2.  What is WAGE GAP ?
 Wage gap vs. Equal pay
 Causes of the Gender Pay Gap
 Employment and Equal Pay in East Asia
 Suggestions for future action
 List of Figures

3. It measures the difference between male and female average
earnings and is usually expressed as a percentage or
percentage point difference as follows:
 The female-to-male earnings or wage ratio is calculated by
dividing women’s earnings or wages by men’s earnings or
wages, multiplied by 100. For example, if women’s average
monthly wage is 3 units and men’s is 5 units, then the
female-to-male wage ratio is 3 divided by 5, amounting to
0.6 or 60% when expressed as a percentage. In this
example, women earn 60% of what men earn
 The gender pay gap comprises the difference between the
pay of men and women. For instance, in the above
example, when women’s average monthly average wage is
60% of men’s average monthly wage, then the gender wage
gap is 100 minus 60, and amounts to 40 percentage points.

4. Wage gap and pay equity are frequently used
interchangeably but they are not the same
thing. They both relate to the same concern,
that is the gap in earnings between men and
women.
Pay Equity is defined as equal pay for work of
equal value. Pay equity is part of the solution to
the wage gap.

5.  Education, age and work experience
 “Men’s and women’s” jobs: Occupational
segregation by sex
 Hours of work
 Discrimination
 Equality of opportunity and treatment

6.  Women are typically found in the care economy and
are concentrated in the five C occupations:
 Caring
 Cashiering
 Catering
 Cleaning
 Clerical

7. Extent of the gap
Evolution of the wage gap
Variables influencing the gap

15.  International instruments
1. Equal remuneration and nondiscrimination
 ILO Convention No. 95 on the protection of wages has only been ratified
by Malaysia and the Philippines. Japan and the Republic of Korea have
ratified ILO Convention No. 131, the most recent instrument on minimum
wage fixing. These two countries along with China are also the only ones
which have ratified ILO Convention No. 26 on minimum wage fixing
machinery. Only the Philippines has ratified ILO Convention No. 99on
minimum wage fixing in agriculture.
2. Wages
 ILO Convention No. 95 on the protection of wages has only been ratified
by Malaysia and the Philippines. Japan and the Republic of Korea have
ratified ILO Convention No. 131, the most recent instrument on minimum
wage fixing. These two countries along with China are also the only ones
which have ratified ILO Convention No. 26 on minimum wage fixing
machinery. Only the Philippines has ratified ILO Convention No. 99 on
minimum wage fixing in agriculture.

16. International instruments (cont.)
3. Collective bargaining
ILO Convention No. 98 on the right to organize and collective
bargaining has been ratified by Japan, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Singapore, and declared applicable in Hong Kong SAR,
while the number of ratifications of ILO Convention No. 87 on freedom
of association and the protection of the right to organize is even
lower, with only two ratifications (Japan and the Philippines)
among the countries reviewed in this guide and a
declaration of applicability in Hong Kong SAR. None of the countries
covered in this guide have ratified ILO Convention No. 154 on
collective bargaining.
4. Maternity and family responsibilities
 None of the countries in the study have ratified any of the maternity
protection conventions.

18.  National laws and regulations
◦ Non-discrimination and equal
opportunities and treatment in
◦ Employment
◦ Equal remuneration
◦ Discrimination compromising women’s
income during and beyond working life
◦ Institutional mechanisms
 Wages

19.  Practical measures
 Job evaluation methods
 Wage Indicator websites
 Promoting pay equity in the public sector – Union action
 Capacity building of labour inspectors – Czech Republic
 Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices –
Singapore
 Guidelines for employers to eliminate wage disparity –
Japan
 Guidelines and mechanism for the promotion of work
life balance Japan
 Corporate social responsibility – Thailand
 Campaigning for an Asian Floor Wage – Union Action