No gender pay gap at entry-level jobs

Bangladesh is one of four countries where the gender pay gap does not exist at the entry-level jobs, in what can be viewed as an endorsement of the country's improving female rights.

“What is striking is that in all but four of the countries the gender pay gap is positive at the point of entry into the labour market,” said the International Labour Organisation in its report 'Global Wage Report 2018-19: What lies behind gender pay gap'.

Australia, China and Russian Federation were the other three countries.

Although there is some variation among countries, it seems that in many countries the gender pay gap widens gradually from the younger to the older cohorts, said the report, which was released yesterday.

Another striking feature is that in almost all the countries as the gap increases it makes a particularly marked “jump” after the first cohort.

In the case of the US, the steepest rise occurs after the first age cohort (up to age 20), where the gender pay gap increases from about 7 percent among those aged 16–20 to about 12 percent among those aged 21–30.

“Taken together, these observations suggest that women's labour market participation is affected differently from that of men at around the child-rearing years.”

And, it is not just a short-term effect but one with relatively long-term consequences for a significant proportion of women across the world, said the report, which is the sixth of its kind.

Globally, women continue to be paid approximately 20 percent less than men, the report found.

“The gender pay gap represents one of today's greatest manifestations of social injustice, and all countries should try to better understand what lies behind them and accelerate progress towards gender equality,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

Bangladesh also fared well in part-time work among women than men.

Among Bangladeshi employees, only 10 percent of the women and 4 percent of the men work part time. On a weighted average of the 72 countries, the proportion of women in part-time work is 14 percent, compared to 7 percent for men.

The ILO report also shed lights on the global trend in wage growth.

Global wage growth in 2017 was its lowest since 2008, according to the report.

In real terms (adjusted for price inflation) global wage growth declined to 1.8 percent in 2017 from 2.4 percent in 2016. The findings are based on data from 136 countries.

In advanced G20 countries the real wage growth declined from 0.9 percent in 2016 to 0.4 percent in 2017.

By contrast, in emerging and developing G20 countries, real wage growth fluctuated between 4.9 percent in 2016 and 4.3 percent in 2017.

In the last 20 years, average real wages have almost tripled in emerging and developing G20 countries, while in advanced G20 countries they have increased by just 9 percent, the report shows.

But, in many low- and middle-income economies, wage inequality remains high and wages are frequently insufficient to cover the needs of workers and their families.

“It's puzzling that in high-income economies we see slow wage growth alongside a recovery in GDP growth and falling unemployment,” Ryder said.

And early indications suggest that slow wage growth continues in 2018.

“Such stagnating wages are an obstacle to economic growth and rising living standards.”

Countries should explore, with their social partners, ways to achieve socially and economically sustainable wage growth, Ryder said.