Why Are Women Still Paid Less Than Men?.

​Salary remains one of the most important factors for candidates when choosing a new job. It also plays a huge role in retention, as it is undoubtedly linked with career progression.

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Yet, salary also proves to be an area where there remains disparity. There are numerous reasons for this, and one of the most highly focused on in recent years is gender. Women have historically earned less than men for doing the same role; when skills belong to a woman, they are deemed to be of ‘less value’, for whatever reason, than the same ones belonging to a man.

The Gender Pay Gap In 2020

Recently, the gender pay gap has been shrinking. A new article by AsiaTimes sheds light on the current narrowing of the gap in China, for instance. According to a 2020 survey sent out by Women of China, there has been a 23% decrease in the pay gap between men and women.

Yet, despite this, Chinese women are still paid 17% less than men, so there is some way to go yet.

Why Does This Pay Gap Still Exist?

We may ask ourselves why this remains the case, and the answer is not simply in institutionalised patriarchy, which has seen women being provided with less opportunities for education and training. Women’s traditional role as primary caregivers has meant that the typical daylight hours of most roles make being both a mother and a worker difficult.

This is especially the case when the woman in question has no familial assistance when it comes to childcare; 76.8% of working mothers want their children to be looked after by loved ones, if not by themselves.

A Changing Workplace

In recent years, we have begun to see changes in the way that the modern workplace is being run. Workers are increasingly looking for additional benefits aside from decent salaries, and the increasing number of working women has played a huge role in this.

For instance, in order to accommodate the needs of working mothers (among other things), telecommuting and flexible hours have become more and more popular across the globe. In APAC specifically, our Workplace Trends Report has shown that over 60% of employees are now working flexibly on a regular basis.

What Can Employers Do?

Clearly then, salary remains crucial, but the disparity still prevalent within it is indicative of the lack of additional benefits offered to women. Employers need to be aware of an individual employee’s needs; only then can companies maximise their workers and assets. After all, half of the world’s population is female; why rebuff measures to ensure their productivity?

At Aspire, we have been examining salaries and workplace benefits closely. Our new Salary Guide not only provides detailed information on current salary standards for roles across Digital, Media, Marketing and Technology; it also examines what employers need to provide to ensure maximum retention. After all…

‘Retention matters a lot for organisations, because a company faces an average cost of 1.5-2X an employee’s salary when they switch their job. Additionally, high turnover can hit the employee morale, trust and company culture.’

Discover more about this topic by downloading our free guide today