The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

A new International Labour Organization (ILO) study suggests that discrimination may be preventing women in Bangladesh from earning the same wages as men.

The working paper - the first of its kind - found that even after controlling for factors such as differences in age, education, industry, type of occupation and geographical location, the gender wage gap is an estimated 15.9 percent. And when segregation by industry and occupation is also factored in (women tend to be grouped in lower-paying industries and do not have access to the same types of jobs), the overall wage gap increases by 7.2 percentage points to an estimated 23.1 per cent.

Using a simple average - not qualified by any of these factors - women earn 21 per cent less per hour than men.

"This survey gives us a clearer picture of what is driving the large differences between men's and women's earnings in Bangladesh. One key finding is that the gender wage gap is not fully explained by differences in education, age and job location. Another is that segregation of the sexes into different industries and different types of occupations in the country is driving down women's average wages" said Steven Kapsos, a labour economist at the ILO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the study's author. "This has far-reaching consequences for individuals, society and policy makers".

The findings are based on the largest occupational wage survey ever conducted in Bangladesh. The study gives the first estimates of gender wage gaps by industry, education, and workplace size that also take into account workers' age, occupation and geographic location. It also offers the first quantitative estimates of the effects of occupational segregation on men's and women's wages. The data were collected by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) with technical and financial support from the ILO, the United Nations agency dealing with work and workplace issues.

The BBS survey collected data on earnings of more than 60,000 men and women in 150 locations across the country. 202 occupations in 37 non-agricultural industry groupings were analysed, including manufacturing, construction, hotels and restaurants, finance, education, and health and social work. The survey also collected data on employees' age, gender, educational background, industry, occupation, hours of work and geographic location. The ILO study focuses on data for 40,943 workers for which hourly wage rates could be calculated from the survey data.

The largest male-female wage gaps were found in the construction, hotel and restaurant industries (in which women earn an average of 30 percent less than men), among workers with primary education or less, and in mid-sized enterprises (10-99 workers). The smallest gaps are in the service industries (education, health and social work).

Education plays an important role. The study shows that as women's education increases, the male-female wage gap decreases, because women tend to see more benefits from additional education in terms of earnings than men. Women who have not completed primary education earn an average of 22 per cent less than their male equivalents, but this differential narrows to only four per cent for those with secondary education and eight per cent for those who have completed tertiary education.

"Wage levels are directly linked to living standards and therefore it is very important to understand why women tend to earn so much less than men in Bangladesh," Mr. Kapsos said. "The survey results indicate that women's unequal access to certain types of jobs is one key factor. Policy makers need to consider measures to reduce occupational segregation and promote education for all as a way of improving gender equality and raising living standards."