DEFINITION
The gender pay gap (also referred to as the gender wage gap) is a measure of what women are paid relative to men. It is commonly calculated by dividing women’s wages by men’s wages, and this ratio is often expressed as a percent, or in Rand terms. This tells us how much a woman is paid for each Rand paid to a man. This gender pay ratio is often measured for year-round, full-time workers and compares the annual wages (of hourly wage and salaried workers) of the median (“typical”) man with that of the median (“typical”) woman; measured this way.
The Gender Pay Gap in South Africa
In 2019, the gender pay gap in South Africa was between 23% and 35%. In other words, for every Rand a man makes, a woman makes about between 23 and 35 cents.
Information Source:
(1) Economic Policy Institute
https://www.epi.org/publication/what-is-the-gender-pay-gap-and-is-it-real/
(2) Gender pay transparency mechanisms: Future directions for South Africa. South African Journal of Science – Bosch, A., & Barit, S. (2020)
https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6772
