Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct numbers regarding the pay gap: non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap. The latter typically takes into account differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience.[1] In other words, the adjusted values represent how much women and men make for the same work, while the non-adjusted values represent how much the average man and woman make in total. In the United States, for example, the non-adjusted average woman's annual salary is 79–83% of the average man's salary, compared to 95–99% for the adjusted average salary.[2][3][4]
"Wage disparity" redirects here. For other wage disparities, see Wage gap.
The reasons for the gap link to legal, social and economic factors.[5] These include having children (motherhood penalty vs. fatherhood bonus), parental leave, gender discrimination and gender norms. Additionally, the consequences of the gender pay gap surpass individual grievances, leading to reduced economic output, lower pensions for women, and fewer learning opportunities.
The gender pay gap can be a problem from a public policy perspective in developing countries because it reduces economic output and means that women are more likely to be dependent upon welfare payments, especially in old age.[6][7][8]
Calculation
The non-adjusted gender pay gap or gender wage gap is typically the median or mean average difference between the remuneration for all working men and women in the sample chosen. It is usually represented as either a percentage or a ratio of the "difference between average gross hourly [or annual] earnings of male and female employees as % of male gross earnings".[16]
Some countries use only the full-time working population for the calculation of national gender gaps.[17][18] Others are based on a sample from the entire working population of a country (including part-time workers), in which case the full-time equivalent (FTE) is used to obtain the remuneration for an equal amount of paid hours worked.[16][19][20][21][22][23][18]
Non-governmental organizations apply the calculation to various samples. Some share how the calculation was performed and on which data set.[17] The gender pay gap can, for example, be measured by ethnicity,[24] by city,[25] by job,[26] or within a single organization.[27][28][29]
Policy measures
Anti-discrimination legislation
According to the 2008 edition of the Employment Outlook report by the OECD, almost all OECD countries have established laws to combat discrimination on grounds of gender. Examples of this are the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[100] Legal prohibition of discriminatory behavior, however, can only be effective if it is enforced. The OECD points out that: