Women Are Being Paid Up to 36% Less Than Men Worldwide: Study

MOSCOW, December 5 (Sputnik) — Women are paid up to 36 percent less than men, even when better educated, more productive and experienced in 38 countries examined by the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Global Wage Report, published Friday.

The biggest gender wage gap was found to exist in the United States, where women's wages are on average 35.8 percent lower than men's. In contrast, Sweden proved to be the most equal employer, with a difference between the sexes of about four percent, as per the figures provided in the Global Wage Report 2014/15.

The existing wage gaps can be classified by "explained" and "unexplained" factors. The "explained" part covers an individual's experience, education, occupational category, economic activity, location and work ethic, whereas the "unexplained" part, also known as a wage penalty, includes wage discrimination and characteristics that should in principle have no effect on wages.

Another facet to wage differences is the so-called "motherhood wage gap". It estimates the pay gap between mothers and so called non-mothers, women without dependent children. As a case in point, in Mexico, mothers earn about 33 percent less than non-mothers while in the Russian Federation the difference is approximately two percent.

Underpinning how discrimination is keeping women down around the world, the ILO report shows that if the wage penalty were eliminated, nearly half the countries studied would see women actually earn more than men.

The ILO's Global Wage Report is published every two years, reviewing core tendencies in wages distribution and policy responses in developed, emerging and developing countries.