Women Earn Half of Men’s Labour Income Worldwide: ILO – Mexico Business News

Global Labour Income Disparities: A Challenge to Sustainable Development Goals

A 2025 global analysis by the International Labour Organization (ILO) reveals significant and persistent gender inequality in labour income, posing a direct challenge to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). The report indicates that women globally earn only 52 cents for every dollar earned by men. This slow progress from 47 cents in 2004 underscores the urgent need for systemic reforms to meet the targets of the 2030 Agenda.

Regional disparities highlight the uneven progress towards SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). While the Americas and Asia-Pacific have seen modest gains, Africa and the Arab States lag significantly, with women earning just 35 cents and 14 cents on the dollar, respectively. These figures reflect deep-rooted structural barriers that prevent the full economic empowerment of women.

Analysis of the Gender Labour Income Gap

A Comprehensive Measurement Framework

The ILO’s analysis provides a comprehensive view of inequality by including the income of both employees and the self-employed, as well as accounting for individuals not in employment. This methodology captures the combined impact of unequal access to employment and earnings disparities, offering a clearer picture of the obstacles to achieving SDG 8.5, which calls for full, productive employment and equal pay for work of equal value.

Key Drivers of Inequality

The report identifies several interconnected factors driving the labour income gap, each undermining specific SDG targets:

• Employment Participation: With 1.4 billion employed women compared to 2.1 billion men, the disparity in workforce participation is a primary barrier to SDG 5’s goal of full and effective participation in economic life.
• Average Annual Earnings: Among those employed, women earn just 78 cents for every dollar earned by men annually, demonstrating a failure to achieve equal pay for work of equal value as mandated by SDG 8.5.
• Unpaid Care and Domestic Work: Women perform three times more unpaid care work than men. This unequal burden, a direct focus of SDG 5.4, results in both income and time poverty, limiting women’s ability to engage in paid labour and perpetuating economic dependency.

Systemic Barriers to Achieving SDG 5 and SDG 8

Occupational and Sectoral Segregation

Occupational segregation remains a critical barrier to gender equality. Women are overrepresented in undervalued and lower-paying sectors such as education, healthcare, and social work, while men dominate higher-paying technical and industrial fields. This segregation limits women’s earning potential and hinders progress on SDG 5.5, which aims to ensure equal opportunities for leadership. In 2023, women held only 30% of managerial positions globally.

Furthermore, research from the OECD and CEDLAS in Latin America highlights a persistent gender gap in STEM fields, a critical area for future economic growth. This disparity, often rooted in educational choices influenced by stereotypes, undermines SDG 4’s objective to eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to vocational training.

The Role of the Informal Economy

Informal employment, which often lacks social protection and income stability, disproportionately affects women in low- and lower-middle-income countries. This reality obstructs the fulfillment of SDG 8.8 (Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments) and reinforces the structural inequalities targeted by SDG 10. The lack of access to credit, childcare, and legal protections creates significant barriers for women seeking to transition into the formal economy.

Policy Recommendations for Accelerating Progress Towards the 2030 Agenda

The ILO concludes that achieving gender equality in labour income requires systemic reforms aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. The following policy actions are critical:

1. Expand Access to Formal Employment: Implement inclusive growth and targeted labour policies to create decent work opportunities for women, directly supporting SDG 8.5.
2. Recognize and Redistribute Unpaid Care Work: Invest in public childcare, parental leave, and eldercare infrastructure to value and reduce the burden of unpaid care, a core component of SDG 5.4.
3. Promote Women’s Leadership and Entrepreneurship: Enact measures to ensure women’s full participation and equal opportunities for leadership in all sectors, in line with SDG 5.5.
4. Reduce Occupational Segregation: Address stereotypes and barriers in education and vocational training to expand women’s access to better-paid and more stable employment, contributing to SDG 4 and SDG 5.
5. Strengthen Social Protection Systems: Extend social safety nets to reach informal and vulnerable workers, a key strategy for achieving SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Economic Co-Benefits of Gender Equality

Investing in gender equality yields significant economic returns, creating a virtuous cycle for sustainable development. ILO estimates suggest that every US$1 invested in care-related policies could generate up to US$3.76 in global GDP by 2035. Closing the gender gap is not only a moral and legal imperative but also a critical driver for achieving robust and inclusive economic growth as envisioned in SDG 8.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  The entire article is centered on gender inequality in the economic sphere. It discusses disparities in labour income, employment rates, leadership positions, and the burden of unpaid care work, all of which are core components of SDG 5.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  The article directly addresses issues of employment, pay gaps, and working conditions. It highlights the lack of decent work for many women, particularly those in informal employment, and discusses the need for full and productive employment and equal pay for work of equal value, which are central to SDG 8.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  The article focuses on the economic inequality between men and women. The “labour income gender ratio” is a direct measure of this inequality. The discussion of regional disparities (e.g., Africa and the Arab States lagging behind) and the focus on vulnerable workers in the informal sector also align with the goal of reducing inequalities within and among countries.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work.

  The article extensively discusses the unequal burden of unpaid work, stating, “Globally, women perform three times more unpaid care work than men.” It also highlights the ILO’s recommendation to “Recognizing and redistributing unpaid care work via investments in public childcare, parental leave and eldercare infrastructure.”

• Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership.

  This target is addressed by the article’s data on women in management. It notes, “In 2023, women held 30% of managerial positions globally,” and in the tech sector, “less than one in five leadership positions are occupied by women.”

• Target 8.5: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men… and equal pay for work of equal value.

  This is the central theme. The article’s main finding is that “women around the world collectively earn just over half the total labour income earned by men.” It breaks this down into unequal access to employment (“1.4 billion employed women globally compared with 2.1 billion employed men”) and disparities in earnings (“female workers earned 78 cents for every dollar earned by male workers”).

• Target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers… and those in precarious employment.

  The article discusses the issue of informal employment, where women in low-income countries face higher rates of informality. It states that “Informal employment often lacks social protection, collective bargaining rights, and income stability, reinforcing structural inequality.”

• Target 10.4: Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality.

  The ILO’s recommendations at the end of the article directly support this target. These include “Strengthening social protection systems to reach informal and vulnerable workers” and investing in “public childcare, parental leave and eldercare infrastructure” to redistribute unpaid care work and reduce income inequality.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Labour Income Gender Ratio: The article introduces this as a key indicator, stating it “stands at 0.52,” meaning “women collectively earn 52 cents for every dollar earned by men.” This directly measures the overall economic gap discussed in SDG 8 and SDG 10.
• Proportion of Women in Managerial Positions: The article provides a clear metric for Target 5.5, stating that “women held 30% of managerial positions globally” in 2023. This can be tracked over time to measure progress in women’s leadership.
• Time Spent on Unpaid Care Work: An indicator for Target 5.4 is explicitly mentioned: “Globally, women perform three times more unpaid care work than men.” The article also notes women work “six hours and 25 minutes less per week in paid employment than men,” which is a related measure of the time disparity.
• Gender Gap in Labour Force Participation: The article provides raw numbers that can be used as an indicator for Target 8.5: “1.4 billion employed women globally compared with 2.1 billion employed men.” This highlights the gap in access to employment.
• Proportion of Women in Informal Employment: To measure progress on Target 8.8, the article provides data on informality rates, noting that in low- and lower-middle-income countries, women face higher rates than men by “4.7 and 4.6 percentage points higher than men, respectively.”
• Occupational Segregation by Gender: The article implies this indicator by discussing women’s overrepresentation in “education, healthcare, social work” and underrepresentation in STEM, where “fewer than one in five women aged 30–40 in ten Latin American countries work in STEM occupations.”

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: mexicobusiness.news