International Equal Pay Day

The gender gap in pay has slightly narrowed in the United States over the past 20 years or so. In 2024, women earned an average of 85% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. In 2003, women earned 81% as much as men. As has long been the case, the wage gap is smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. In 2024, women 25 to 34 earned an average of 95 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group – a 5-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 15 cents. How we did this? While the gender pay gap has not changed a lot since 2003, it has narrowed considerably when looking at the longer term, both among all workers 16 and older and among those 25 to 34. The estimated 15-cent gender pay gap among all workers in 2024 was down from 35 cents in 1982. And the 5-cent gap among workers ages 25 to 34 in 2024 was down from a 26-cent ...

Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. On International Equal Pay Day , September 18th , let’s reaffirm our commitment to Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , which advocates for equal pay for equal work .

Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for human rights & gender equality. Yet, despite global progress, there isn't a single country or a sector that has closed the gender pay gap. On average, women are paid about 20% less than men. In some regions, as well as for women of colour, immigrant women & women with children, the difference is even greater. On Wednesday's Equal Pay Day, join UN Women in demanding equal pay for work of equal value.

  Equal pay for work of equal value is at the core of the trade union call for a New Social Contract . This entails the creation of quality jobs, including in the care economy, respect for fundamental labour rights , adequate wages , universal social protection , and greater equality and inclusion. Equal pay for equal work is more likely to be achieved within inclusive and egalitarian labour markets . Trade unions and adequate gender-inclusive policies and regulations are central to both the development of inclusive labour markets and to the pursuit of gender pay equality . This section presents some examples of how trade unions around the world have campaigned to tackle gender pay gaps through social dialogue towards the adoption of conducive legislation, workplace policies and collective agreements, as well as through promoting campaigns and other tools and initiatives. CHILE   - In 2022, an agreement between the Government of Chile, the Central Organization of Chilean...

The global effort to promote gender equality, empower women and girls, and combat gender discrimination is at the cornerstone of the Agenda 2030 and, more specifically, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5. SDG 5 underscores that gender-based discrimination hinders progress towards a more just and equitable world . A crucial aspect of this ongoing endeavour lies in securing equal compensation for work of equal value, irrespective of gender. Furthermore, SDG 8 which focuses on Decent Work and Economic Growth sets forth ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030, including full and productive employment for all women and men, as well as equal pay for work of equal value . Every year the global community observes International Equal Pay Day on September 18 , signifying the importance of this objective and the lengthy journey ahead of us.

  There are several policies that have been shown to have a positive effect in reducing the gender wage gap, especially when effectively combined. Firstly, establishing and enforcing equal pay and anti-discrimination legislation has been recognised as essential in order to establish a legal framework for ensuring equal pay for work of equal value, as well as to provide legal recourse to victims of pay discrimination. International labour standards in the area of equal pay and non-discrimination, namely ILO Convention 100 on equal remuneration forwork of equal value and ILO Convention 111 onDiscrimination (Employment and Occupation) provide important frameworks for governments in this respect. Still, the ILO Committee of Experts has acknowledged that while many countries have ratified ILO C100, a smaller number of countries have actually passed implementing laws or applied the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’ in law and in practice.  Some governments have al...

 Equal pay for work of equal value is an internationally recognised fundamental right, rooted in the ILO Convention 100(1951) on Equal Remuneration , which focuses on gender discrimination in employment and sets out that signatories must promote and ensure equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.  The key role of equal pay in fostering gender equality, dignity, fairness, respect and recognition for the work of women , has been prioritised by the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. SDG 8 on inclusive growth, full employment and decentwork enshrines equal pay among its targets, underscoring that an equitable and inclusive world of work is a precondition to genderequality and societal progress overall ( SDG 5 ) Measuring progress in closing gender pay gaps is essential to address pay discrimination wherever it happens and to foster the implementation of the SDGs. Unfortunately, the lack of comparable disaggregated data by gender, race, di...