A major report from United Nations Women released in seven cities globally on Monday reveals that on average, women are paid 24 percent less than men
major report from United Nations Women released in seven cities globally on Monday reveals that on average, women are paid 24 percent less than men. The gap for women with children is even wider.
"In South Asia, for example, the gender pay gap is 35 percent for women with children, compared to 14 percent for those without. Lower rates of labor force participation, gender pay gaps and lower access to pensions add to a huge care penalty for women," says UN Women report on Monday.
In France and Sweden, over their lifetime, women can expect to earn 31 percent less than men; in Germany, 49 percent less than men; and in Turkey, an average woman can expect to earn a staggering 75 percent less than an average man over her lifetime.
"Women are clustered into a limited set of under-valued occupations," the report reveals.
For example, 83 percent of domestic workers worldwide are women and almost half of them are not entitled to the minimum wage. Even when women succeed in the workplace, they encounter obstacles not generally faced by their male counterparts. In the EU, for instance, 75 percent of women in management and higher professional positions and 61 percent of women in service sector occupations have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace in their lifetime.
"An economy designed with women's needs in mind would give them an equal voice in economic decision-making: from the way in which time and money are spent in their households, to the ways in which resources are raised and allocated at the national level, to how broader economic parameters are set by global institutions," said the report. (ebf)(++++)
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