CLOSING THE GENDER PAY GAP

Jun 05, 2015 Editorial

One of the promises made during the election campaign by the APNU+AFC Coalition was to narrow the gender pay gap. This, however, may be one of the more difficult promises to fulfill now or anytime in the future.
Gender inequality has unfortunately become the norm, worldwide. According to the latest statistics, in almost every country, women on average trail behind men in terms of earnings and Guyana is no exception. The estimated earned income of a woman in Guyana is roughly 27 percent less than that of a man.
In other words, women earn between 71 to74 cents to every dollar earned by men, which is a very significant pay gap. This has resulted in Guyana ranking very low in terms of estimated earned income between men and women.
Can the new government fulfill its election promise of gender equality?
The irony is that while various members of the business community have stated that women are better workers than men, they continue to pay women less for doing similar work. This dates back to Guyana’s historical and cultural situation which valued women’s work less than men’s work, whether in households or in communities.
Even if a position is occupied mostly by women, the pay and value attached to it is lower than a position retained by men. The Granger administration, unlike its immediate predecessor, has promised to end this type of inherent injustice against women.
The low rate of pay for women in Guyana is striking, since there is a relatively high level of female participation in the labour force. In fact, the ratio of women to men in the country is about 53 percent compared to 47 percent for men. While the number of women in the workforce is also higher than men, their earnings are considerably lower.
And the levels of women’s participation in secondary and tertiary education are much higher than their male counterparts, which translate to a considerably better literacy rate. In terms of political empowerment, women lag considerably behind.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, more males than females are employed in agriculture, forestry, fishing; petroleum, mining, security, construction and transportation. At the same time, more females than males are employed in wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, hotels; finance, real estate, insurance, business services; teaching, nursing and community services.
In addition, it gets worse for men as more than 85 percent of household chores are done by women, notwithstanding the fact that 92 percent of all single parents in Guyana are women. There is often the feeling that while some women have risen to senior levels in political leadership, it should be recognized that some of these roles are usually stereotypical and quite frankly, window dressers.
Frustrations among women still exist and have become deep-rooted, because the old boys’ club continues to discriminate against women and enforces favouritism.
In a country with a population of 747,000, women should not accept such a lopsided pay gap. They must hold the government accountable and pressure its leaders to change the dynamic. The government must not only talk, but it must take action and ‘walk the walk’ to level the playing field for women and create more opportunities for all.
Being aware of the problems of women in relation to gender inequality, it will be in the Coalition government’s best interest to solve them. The administration must address this problem immediately if it is to maintain credibility with the people, especially women. They should be aware that unequal pay is a symptom of a social malaise which reflects cultural tendencies that veer toward the male species and, therefore, should implement legal mechanisms to close the gender pay gap and end the exclusion of women in all institutions, both public and private.
While some may say that Guyana has come some way in addressing gender inequality, the new administration must do much more to narrow the pay gap. It is time.

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CLOSING THE GENDER PAY GAP

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