Will American women soon reverse the gender wage gap?
By David on May 5, 2008 in Featured, World
With recent statistics showing significantly more American women than men attending colleges (57% women - 43% men), is it inevitable that the USA will soon become a country where women earn more than men? What does a recent survey reveal about the gender gap in earnings of women around the world?
A study by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) shows that in every OECD country, the median wages for men are higher than those for women. The average difference is slightly more than 15%, and exceeds 20% in several countries.
Male median earnings are more than 20% higher than those of women in Korea, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the USA (these statistics refer only to full time jobs). At the other end of the scale is New Zealand, Belgium, Poland, Greece and France … all with less than a 12% gender gap.
While the gender wage gap has narrowed in recent centuries in almost all OECD countries (including the USA), on average women earn about 16% less than men.
Using 2004 or latest year info, below is a list of the gender wage gaps in median earnings … showing the countries with the smallest gap at the top and going downward.
New Zealand - 6%
Belgium - 10%
Poland
Greece
France - 12%
Hungary
Denmark
Australia
Sweden - 15%
Spain
— Average about 16%
Czech Republic
Portugal
Ireland
United Kingdom - 20%
Finland
United States - 22%
Canada
Switzerland
Germany - 24%
Japan - 32%
Korea - 40%
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Dan | May 7, 2008 | Reply
It’s an interesting thought. I would hope that the gap between what men and women are paid would close before the demographics you suggest kick in. There are certainly companies that have an equitable view of compensation. However, I think that even if there are more educated and qualified women in the workforce that their pay will lag because I don’t think that that shift alone will change the balance of power at ownership, board, and senior executive levels for a long time.