Indicator 18: Gender Differences in Earnings
The ratio of mean annual earnings of females to males highlights an
important aspect of equality between the sexes in the labor market. Partly due
to the unequal sex distribution in industries and occupations, and partly due
to the historical legacy of sex discrimination, mean annual earnings of female
labor force members are usually lower than those of their male counterparts.
By measuring mean annual earnings of females with various levels of
education attainment as a ratio (multiplied by 100) of the mean annual
earnings of their male counterparts, Indicator 18 reveals the relationship
between education and the earnings gap between males and females. By showing
two age groups (25-34 and 45-64), the indicator provides information about
long-term trends in earnings.
- In the United States and the other countries reported here, there was a large gap between male and female average annual earnings at all levels of education attainment and for all age groups (in various years between 1989 and 1992). For example, the average annual earnings of 25- to 64-year-old females with an upper secondary education* credential ranged from 52 percent (New Zealand) to 78 percent (Finland) of the average earnings for their male counterparts. The corresponding ratio in the United States was 60 percent.
- Education attainment made very little difference in the size of the gap between male and female earnings for 25- to 64-year-old labor force participants as a whole or for the subset aged 45-64 years. However, education attainment did make a difference for 25- to 34-year-olds. In other words, in many countries, women's earnings relative to men's were quite similar regardless of education level for those in the 45_64 age group. In contrast, there was generally an increase in the ratio of mean annual earnings of females to those of males with the level of education among 25- to 34-year-olds. For example, in the United States, the earnings of female younger adults with a lower secondary education or below were 63 percent of the earnings of men with the same education level, while the corresponding figure for those with a university education was 74 percent. This pattern is found in many other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland. The opposite trend is true for Germany.
* For further explanation of education levels, see the sidebar entitled ISCED levels of education
Table 18: Ratio of mean annual earnings of females to males in the labor force, by highest level of education attainment, age group, and country: various years
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lower secondary Upper secondary Higher education Higher education
Country Year and below education (non-university) (university)
------- ------ --------------- --------------- ---------------- ----------------
G-7/1 25-34 45-64 25-64 25-34 45-64 25-64 25-34 45-64 25-64 25-34 45-64 25-64
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Canada 1991 59 51 53 64 55 59 68 62 64 78 61 63
France 1992 71 71 72 79 70 77 83 71 79 77 57 63
Germany 1992 84 51 58 76 55 62 63 65 60 58 64 63
United States 1992 63 57 59 65 54 60 73 61 65 74 59 62
Other
Australia 1991 56 58 57 58 60 56 65 59 57 69 57 62
Denmark 1991 72 68 71 75 67 71 74 69 72 72 64 66
Finland 1990 80 79 80 80 76 78 84 79 78 84 69 72
Netherlands 1989 65 44 51 73 53 60 71 46 55 74 50 58
New Zealand 1992 43 56 51 58 42 52 64 58 60 - 51 68
Norway 1992 48 59 58 59 63 61 70 58 61 69 60 58
Portugal 1993 74 71 72 75 65 69 66 67 66 80 72 73
Spain 1991 67 57 58 73 58 64 - - - 84 65 69
Sweden 1992 48 72 70 59 68 68 70 69 68 69 67 66
Switzerland 1992 53 43 47 66 51 53 66 45 53 71 45 53
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Not available.
*No data available for Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
NOTE: Table values represent the ratio multiplied by 100. See supplemental note to Indicator 18 for details on indicator calculation for Australia, Portugal, and Switzerland.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.
Figure 18: Ratio of mean annual earnings of females to males, by highest level of education attainment, age group, and selected country:* various years
*Countries are sorted in descending order by the ratio multiplied by 100 of mean annual earnings of 25- to 34-year-old female university graduates to their male counterparts.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.
See supplemental notes to Indicator 17.
[Indicator 17]
[Indicator 19]