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Thematic page

The gender pay gap

15 April 2024


Background

Gender pay gaps represent one of today’s greatest social injustice. According to the ILO Global Wage Report 2018/19, women earn on average about 20 per cent less than men, although there are wide variations across countries. Many factors can lie behind gender pay gaps, including differences in educational attainment, occupational segregation, or discrimination in pay and in access to particular types of jobs. Motherhood also brings about a wage penalty that can persist across a women’s working life.

The present webpage thus provides links to key ILO documents and publications related to the question of the gender pay gap, and aims to provide tools that support ILO Member States’ efforts in progressively reducing and eliminating gender pay gaps.

Key documents

Related content

Pay transparency legislation: Implications for employers' and workers' organizations
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Paper

Pay transparency legislation: Implications for employers' and workers' organizations

Global Wage Report 2018/19: What lies behind gender pay gaps
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Flagship report

Global Wage Report 2018/19: What lies behind gender pay gaps

The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: A global analysis in the time of COVID-19
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Report

The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: A global analysis in the time of COVID-19