27-nation bloc earn 15 percent less than men, measured by average gross hourly wages, against 17 percent in 1995, showing little progress on sexual discrimination in the job market.

"There is nothing to indicate that this gap is narrowing in any significant way," a draft of the report, obtained by Reuters, said.

"This is not only contrary to the fundamental principles of the European Union, but it prevents the working potential of women being properly fulfilled and the achievement of the objectives of the European strategy for growth and employment."

Women are paid less even though they are better educated on average, as almost 60 percent of university graduates are female.

A "glass ceiling" prevents women from getting top jobs even if they are qualified and there are fewer of them in the most valued fields of technology, mathematics, engineering and science, the draft said.

On top of that, women tend to find lower-paid jobs mainly in the civil service, education, health or social work, or become clerical workers, sales staff or low-skilled workers.

Finally, mainly women take on family responsibilities.

"Parenthood permanently reduces the employment rate of women but not that of men. As a result, women have careers which are more disjointed, slower and shorter and thus less financially rewarding," the report said.

"It is an unacceptable waste of resources for the economy and society which prevents the productive potential of women from being fully realised," it said.

The pay gap becomes more pronounced for older, well educated and experienced women working for large private corporations.

GERMAN GAP GROWS

The biggest pay differences between men and women were in Cyprus and Estonia, at 25 percent. They were closely followed by Slovakia with a 24 percent gap.

In Germany, Europe's biggest economy, the pay difference has grown -- by 1 percentage point from 1995 to 22 percent.

In Finland, the gap widened to 20 percent from 17 percent in 1996 and in Britain it was also 20 percent, although down from 26 percent 10 years earlier. Malta was the best performer with only a 4 percent difference, down from 11 percent in 2000.

To eliminate the gap, the Commission will push for equal pay to be a criterion for winning public contracts and ask EU states to set objectives and deadlines for erasing the shortfall.

The EU executive also wants to improve statistics on the problem and next year review EU laws to see whether they adequately tackle the causes of such pay differences. It will propose amendments where necessary.

It will also propose steps that would allow men to share work and family responsibilities on an equal footing.