The gender pay gap is a common measure of women’s position in the economy. It measures the difference between average earnings for female employees and males, worldwide or locally - whichever applies to you. 

The gender pay gap can also be described as the result of various social and economic factors that combine to decrease or affect working women’s earning capacity over their entire life or working period.

Closing the gender pay gap is a complicated issue that goes beyond equal pay. It requires a cultural change to remove all barriers for working women to participate on an equitable basis with men fully.

What Gender Pay Gap is not:

The gender pay gap is never a difference between two individuals being paid inversely for work of a similar or comparable value, and it is illegal. This is called equivalent pay. It can also be described as when men and women receive an equal amount for work of comparable value. Practically speaking, this means:

• Working males and females having the same job roles will be paid the same amount.

• Men and women having different work of equivalent or comparable value will get the same amount.

The gender pay gap is a severe and well-known issue across the globe. According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s (WGEA) stats reveal that full-time working men outearn their female counterparts, which holds true for every occupation and industry across the world.

The gender pay gap usually begins when females start their careers or join the workforce. Several factors affect women's economic security and affect their earning over a lifetime.

Due to these factors, women earn less than their counterparts. Similarly, all those factors make it difficult for women to advance their careers like men and hoard less superannuation and savings than males. Therefore women will likely live in poverty when they get old.

What drives the gender pay gap?

The wage gap between women and men indicates a broader cultural and economic issue in society and workplaces. These differences reveal the historical and systemic devaluing of women’s role in the workplace and the major hurdles that result in the under-representation of women in higher job positions and management roles.

As mentioned above, many factors affect the gender pay gap. Some of them are:

• Conscious or unconscious favoritism and discrimination in employment and compensation.

• Women and men are employed in different workplaces and changing job roles, with female-dominated occupations and jobs having lower salaries.

• Lack of workplace flexibility to compensate for caring and other vital responsibilities, especially in senior job positions and roles.

• Higher wages of part-time jobs for working women.

• Women’s more time out of the workplace for various responsibilities directly affects their career progression and new job opportunities.

• Women’s disparate share in domestic work and caring.

At Fairly Even:

We work hard to end wage discrimination and open doors for women in the workplace. Our team is committed to fighting for change with you, but we need your help too.

Please take a few minutes today to learn more about your legal rights and how you can protect them at FairlyEven. Together, we can make this world a fairer place where people are valued based on their skills rather than gender or race. Will you fight against pay inequality?