Valerie Bolden-Barrett* says the World Economic Forum’s latest pay equity index reveals it will take another 108 years to close the gender pay gap.
Photo: Sammie Vasquez
Achieving gender pay equity across the globe will take 108 years, according to the Global Gender Gap Index published by the World Economic Forum.
The first index was released in 2006 to capture the extent of gender-based pay disparities and the progress made in ending them.
In the Global Gender Gap Report 2018, the index benchmarks gender gaps based on health, economic, education and political criteria within 200 countries.
Among key findings in the report, a 32 per cent average gender gap remains to be closed, with improvements in 89 of the countries reported in 2017 and 2018.
The largest gender disparity is in political empowerment, with a 77 per cent gap.
Economic participation and opportunity form the second-largest, at 42 per cent, and the educational attainment and health and survival gaps are the lowest, at 4 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.
Of the countries assessed, only 17 currently have women as heads of state.
On average, just 18 per cent of ministers and 24 per cent of parliamentarians worldwide are women, and women hold just 34 per cent of managerial positions across the countries with available political data.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan were the worst performing countries in these areas, but there was full parity in the Bahamas, Colombia, Jamaica, Laos and the Philippines.
The report also showed gaps remain in broad economic power areas including control of financial assets and time spent on unpaid tasks.
In just 60 per cent of the countries assessed, women have as much access to financial services as men, and in 42 per cent of countries, women have access to landownership.
Among the 29 countries where data are available, women spend, on average, twice as much time on household chores and other unpaid work to men.
Also, although gender parity in education is generally more advanced than in other areas, more than 20 per cent of women are illiterate in 44 countries.
The length of time predicted for full pay equity to occur between women and men is sobering.
A recent Georgetown University study concluded that gender-based pay disparity is being understated.
Based on 15 years of analyses, the report puts women’s actual earnings at 49 per cent of men’s, as opposed to the 80 per cent typically recorded.
The 2018 global index seems to affirm this conclusion in some economic and political areas.
Some employers have moved to close the gender pay gaps.
However, social and economic pressures are encouraging other organisations to re-examine their compensation practices to flag and correct disparities and to take up more pay transparency.
Employers in Willis Towers Watson’s 2018 Getting Compensation Right Survey cited the factors driving change toward pay equity as manager feedback, a changing marketplace, employee feedback and costs.
Commissioner Charlotte Burrows of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said recently that the results have been mixed.
“Pay discrimination is still a lot more common than you might think given the amount of time you might hear about it from us and others, but there is also a real sense of urgency and momentum around this issue,” Burrows said.
Various governments have attempted to eliminate pay disparities by passing ordinances limiting salary history questions in recruiting, and lawsuits continue to challenge discrimination in pay practices.
HR leaders can help speed up the pay-gap closure by working with managers to review pay practices, flag and correct inequities, and refer to compensation reports on which to base pay levels.
* Valerie Bolden-Barrett is a business writer, content specialist and Contributing Editor to HR Dive.
This article first appeared at www.hrdive.com.
