The hourly pay of male workers in Taiwan last year averaged NT$361, while that of female workers was NT$304, a gap of 15.8 percent, the Ministry of Labor said on Tuesday as it announced Feb. 27 as equal pay day.
The wage difference means that women in Taiwan must work 58 days more to catch up with men in terms of annual earnings, the ministry said, citing data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
That is why equal pay day would be marked on Feb. 27, because it is the 58th day of the year, the ministry added.
The gap between men’s and women’s hourly wages fell from 14.9 percent in 2019 to 14.8 percent in 2020, before jumping to 15.8 percent last year, it said.
The ministry attributed the rise to a larger hourly pay increase of 4.6 percent received by men last year, compared with 3.3 percent given to women.
Over the past decade, women have received higher average annual pay hikes than men, except for last year, said Jasmine Mei (梅家瑗), head of the ministry’s Department of Statistics.
In the hospitality and restaurant sector, where women make up 56.3 percent of the workforce, employees received a 1.2 percent increase in hourly pay on average, due to a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert implemented last year, while in the male-dominated manufacturing sector, employees received a 5.5 percent rise in hourly pay thanks to booming foreign trade, Mei said.
The gender pay gap in the manufacturing sector also widened, as women employed in the electronics manufacturing industry received an hourly pay hike of 6.7 percent last year, lower than the 13.2 percent given to their male counterparts, she added.
However, the gender pay gap in Taiwan is still smaller than in several other countries.
Japan last year had a gender wage gap of 30.7 percent, South Korea’s was 30.4 percent and the US’ 16.9 percent, ministry data showed.
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