Working women face longer days for lower pay ** Educated women less smart when it comes to pay ** Gender wage gap widens with age ** Pakistan joins Wage Indicator ** Wage Indicator now also on mobile devices ** Minimum Wage media campaigns in southern Africa
Working women face longer days for lower pay
When compared to men, working women on average face longer working days than men, for less pay. This is the main outcome of an international gender pay gap comparison, based on half a million surveys conducted by the Wage Indicator Foundation between 2006 and 2010. This picture is found, regardless of level of development of the economy or region of the world. Yet, the more developed the economy and the less traditional the society, the smaller the gender pay gap appears to be. For example, a Danish woman earns 91 percent of the pay her male professional peers get. In Denmark the gender pay gap is the smallest. At the other extreme Indian women on average get 64 per cent of what male workers earn in the same occupation and at the same level of qualifications. In the middle range are mostly other Western European countries with gender pay gaps between 22 and 15 percent.
Though a stable pattern can be seen, it also appears from this large scale Wage Indicator comparison that overall working women increasingly are aware of and dissatisfied with their situations as compared to their male peers. After a working day, as a rule women take the lion’s share of household tasks upon themselves. This means that after the working day is finished, they still have to put in a couple of hours at home. This traditional division of household roles however is no longer taken for granted. Almost half of the working women are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, whereas the great majority of working men are satisfied to enjoy their leisure time after work.
The quarterly Wage Indicator report that leads to this outcome is published on the occasion of Women’s Day, March 8th. It shows that the gender pay gap is the rule across borders, throughout branches of industry and –almost- regardless of occupation. The gender based difference in pay ranges from 7 per cent, as in the case of nurses, to over 30 per cent as in some academic professions. The report also makes clear that this pay gap is to a large extent irrational, not accounted for by relative lack of skills or education on the part of women.
The in-depth analysis is based on a comparison between 11 countries, found in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Read the full report The Gender Gap - A comparative analysis of wages in times of recession.
Wage Indicator has been collecting wage data online since 2001 in a growing number of countries worldwide, numbering 55 in 2011. The dataset is regularly updated to make comparison over time possible.
Educated women less smart when it comes to pay
The gender pay gap, common everywhere, is particularly wide amongst groups who are highly educated. Highly educated women earn on average up to 30 percent less than their male peers, no matter how smart they are.
The latest Wage Indicator quarterly report, which substantiates this finding, focuses on gender issues on the occasion of Women’s Day, March 8th. In order to find correlations between workers’ levels of education and gender pay gaps, the worldwide Wage Indicator sample of 2010 was divided into 3 educational groups: those who didn’t finish their basic studies; a second group consisting of those with a middle education and/or after high-school; and a third group with academic or post-graduate degree. For each of these groups the gender pay gap was calculated. Those at the lower education end showed a considerably smaller gender pay gap, 18 to 20 per cent, as compared to female academics, with economists topping the bill with a pay gap of almost 30 percent.
The in-depth analysis is based on a comparison between 11 countries, found in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Read the full report The Gender Gap - A comparative analysis of wages in times of recession.
Gender wage gap widens with age
A world-wide Wage Indicator survey, covering half a million workers, shows a direct correlation between age and the gender pay gap. The older the worker, the wider the wage gap between men and women. Amongst workers under 25 the average gender pay gap is 15 percent, i.e. women earn 85 per cent of their male counterparts. Then, till 35, this gender wage gap widens to an average of 19 percent. In the middle-age group (35-50) this widening accelerates and the gap expands to 25 percent on average. During the last years of working life this earnings gap keeps widening but at a slower rate. Women over 50 earn 73 percent of what men their age make.
The in-depth analysis is based on a comparison between 11 countries, found in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Read the full report The Gender Gap - A comparative analysis of wages in times of recession.
Pakistan joins Wage Indicator
Early March 2011 the Wage Indicator for Pakistan, www.paycheck.pk, was launched during a lively debate on minimum wages in Karachi, in which both employees and employers’ organizations participated. The event was covered by national media and attended by representatives from government and labour market researchers.
Wage Indicator now also on mobile devices
Would you like to access the national Minimum Wage on your mobile or cell? This is now a distinct possibility in a growing number of countries with Wage Indicator presence. The system has been tried, tested and is being made available gradually during the first quarter of 2011, first of all in India, the Netherlands and South Africa. With the mobile version of Wage Indicator comes the option of a Salary Check, a VIP pay check of celebrities, and labour rights according to the law of each specific country. In the course of 2011 the system will be perfected and new information made available.
Minimum Wage media campaigns in southern Africa
A DecentWork project is under way in Zambia, South Africa, and Mozambique since October 2009. It combines offline awareness-raising debates on Decent Work issues with online information on labour law and (minimum) wages. What started as a pilot has now gained a steady foothold in at least Mozambique and Zambia with additional Minimum Wage media campaigns in both countries planned till the end of 2011.