Here, we will discover:
Gender Wage Gap Meaning
Gender wage gap is the average difference between the amount of remuneration that working men and women receive from their employer. Often the wage gap represents that the women tend to receive less wage for the same position than men.
Gender Wage Gap Examples
Here are some of the wage gap examples
So, let’s say there’s a corporate setting, and there’s a man named Jack and woman named Sarah. Both of them have the same qualifications and they are each other’s peers, their title is software engineer. They both are working for a tech company. Still, the company prefers Jack and gives him a higher wage consistently than Sarah for the exact same job.
But there are many reasons why it may happen. As a study reveals that, on average, men are more likely to negotiate their starting salaries or ask for raises than women. And because of that, over time, the cumulative effect of these negotiations contributes to a wage gap between male and female employees within the same roles and levels.
Besides that, a woman takes maternity leave to care for her newborn. Upon returning to work, she faces challenges such as being passed over for promotions or not receiving salary increases at the same rate as her male counterparts who did not take similar breaks.
This “motherhood penalty” contributes to the gender wage gap.
Gender Wage Gap in India
In India, the gender wage gap is different in different states. For instance, according to Satta Consulting, “in Uttar Pradesh on average women earn about 26% less per month than men while in Chhattisgarh women earn about 29% less and in Bihar about 28% less. In comparison in Telangana on average women earn 50% less than men, and in Tamil Nadu it’s 44% less.”
Gender Wage Gap Calculation: How Is the Gender Wage Gap Calculated?
If you want to calculate the wage gap between both the genders, you can do it by the following formula:
GPG = 100% x (Average male total remuneration – Average female total remuneration) / Average male total remuneration
Why Does the Gender Wage Gap Exist?
There are several reasons for why gender exists in society. One of the reasons can be different patterns of workforce engagement by women and men.
As per ILO publication, it can be due to working hours. They say,
“In the Global wage report 2018/19: What lies behind the gender pay gaps, the ILO highlights that women work on a part-time basis more than men do in all but five of the 73 countries where data are available.
This is often linked to women taking on more of the unpaid family responsibilities. On the one hand, women may be in part-time employment as a result of the lack of affordable and sufficient child care.
On the other hand, women’s opportunities for full-time employment may be more limited than men’s, resulting in women taking part-time employment.
Part-time work does not always provide benefits that are proportional to those of full-time work, which can affect the remuneration package over time.”
Similarly, there are other reasons, like Under-representation in leadership and time out of the workforce.
How to Close the Gender Wage Gap
To close the gender pay gap, the companies can take the following intitiatives:
- Make sure that there’s transparency in the over pay
- Reassess promotions if there’s a need. It would also include bonuses and benefits.
- Increase the salaries paid to women in the company to cover the gap.
- Provide parental leave and encourage men to take them too to take care of their kids.
- Offer initiative to help people with childcare.
- Promote remote work whenever it’s necessary.
What Efforts Are Being Made to Address the Gender Wage Gap?
There are many existing laws and legislations that help prevent gender wage discrimination. Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 if enforced the right way, it can ensure that all the companies provide equal pay to their employees for equal work.
Is the Gender Wage Gap the Same for All Women?
Sometimes, the gender wage gap may also have different impact on different women based on their race and ethnicity. For instance, black women earn 70% as much as while men. On the other hand, the Hispanic women only make 65% of the income of what white men earn.