Around the World, Women Earn Less

     On every continent, more women are working for pay than ever before.

     In 1990, women were at least one-third of the workforce in most countries. Experts predict
     that by the year 2000, as many women will be working as men.

     In industrial countries, more women are working for pay than ever before. In 1980, 53 percent
     of women of working age were in the workforce. By 1990, 60 percent were.

          But on every continent, women’s pay lags well behind men’s pay.

          Worldwide, women earn an average of 75 percent of men’s pay (this figure
          excludes agricultural work).

          In Asia, for example, women in Bangladesh earn as little as 42 percent of what
          men earn and in Vietnam it’s 92 percent. Women in the Syrian Arab Republic
          earn only 60 percent of what men earn, and women in Tanzania earn 92 percent
          of men’s earnings. In South America, Chile’s women earn 61 percent of what
          men earn, and Colombian women earn 85 percent of men’s earnings.

          Much of women’s work—for example, caring for children or the elderly or doing
          agricultural work —is unpaid. In fact, around the world, women receive no
          wages for 66 percent of the work they do.

          Women hold jobs at the bottom of the pay scale.

          Around the world, women are more likely than men to hold low-paying jobs:

               In Japan, about 37 percent of working women hold low-wage
               jobs—compared with only 6 percent of men.
               In the United States, about 33 percent of working women hold low-wage
               jobs—compared with 20 percent of men.
               In the United Kingdom, about 31 percent of working women hold
               low-wage jobs—compared with 13 percent of men.
               In France, 25 percent of working women hold low-wage jobs—8 percent
               of men do.
               In Sweden, about 8 percent of working women hold low-wage jobs—3
               percent of men do.

          Worldwide, women hold only 14 percent of administrative and managerial jobs
          and less than 6 percent of senior management jobs.

          One key result? Around the world, more women than men live in
          poverty.

          Females account for 70 percent of the more than 1 billion people who live in
          poverty.

          The United States lags behind other industrialized nations.

          In the United States, equal pay has been the law since 1963. But women still
          earn only 74 percent of men’s pay. The U.S. wage gap for women is worse than
          the wage gap for women in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway and
          Sweden.

          The United States refuses to endorse international agreements on equal
          pay.

          The United States and Korea are the only industrialized nations that have failed
          to sign a 1951 international resolution—the Equal Remuneration Convention of
          the International Labor Organization of the United Nations—endorsing the
          principle of equal pay for work of equal value.

          The United States also has failed to ratify the 1979 United Nations Convention
          for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

          The AFL-CIO supports equal pay for all the world’s women.

          We call on Congress to sign the international resolutions endorsing equal pay
          and to join us in calling for an end to discrimination against women.

          We’re sponsoring a national day of action and ongoing activities across the
          country, supporting fair pay legislation and stepping up union bargaining for
          equal pay.

          Unionized women earn 40 percent more than women not in unions—and the
          wage gap between union women and union men is one-third smaller than for
          nonunion workers. If you’re not earning equal pay, ask your union for help. If
          you’re not in a union, form or join one!

          To get more information on equal pay—and to make your voice heard, call:

               The Working Women Working Together Network at 1-888-971-9797.
               The Coalition of Labor Union Women at 202-466-4610.
               The National Committee on Pay Equity at 202-331-7343.

          This Equal Pay Alert was jointly published by the AFL-CIO Working Women’s
          Department and the Coalition of Labor Union Women in honor of International
          Women’s Day.

          Sources: Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, The Gender Earnings Gap: Some International Evidence,
          National Bureau of Economic Research, December 1992; International Labor Organization, "Report III Part
          2—List of Ratifications by Convention and by Country" (as of 31 December 1996), International Labor
          Conference 85th Session, 1997; "Women Work More, But Are Still Paid Less," August 25, 1995; "Women
          Swell Ranks of Working Poor," World of Work , September/October 1996; Lin Lean Lim, More and Better Jobs
          for Women—An Action Guide, 1996; National Committee on Pay Equity, Newsnotes, Winter 1996, citing
          United Nations Development Program Human Development Report, 1995, p. 36; Joni Seager, The State of
          Women in the World Atlas, 1997; U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Earnings, January 1998; United
          Nations Development Program, Human Development Report, 1997.

http://www.aflcio.org/women/f_around.htm#top
 
 

.. Poor," World of Work , September/October 1996; Lin Lean Lim, More and Better Jobs  for Women—An Action Guide, 1996; National Committee on Pay Equity, Newsnotes ...