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Closing the Gender Wage Gap in Iceland

Gender Wage Gap in IcelandIceland is a small island nation, home to about 366,000 people, situated in the North Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Norway. Owing partly to its small size, Iceland has become a world leader in various social indicators, such as gender equality and poverty reduction. For the 12th year in a row, Iceland was crowned the most gender-equal country in the world by the World Economic Forum in its 2021 Global Gender Gap Report. Despite this top ranking, it is still necessary to fully close the gender wage gap in Iceland, and in turn, alleviate remaining poverty within the nation.

Poverty in Iceland

The gender wage gap, no matter how small, can have a significant impact on one’s vulnerability to poverty. The gap between the earnings of men and women means that pay cuts, unemployment and economic downturns more dramatically impact women, which can and have historically led to increases in poverty in Iceland.

The poverty rate in Iceland is much lower in comparison to its Nordic neighbors, with about 9% of Icelanders earning an income that falls below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold in 2018. In other Nordic countries, this figure sits “between 12% and 16.4%” while the average in the European Union stands at 21.9% in 2020.

Another indicator of poverty, the unemployment rate, is also very low in Iceland, standing at 3.9% in 2019. Further, there is little disparity between the unemployment rate for men and for women. However, there remains a difference in the employment rate, with 88% of working-age men having a paid job in comparison to 83% of women. This difference links to roles of childcare and housekeeping, which traditionally fall on women. However, Iceland has robust subsidized childcare policies, which lessen the burden of traditional gender roles and allow women to participate in the labor force more freely.

The Gender Wage Gap in Iceland

The Global Gender Gap Report finds that Iceland has closed 89.2% of its gender wage gap as of 2021, taking the lead as the most gender-equal country in the world. There is a strong culture around social safety nets and welfare in Iceland, ensuring that gender and income inequalities are minimal. According to the OECD Better Life Index, wage bargaining in Iceland helps promote income inequality and decrease poverty rates. In addition to this, the government has implemented several policies in recent years with the intention of addressing the gender wage gap in Iceland.

Gender Equality Policies in Iceland

First, and most well-known, is the Equal Pay Certification, the first policy of its kind in the world. This policy, which went into effect in 2018, requires all companies with 25 or more employees to provide annual proof of equal pay for men and women. The policy previously only required companies to disclose information on wages, but the government expanded it to further increase job satisfaction and transparency in the pay system. This one-of-a-kind policy is making strides to close what is remaining of the gender wage gap in Iceland.

Iceland also requires a near equal gender balance on the boards of all publicly traded companies and requires a certain percentage of employees to be of each gender. All companies with 25 or more employees must also disclose the gender composition of their employees — an initiative aimed at pressuring companies to improve gender equality in the workplace. While this policy does not directly address the gender wage gap, it is a step in ensuring overall gender equality that is likely to promote equal pay.

Looking Ahead

All in all, the Icelandic government has shown success in continuously narrowing the gender wage gap through the implementation of these policies. This success allows the nation to stand as a world leader in gender equality. Despite this, there is still room for progress, especially as Iceland’s demographics change and the country struggles with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics Iceland reports that immigrants represented 15.2% of the population in Iceland in 2020 — a figure that is consistently growing. Immigrants are at greater risk of poverty in Iceland because they are “less likely to be employed” compared to “their native-born counterparts.” Furthermore, the gender wage gap disproportionately impacts immigrant women, therefore, as the immigrant population in Iceland increases, strong gender equality policies remain important.

Another threat to narrowing the gender wage gap in Iceland is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has stalled progress in gender equality and poverty eradication worldwide. In Iceland, like in all countries where women face a double burden of working while caring for children and the household, lockdowns and social distancing force more women to stay home from work. These pandemic effects may threaten to reverse progress in gender wage gap policies. However, there is hope that the constant and unyielding work of the Icelandic government will ensure progress for years to come.

– Emma Tkacz
Photo: Flickr

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Gender Wage Gap in Pakistan

Gender Wage Gap in Pakistan
The gender wage gap exists across a multitude of nations, sectors and professions, disproportionality affecting low-income women. Pakistan is the epicenter of this inequity. According to the Global Wage Report 2018/19 (ILO), women in Pakistan earn 34% less than men on average. The same report also found women in Pakistan constitute 90% of the bottom 1% of wage earners in the country. Below are ways to bridge the gender wage gap in Pakistan.

Increased Access to Education

Half of the women in Pakistan have not attended school and 90% of women do not have a post-secondary education. This education gap is detrimental to the gender wage gap in Pakistan as the pay of women with post-secondary education increases threefold in comparison to women with just primary education.

The Zindagi Trust is working to improve girls’ education in Pakistan on the grassroots level by improving the infrastructure, academic innovation and quality of government schools. It has transformed two schools and thus changed the lives of more than 2,500 young girls who otherwise would have dropped out of primary school.

Decreasing Unpaid Care Work

Unpaid care work and domestic work are non-market, unpaid activities carried out in households, such as care of persons, cooking, cleaning or fetching water. These time commitments are often not quantitative, and therefore, go overlooked. According to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report, unpaid care work globally is worth around $10 trillion a year.

Not only does unpaid care work not compensate women for their work but it is so time-consuming that women do not have the time to focus on gaining skills and pursuing economic opportunities. Gender norms further this structure due to the expectation that women must take care of the home.

One way to ease the impacts of unpaid care work is by reducing hazardous tasks, such as cooking with unsafe fuel sources. Jaan Pakistan is working to reduce open flame cooking in rural Pakistan. It has sold nearly 1,500 units to date and hopes to sell 1 million cookstoves across off-grid Pakistan by 2025.

Increased Representation in STEM Fields

Women currently make up less than 18% of STEM professionals in Pakistan. One can attribute this gap to the literacy rate of women and the societal pressure for women to pursue a more female-dominated field. The literacy rate for women is 47% in comparison to 71% for men, which further exacerbates the gender wage gap in Pakistan. The rate of workplace harassment only adds to the inability of employers to meet the needs of educated and qualified women and deters women from contributing to STEM fields.

According to a report of Pakistan’s National Commissioner of Children and Women, around 93% of Pakistani women had experienced sexual violence and harassment in public spaces or workplaces in their lifetimes. Private sector organizations such as Women Engineer’s Pakistan are working to increase the representation of women in STEM fields by connecting college girls to a network of 1,988 women engineers. These mentorship resources build a community of women in STEM in Pakistan and provide support and encouragement. It has helped more than 4,000 college students.

In order to combat workplace harassment, U.N. Women and the Office of the Ombudsperson KP in Pakistan joined together to effectively implement and monitor current laws to address harassment at the workplace. It has developed a Toolkit on “Understanding Sexual Harassment, Legal Provisions, Roles of Duty Bearers and Rights Holders.” Officially launched on June 25, 2020, the Toolkit “provides a comprehensive resource to train and build the capacity of inquiry committee members and other stakeholders on the law and redressal mechanisms for dispensation of justice to the complainants.”

The gender wage gap in Pakistan exists due to the traditional structures in place, but with the support of local and international nonprofits, there are new solutions and resources to successfully implement them.

– Imaan Chaudhry
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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The Gender Wage Gap In Namibia

Gender Wage Gap In Namibia
Namibia ranks sixth in the Global Gender Gap Report of 2021, the highest-ranked African country for bridging the gap between women and men economic opportunity, educational attainment, health and political empowerment measure. In just nine years, Namibia has climbed 35 spots, excelling past Canada and the United States in the Global Gender Gap Report. A closer look at Namibia’s history provides insight into actions taken to bridge this gap and how the gender wage gap in Namibia still plays a role in society today.

Post-Independence Namibia Focuses on Gender Equality

Prior to Namibia gaining independence, many considered women the property of men. When Namibia gained full independence from South Africa in 1990, it implemented numerous changes aimed at improving gender equality, as well as equality for all, in the new constitution. Article 10 states that “[n]o persons shall be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, color, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status,” emphasizing Namibia’s commitment to equality.

Also, the Married Persons Equality Act became law in 1996. The act allows women to sign contracts, register a property in their name and act as directors of companies. Women in Namibia hold about 44% of the managerial professions.

In the year 2013, “Namibia’s ruling party, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO),” implemented a 50/50 gender policy that requires “equal representation of men and women” in parliament. At the time of the policy creation, women filled only 25% of the positions in parliament. Currently, women occupy 44% of the seats in parliament, proving that the gender policy has been effective in adding more women to work in government roles. The government’s adoption of these policies aid in creating a more inclusive environment for women in Namibia, particularly in political and urban settings.

More Women Seek an Education

Women in Namibia are leading their male counterparts in post-secondary education with a tertiary education enrollment rate of 30% for women and 15% for men. At the largest university in Namibia, the University of Namibia (UNAM), 64% of the students are women while only 36% are men. Many women continue on to obtain their master’s degrees or doctoral degrees. Once out of school, the labor force participation rate for women drops below men at 57% and 64% respectively. Even though more women seek secondary education than men, women earn less than men in several industries.

While the gender wage gap in Namibia is less prominent than that of many other countries, the distribution of wealth is immensely unequal. According to the Gini index, which measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income, Namibia ranks second-highest in comparison to all other countries in the world. Namibia has one of the highest Gini index ratings because of its high unemployment rate, with women more likely to experience unemployment. About 64% of Namibians survive on less than $5.55 per person per day, which equates to slightly more than $2,000 a year. The average amount U.S. citizens spend on a summer vacation is roughly the same.

Namibians Continue to Reach for Gender Equality

Much like other patriarchal societies, when women and men reach for equality, there are often roadblocks along the way. While women in Namibia now occupy 44% of the positions in parliament, they are still shy of the 50% goal of the 50/50 gender policy. The gender wage gap in Namibia has narrowed significantly, but there is still massive inequality concerning family income distribution. There is also an underlying dialogue in Namibia that women are inferior to men. Sexual and gender-based violence is prevalent due to societal and cultural norms. In fact, among the age group of 15 to 49, 28% of women and 22% of men in Namibia believe a husband beating his wife as a form of discipline constitutes a justifiable act. These beliefs contribute to a culture of gender inequality, which often proliferates inequalities in the workplace and perpetuates traditional gender roles.

Fortunately, the government is continuing to implement policies beneficial to gender equality. Additionally, women are pursuing secondary education at astounding rates, which is crucial in combating gender-based disparities as well as decreasing the gender wage gap in Namibia.

– Amy Helmendach
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing the Gender Wage Gap in Ghana

5-initiatives-improving-the-gender-wage-gap-in-ghana
Despite great progress in economic growth and poverty reduction, the gender wage gap in Ghana shows the distribution of these benefits remains unequal. A significant portion of Ghana’s labor market is in the low-paying informal sector, where the most vulnerable people, women and children, find themselves. In fact, women earn less than 30% of what men earn — Ghana is one of just two countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region to experience gaps at that extreme. The wage gap is largely a result of systemic barriers in terms of access to health care and education as well as social norms regarding women’s roles in the workforce and household.

About the Wage Gap in Ghana

More than 23% of the Ghanaian population lives below the poverty line, according to the U.N. Women Data Hub. Most schools lack proper facilities and information on menstrual hygiene for their female students, ultimately contributing to frequent absences and dropouts.

In lower-income households, where financial constraints are prevalent, women often sacrifice their education so they can seek work to support their families. Women and girls spend 14% of their time on unpaid care and domestic work. Due to traditional social norms, some girls in Ghana’s rural areas find themselves in marriage or unions from as young as 18, which typically prevents them from pursuing an education or better-paying jobs. In light of this, there are several initiatives working to reduce the gender wage gap in Ghana and empower women.

The Soronko Academy

The Soronko Academy is an information and communications technology development center in Ghana. Its main focus is equipping women and girls with the technical and soft skills needed to attain better-paying jobs. Women and girls in underprivileged communities learn new modern skills such as branding, graphic design, coding, digital marketing and app development.

The Soronko Academy also helps young entrepreneurs build a technical edge around their website development and social media management. Classes and programs start from as early as 5 years old, even working with schools to integrate coding into their curriculums. Founded in 2017, the Soronko Academy has trained more than 20,000 women in a dozen or so regions across Ghana.

Solidaridad

Solidaridad is a global organization working directly with communities to create fair and sustainable supply chains. In Ghana, small-scale mining employs roughly a million people, with women making up nearly half the workers engaging in informal mining.

With pollution and other unsafe working conditions, Solidaridad’s project aims to improve the financial and social position of women in Ghana’s small gold mining communities. It supports 130 women by introducing village savings and loan associations and external funding for business support while also hosting discussions with women and men on household and business roles for women.

The banking associations receive funding from Solidaridad’s project partner Kering, the owner of fashion brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga, and serve as a means to boost local entrepreneurial endeavors, reducing reliance on bank loans. This project also offers training on responsible mining and leadership skills.

Global Partnership for Education

The Global Partnership for Education is a global fund dedicated to improving education in developing nations. Together since 2004, the partnership has more recently provided the Ghanaian government $1.5 million in grant support for its COVID-19 learning response.

Its active presence in Ghana is an attempt to prevent already-present gender inequalities from continuing into the next generation. It tackles gender barriers in several ways: supporting public awareness campaigns, building schools near communities and also providing for proper menstrual hygiene management.

The partnership also works with the Ghanaian government to identify and address gender barriers in the education system. In fact, its educational programs have boasted considerable success when it comes to the number of young girls completing primary school — now at nearly 95%.

UN Women in Ghana

U.N. Women in Ghana works with the government and its various departments, like the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, to make gender concerns, such as the wage gap, part of the national development process.

The organization also works with non-governmental organizations and other private sector groups to promote gender equality. To execute this, U.N. Women has numerous active programs, including one addressing the link between HIV and the financial effects it has on women and girls, like the cost of treatment. Oftentimes after divorce, women end up without any assets to support themselves and pay for treatment.

The organization also advocates for property and inheritance rights to offer women some form of protection. U.N. Women also works on economically empowering women by introducing small-scale farmers to good agricultural practices in hopes of reducing post-harvest losses. Additionally, the group works in the north and north of the Nkwanta district to enhance the leadership skills of adolescent girls.

Alliance for African Women Initiative

Founded in 2006, the Alliance for African Women Initiative is a grassroots organization fighting to reduce the gender gap by empowering women and children in Ghana. Its livelihood project seeks to enhance the financial independence of women to help families rise above the poverty line. The initiative also provides workshops and training programs intended to help women with all things business and personal finance, teaching bookkeeping and business skills as well as commercial consultancy and management. The initiative provides opportunities for women to connect and share ideas within its network.

Traditionally, the livelihood project creates its own small savings accounts because some women cannot afford to open saving accounts at banks. Then, after the training and workshops, women receive small loans to either expand their businesses or invest in new ones. More than 2,100 women have attended these programs and about 150 have received loans to start up their own businesses.

These five initiatives are attempting to take the steps needed to build an equal system for men and women. They are also showing the many intricacies of solving an issue, such as the gender wage gap, and that the solution is much more than just providing employment opportunities.

– Owen R. Mutiganda
Photo: Flickr

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Examining the Gender Wage Gap in Germany

gender wage gap in germanyData from May 2019 indicates that German women receive an average of 21% less wages than German men. Germany holds one of the largest gender pay gaps in the European Union, a gap that has since widened due to COVID-19.  As a consequence of the gender wage gap in Germany, German women endure poverty at a higher rate than German men. However, recent policies, lawmaking proposals and continued strong stimulus provide hope and solutions for a future of gender equality within Germany’s workforce.

The Gender Wage Gap in Germany

Despite the presence of Germany’s long-standing female chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the country’s overall reputation of upholding socially progressive policies, Germany holds the third-largest pay gap in the European Union as of 2017, ranking just behind Estonia and the Czech Republic. As of March 15, 2019, for every two lawmakers in Germany’s parliament, there exists only one female.

These pay gap inequalities force German women into poverty at a rate disproportional to men in Germany, much like the rest of the world. According to the European Union’s statistics office, 7.1 million German women faced poverty in 2017 compared to 6.1 million men. Furthermore, German women face a 16.6% risk of falling into poverty compared to a 15.2% risk for men, according to a 2021 report.

The correlation of a gender pay gap and poverty exists on an international scale as well. On September 14, 2020, the U.N. reported a global gender pay gap of 16%, meaning that female employees earn 84% of the amount their male equivalents earn globally. The global gender wage gap is especially divisive for women of color, immigrant women and mothers.

COVID-19 and Pay Inequality

According to a U.N. estimate on September 2, 2020, the U.N. expects the poverty rate for women to increase by  9.1% due to COVID-19. Germany is no exception to this global prediction. According to a Reuters report from May 14, 2020, 27% of women in Germany have had to reduce their working hours for child care purposes. In contrast, this percentage is more than the reported 16% of men (in households with at least one child younger than 14) who had to cut their working hours.

In addition, Reuters reports that this disparity is more likely in households with low or medium incomes rather than higher incomes. According to a BBC poll, German women reported facing higher financial impacts of COVID-19 than men. Roughly 32% of German women reported experiencing financial impacts of the novel coronavirus compared with 24% of men.

Closing the Gap

As the gender wage gap increases with the effects of COVID-19 both across the world and throughout Germany, hope comes in the form of advocacy, legislation and awareness. On March 4, 2021, the European Union proposed a law to compel companies to close gender pay gaps. The law also allows candidates access to salary information during interviews.

The law goes as far as imposing possible sanctions on companies that fail to comply. Under this proposed law, women employees can challenge employers when not equally compensated. The challenges then go through independent monitors with the goal to seek proper payment or treatment of all female employees.

Germany’s Successes

Additionally, Germany’s consistent social stimulus throughout 2020 and into 2021 provided great economic protections for the country as a whole. Germany excels in stimulus protections and aid when compared to the majority of the world. According to The New York Times, when the primary jobholder in a family of two parents and two children loses a job in the United States, the family retains 28% of their previous income. Contrastingly, the same family would maintain 75% of their income in Germany. The New York Times describes this as a “reflection of the country’s far more generous social safety net,” listing this outcome as one of the many benefits of strong, continued economic stimulus.

Overall, while Germany continues to combat the gender pay gap as an increasing number of women and girls enter poverty due to COVID-19, recent policies surrounding transparency, accountability and fiscal stimulus in the workforce provide much hope for the future.

– Lillian Ellis
Photo: Flickr

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The Gender Wage Gap in Luxembourg

Gender Wage Gap in LuxembourgDespite centuries of movements, protests and advocacy, gender inequality continues to be one of the world’s oldest and most pervasive forms of inequality. The gender wage gap is a telling indicator of gender inequality. There is a link between these inequalities and poverty, and the gender wage gap in Luxembourg serves to illustrate this.

Global Gender Inequality

Issues regarding the gender wage gap go further than just compensation. In developing regions, 75% of women work in the informal sector. Informal jobs are often not properly regulated, with informal workers lacking legal rights, protections and employment contracts while earning insufficient living wages. Issues regarding gender inequalities are more pressing than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic both accentuated and exacerbated persistent gender issues. During the pandemic, domestic violence — physical, sexual and psychological — increased drastically across the globe. Furthermore, women make up 70% of health and social workers, making the majority of essential frontline workers female.

The Link Between Gender Inequality and Poverty

According to the World Bank, the world loses $160 trillion in wealth due to the gender wage gap. Increasing economic empowerment for women will improve the economy for everyone. Furthermore, more spending power for women will cause a massive boost to the economy as a whole. When women’s employment rises, absolute poverty rates decline. In contrast, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries saw increases in poverty where trends in gender equality were “uneven and stalled.”

Quentin Wodon, a lead economist at the World Bank, states, “Human capital wealth accounts for two-thirds of the global changing wealth of nations, well ahead of natural and other forms of capital.” Wodon says further, “Because women earn less than men, human capital wealth worldwide is about 20% lower than it could be.”

Luxembourg’s Gender Wage Gap

The gender wage gap in Luxembourg stands at only 1.4%. In recent years, addressing the gender wage gap and all other forms of gender inequality have become a priority for the public policy agenda. In 2015, Luxembourg established the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men. Unlike any other ministry in the EU, its sole focus surrounds gender equality. The Luxembourg Law of December 15, 2016, makes any discrepancies in compensation for men and women completing the same task or work of equal value illegal.

Although Luxembourg boasts the narrowest gender wage gap in Europe, there is still room for improvement. The 2016 law protects the legal rights of women in the workplace, but it does not necessarily empower them to become involved. The amount of women in Luxembourg’s workforce has risen in recent years; however, there are still far fewer women in the workforce than men.

Out of every 100 employed Luxembourgers, there are only 38 women for every 62 men. A study in 2018 showed that female workers were often more qualified than their male counterparts. About 44% of women had college degrees, while only 35% of men have the same credentials. In addition to closing the remaining gap, Luxembourg also needs to focus on empowering women to participate in the economy. True gender equality will not be met until more women join the workforce.

The digital sector has significant room for improvement regarding female participation. Taina Bofferding, the minister of equality in Luxembourg, is currently focusing on reducing the gender gap in the digital sector. As the world moves toward a digital future, Bofferding believes that female presence in the digital professional field is crucial to closing the remaining gender wage gap in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg’s government believes that concrete measures and targeted action are the reason for the nation’s narrow gender wage gap. There are more than 120 equal opportunity representatives in the public sector specifically tasked with protecting both women and men in the workplace. Along with the smallest gender wage gap in Europe, Luxembourg also enjoys some of the highest living standards in the world. With a GDP per capita of $124,591 in 2020, Luxembourg is the wealthiest EU country per capita.

Looking to the Future

The progress of the gender wage gap in Luxembourg does not reflect the progress of the rest of the world. Globally, women earn 24% less than their male counterparts, and at the current level of advancement, the world will not see equality until 2191.

The wealth surrounding the small gender wage gap in Luxembourg is one example of the direct relationship between gender inequality and poverty. Gender inequalities and poverty tend to diminish together. Luxembourg’s success emphasizes the importance of laws that can “enforce pay equity and can effectively root out wage discrepancies and ensure better frameworks are in place to achieve greater equality in the workplace.”

– Ella LeRoy
Photo: Unsplash

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Closing the United Kingdom’s Gender Wage Gap

United Kingdom's Gender Wage Gap
The gender pay gap, or the difference in pay between men and women, has been under scrutiny across the globe for decades with the rise of feminist movements. The United Kingdom has received a lot of backlash since a report concerning unequal pay underwent publication in 2016. The Economic Policy Institute cited that women earned only 79 cents for every dollar that a man earned. However, the United Kingdom’s gender wage gap is slowly closing under the newly introduced gender pay gap transparency regulations.

Gender Pay Gap Transparency Regulations

In early 2017, the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission introduced a new practice in the United Kingdom, which required that all companies with more than 250 employees be honest and open about gender pay inequalities. Within this regulation, businesses must post the difference in payment between their male and female employees and have the data publicly available for at least three years. Companies that do not comply may undergo investigation and be subject to heavy fines.

The Society for Human Resource Management stated that these reports are “calling for more attention” to the U.K.’s gender wage gap and encourage “tracking the metric over time” to assure that progress is occurring. In turn, this makes companies aware of income inequality. The businesses also work to protect their reputation in a growing field of competitors.

Concerns arise because COVID-19 could very well increase the gender wage gap. According to Ogletree Deakins, companies did not have to submit these reports by the April 2020 deadline. Before the pandemic, corporations had to submit their wage gap numbers by April. However, in 2021, businesses must post their inequality findings by a later deadline in October. Ogletree Deakins found that “By 24 March 2020, the day the government announced the suspension” of the April 2020 deadline for reporting, just  26% “of companies compelled to report had done so.”

While this resolve for the union seems fresh, U.K. efforts to reduce wage inequality began decades ago. In November 1970, the Equal Pay Act made wage differences based on gender in the U.K. illegal.

The Result of the Regulations

According to Statista, the gender wage gap has decreased by almost 3% since the regulations’ implementation. The reported inequality has also declined substantially from the U.K.’s highest point of wage imbalance at 27.5% in 1997. Now, with the current rate at 15.5% on average, citizens hope this rate will continue to drop.

However, in the part-time sector where wage gap statistics fall below 0%, the rate of inequality is on the rise from its all-time low in 2015. The U.K. parliament finds that women are more likely to take on these part-time occupations and experience wage inequality when they pass the age of 40. This wage inequality continues even in high-paying jobs.

Some countries within the U.K. have different pay gap rates than their sister nations. Northern Ireland has the lowest gender wage gap at -3%, while London has a pay difference of 13%. Despite any discrepancies, all nations within the U.K. have seen a significant decrease in the wage gap since the implementation of the transparency regulations.

The Reaction of Businesses

Many businesses have aligned with the legislation by creating new strategies to decrease the wage gap. The Society for Human Resources Management states that more than 65% of companies have started conducting research on pay inequality and 32% have started actively working to close the United Kingdom’s gender wage gap.

A popular law firm in the United Kingdom, McKinsey and Company, discussed its strategy in a 2019 announcement. The business declared that it would recruit more women into its firm, develop the talents of those recruited women and “shape the debate through rigorous research.” Other companies seem to be following suit.

Bloomberg stated that a U.K. hygiene and health production company, Reckitt Benckiser Group, has started paying women 6.1% more than men. The corporation condemned the pay gap via a report in 2021 and assured that it would continue to “address the issue.”

The Future

While it is uncertain whether the United Kingdom’s gender wage gap will ever truly disappear, many believe that the payment inequality statistics will continue to fall over time. The U.K. currently ranks fifth on the European Institute for Gender Equality Index, but expectations have determined that the region will improve its score as it did between 2005 and 2017, possibly surpassing other nations with its actions for fairness.

– Laken G. Kincaid
Photo: Flickr

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The Gender Wage Gap in Brazil

Gender Wage Gap in Brazil
Despite having the same legal rights as men, Brazilian women continue to fight for equality in the workplace. The gender wage gap in Brazil is one of the largest in Latin America, and women earn an average of 30% less than men.

Today, societal norms and the lack of gender representation in Congress contribute to this gap. As a result, the pay gap affects minority women the most and they earn approximately half the wage of the average white man. Despite the pay gap between women and men, Brazil has made advances toward gender equality in the past few decades.

Gender Inequality in Brazil

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 78% of men hold jobs in comparison to 56% of women in Brazil. Yet, the majority of women in the survey said that they would prefer a paid job to staying at home.

In Brazil, most women have access to the same educational opportunities as men. However, their degree does not necessarily translate into a higher salary. For example, women account for more than 60% of the workforce with college degrees. However, they receive 36% less pay than men with college degrees. Therefore, the gender wage gap in Brazil impacts women of all educational and economic backgrounds.

The Issue

Traditionally, Brazilian culture expects women to stay at home while men support the family. As a result, women who break cultural norms by working outside the home find it difficult to establish successful careers. Though women make up roughly half of the workforce in Brazil, only 16% of companies have a female CEO and less than 20% of women hold middle management positions. These statistics illustrate Brazil’s well-established social hierarchy where women rank second to men.

Women’s underrepresentation in Congress also allows men to hold the majority of political power within the Brazilian government. Women held fewer than 15% of Congressional seats until 2018. The male-dominated Congress failed to pass legislation that would address the gender wage gap in Brazil. Even though women have held 30% of Congressional seats following the 2018 election, women still experience stigma for challenging cultural norms.

How the Gender Wage Gap Affects Minorities

Afro-Brazilian women suffer the most from the lack of female representation in Congress. There are few government officials to represent their best interests. The average income for Afro-Brazilian women is $2.50 per hour. The average income for white women is $4.02 per hour. These salaries compare to the average for white men, which is $5 per hour.

The gender wage gap in Brazil affects women of all socio-economic backgrounds. In 2015, Afro-Brazilians made up 76% of the lower class, and only 17% was among the country’s richest 1%. Even more, minority women with secondary education earn less than their white counterparts with the same qualifications, showing how the wage gap adversely affects minority women.

The Progress

Local organizations are actively working within the Brazilian community to bridge the gender wage gap. For example, the Associação the Comunitária dos Moradores de Mandassaia (Community Association of Residents of Mandassaia) promotes gender equality by empowering women in the small town of Mandassaia, Brazil.

Mandassaia is a rural town where job opportunities are scarce. Typically, Mandassaia women work in sugar cane fields or stay home to raise their children. In 2017, the Community Association of Residents of Mandassaia partnered with the National School Feeding Program to help a small group of women profit off of Mandassaia’s sugar cane production. The Program teaches women cake baking and jam production so they can make money selling baked goods. Through the Community Association of Residents of Mandassaia, these women were able to increase their income by 425% and earn a livable wage.

Mandassaia’s bakers now have a community farming seal, which allows them to expand their business and provide more job opportunities for women. By helping women become financially independent in local communities, the Community Association of Residents of Mandassaia is reducing the wage gap in Brazil.

Looking Ahead

The pay gap has decreased over the last few decades, and the Brazilian government is participating in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to achieve equal pay by 2030. The Brazilian government has also agreed to work toward reducing gender inequality in the workforce by 25% by 2025. Although Brazil continues to struggle with bridging the wage gap in the workplace, the efforts of the Brazilian government and community to eliminate gender inequality represent an encouraging step forward.

– Abby Adu
Photo: Flickr

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Generation Equality Forum: Working Toward Gender Equality Around The World

Generation Equality Forum, Working Toward Gender Equality Around The WorldFrom June 30 to July 2, the United Nations Women held a global meeting in Paris consisting of representatives from around the world. This meeting was called the Generation Equality Forum and aimed to assess the progress the world has made in terms of gender equality.

What is the Generation Equality Forum?

The global meeting brought together the U.N. Women, the governments of Mexico and France and a total of 50,000 people in order to create an action plan for the immediate progress for global gender equality. The forum had some target areas that the representatives wanted to focus on discussing. These areas included gender violence, economic justice, autonomy, reproductive health, climate justice action taken by feminists and feminist leadership.

The Beijing Women’s Conference 1995

According to U.N. Women, the World Conference on Women in Beijing 25 years ago marked a “turning point for the global agenda for women’s equality,” as it resulted in the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This declaration set out goals for the advancement of women and gender equality and included a plan to meet again in 25 years to reassess. As a result, the main goal of the forum this year was to look at how far the world had come since 1995.

The 25-year review showed further global progress can be made to advance gender equality, especially amid COVID-19. In fact, studies found that countries will need to implement significant action to meet their gender equality goals by the target year of 2030. The main reason for this lack of progress: a corresponding lack of funding.

Why Decreasing the Gender Gap is Important

The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting women. This has affected their education, employment and health. As a result, decreasing the gender gap is more important than ever today. By making women a focal point of economic recovery plans, the world can rebuild the economy equitably.

Additionally, women become affected by poverty at much higher rates than men. For example, women do almost three times the amount of unpaid work than men do, which usually involves childcare and housework. Moreover, 62% of women worldwide are active in the workforce compared to 93% of men. As a result, women from the age range 25-34 are 25% more likely to live in extreme poverty. If the world were to close this gap, the global GDP could increase by 35% on average. Helping women around the world and improving gender equality works to help all people around the world.

Looking to the Future

The Generation Equality Forum created a five-year action plan to stimulate change going forward at a quicker rate than before. This involved $40 billion of investments and commitments from various governments and organizations. Some of these commitments include:

  • U.S. government’s commitment of $175 million to prevent and address gender violence
  • Malala Fund’s commitment of $20 million for girls education activists
  • Open Society Foundation’s commitment of $100 million over five years for feminist political mobilization
  • Government of Bangladesh’s commitment to increase women participation in technology to 25% by 2026
  • Implementation of free care for pregnant women in Burkina Faso

The Generation Equality Forum helped countries, agencies and organizational renew global commitments to gender equality goals. While there is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality around the world, the forum has made progress in setting specific, concrete goals for countries to strive toward.

Closing the gender gap will help to raise women around the world above the poverty line and stimulate economies around the globe. It is pertinent that the world continues to fight for equality and make progress as they have with this forum.

– Alessandra Heitmann
Photo: Flickr

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The Progress of Women’s Rights in Canada

Women's Rights in Canada
Ontario in 1884 and Manitoba in 1900 were the first two Canadian provinces to enact the Married Women’s Property Act. This act allowed married women to have the same legal rights as men, such as purchasing property. Gradually, the other provinces and territories also signed the act. This was one of the first significant improvements to women’s rights in Canada. Further changes in legislation initiated the process of decreasing gender inequality in the country.

The Precedent of the Married Women’s Property Act

Many of the rights that women in Canada now possess are recent acquisitions, especially since Canada is a relatively young country. Most women’s rights became implemented throughout the past 100 years. The Married Women’s Property Act was one of the biggest breakthroughs in women’s rights in Canada because it set a historic precedent that women could be independent in legal matters. Furthermore, the act allowed women to exist independently as separate individuals from their male counterparts. By allowing women to buy property, women gained the ability to possess something of value for themselves.

Achieving Women’s Rights

By 1918, Caucasian women had all gained the right to vote in federal elections. However, it wasn’t until 1960 that Aboriginal women achieved women’s suffrage as well. Furthermore, women were identified as “persons” in the name of the law, which gave them the right to hold political office in 1929. Cairine Reay Wilson became the first woman elected to the Senate in the following year. By selecting a female senator, women’s rights in Canada progressed even further because a female leader represented and spoke up for women.

Moving forward, there were many more victories for women’s rights in Canada. In 1985, the government outlawed discrimination against an individual on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation. Around the same time, the government also criminalized sexual assault within marriage.

Organizations Making An Impact

Two major organizations that support women in Canada are the Canadian Women’s Foundation and the National Council of Women of Canada.

The Canadian Women’s Foundation is a nongovernmental organization that is committed to achieving gender equality. The organization implements social and economic strategies to do so. It specifically advocates for women of diverse backgrounds but is not limited to them. The organization funds programs dedicated to addressing the issues of violence, economic stability, women’s empowerment and leadership. Furthermore, the foundation’s mission reflects its dedication to achieving gender equality for all genders.

The National Council of Women of Canada addresses the welfare and improvement of the overall standard of life for women. The organization focuses on using research and education to empower women to make informed political decisions. This allows women to play a more active role in society and gain an equal position in important matters.

The Gender Wage Gap

Though Canada has made immense strides in gender equality, there are still many issues that the country has to address. One of these issues is the wage gap in Canada. The government made the gender wage gap illegal; however, women are still not all paid equally. This issue can be addressed by representing women in every field. Women occupy fewer high-paid roles than men do. By providing equal gender representation in career fields, the government will make large strides in addressing women’s rights in Canada.

Canada can push for women’s equality by setting an example and being active in women’s rights issues. The country has been successful in creating change and altering perceptions on women’s rights. Partnering with nonprofit organizations, such as the National Council of Women of Canada, will be essential in making Canada a leader in women’s rights and paving the way for future change.

– Manasi Singh
Photo: Flickr