Equal treatment in employment, including fair and equitable earnings, is fundamental for achieving decent work for all. The median gender wage gap across 102 countries with recent and comparable data (based on hourly earnings of employees) is approximately 14 per cent.
While hourly earnings (and the derived gender pay gap) is the official SDG indicator, a new ILOSTAT indicator on gender labour income gaps points to much wider imbalances between women and men. Since almost half of the world’s workers are self-employed, labour income – encompassing earnings of all workers, not just employees – provides a more comprehensive picture of pay gaps. In 2020, for each dollar men earned in labour income, women earned only 52 cents.
In low and lower-middle income countries, the gender disparity in labour income is much worse, with women earning 33 cents and 29 cents on the dollar respectively. This striking disparity in earnings is driven by both women’s lower employment level, as well as their lower average earnings when they are employed.