WageIndicator Conference

1
WageIndicator ConferenceGoing Global

• Louisa Potter and Simone Melis Incomes Data
  Services
• Amsterdam, 16 April

2
The International Gender Pay Gap

• Comparing WageIndicator and ILO data

3
Outline

• Global data from ILO
• WageIndicator findings
• Visualizing the gap
• Comparing ILO and WI results
• Methodological issues
• Debate
• towards a single WI methodology?

4
Global data

• Analysis of pay gap in 63 countries 30 European,
  33 across the rest of the world
• Global average 15.6 per cent (excluding Bahrain
  16.5 per cent)
• Results generally more positive in Europe,
  Oceania and Latin America, with Europe taking the
  lead
• Data deficiencies in a number of countries,
  particularly across Africa and Asia

5
Global data (2)

• Europe -
• Average pay gap 14.5 per cent
• Overall decline in pay gap over the last decade
• Job segregation by gender has a negative effect
  on pay gap (i.e. UK)
• Americas -
• North America lack of official data
• Larger pay gap in Canada (27.5) USA (22.4)
  than world average
• Latin America mixed picture due to large
  informal economies

6
Global data (3)

• Oceania -
• Pay gap lower than world average
• Australia 14.1 New Zealand 13.8
• Mixed picture on progress
• Africa -
• Insufficient data
• Asia -
• Pay gap significantly higher than world average
• Large variation due to the nature of individual
  country labour markets and quality of official
  data, i.e. Bahrain (-40), Japan (33.4),
  Mongolia (16.1) and Sri Lanka (7.3)

7
WageIndicator findings

• 12 countries covering almost 300 000 respondents
• Average gap ranges between 13 (Brazil) and 23 per
  cent (Poland)
• Pay gap is higher in female-dominated work
  environments than in typical male dominated work
  environments
• The gender pay gap by NACE industry breakdown

8
WageIndicator findings (2)

• Part-time vs. full-time hours
• The relationship between trade union membership
  and the gender pay gap
• The public-private sector divide
• Does education matter?

9
Visualizing the global gap
10
Visualizing the European gap
11
Comparing ILO and WI results
Country ILO/Eurostat data sources Wage Indicator database
Belgium 7.0 (provisional) 13.3
Brazil 17.7 (2004) 12.9
Finland 20.0 20.0
Hungary 22.0 21.9
Germany 11.0 17.0
Netherlands 18.0 (2005) 20.8
Poland 12.0 23.0
Spain 13.0 21.8
United Kingdom 20.0 (2005) 15.7
12
Methodological issues

• Defining the gender pay gap
• Calculating earnings
• Availability and reliability of data
• Sample size/response rate
• Type of employee
• Data collection

13
Debate Towards a single WI methodology?

• Adjusted or unadjusted?
• Weighted?
• Hourly/weekly/annual earnings data?
• Data collection period?