![]() There is a large body of research that examines the drivers of the gender wage gap within countries as well as variation between countries. More specifically, it is the difference between men’s and women’s median annual full-time wages. The gender wage gap is a different concept that reflects the consequences of unequal pay and a lack of other work-life supports. Not rewarding equal pay for equal work is the practice of paying different wages-intentionally or not-to employees who do the same work, and it is generally considered illegal discrimination. What is the gender wage gap? Although they are often conflated, equal pay for equal work and the gender wage gap are distinct issues that require targeted solutions. In doing so, it may offer insight as to how the United States can adopt policies to address its own gender wage gap. The intent of this brief is not to be a comprehensive guide detailing the policies other countries use to address pay equity but rather to offer examples and overall trends of international approaches to the gender wage gap, with a particular focus on OECD countries, which are economically similar to the United States. ![]() This issue brief outlines how other countries have taken action to diminish the gender wage gap. 5 The good news is that many countries have taken innovative steps to shrink the gap, making critical progress not just for women but for working families across borders. North America-defined as Canada and the United States in the report-is at the far end of that continuum: It is not projected to close its gap for another 158 years. According to the WEF, if the gender wage gap continues to close at its current rate in each region, it may take anywhere from 46 to 158 years for countries across the globe to eliminate the gap. 4ĭespite considerable national differences in the severity of the gender wage gap around the world, a study by the World Economic Forum, or WEF, suggests that the wage gap will take decades to close in almost every country. The gap ranges from 36.6 percent in South Korea to 5.6 percent in New Zealand. Indeed, in each country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD-a group of 35 advanced and emerging economies-women experience a wage gap. For example, on average, African American women earn 63 percent and Hispanic women earn just 54 percent of what white, non-Hispanic men do. 3 Moreover, the wage gap is even worse for women of color, as Figure 1 highlights. In American households, more than two-thirds of mothers are the primary or co-breadwinners for their families, meaning that the gender wage gap hits working families particularly hard. The above examples clearly demonstrate that the gender wage gap is not unique to the United States, where women still earn 80 percent of what men earn. to demonstrate their 15.1 percent gender wage gap. ![]() 1 Less than a month later, on November 7, women in France followed suit, leaving work at precisely 4:34 p.m. In October 2016, thousands of working women in Iceland seized international attention after leaving their offices at 2:38 p.m.-14 percent earlier in the day than their male counterparts-and banding together to protest the 14 percent gender wage gap that they face. See also: Global Progress on Equal Pay and Paid Leave by Kaitlin Holmes and Danielle Corley ![]()
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