The Ministry of Labor yesterday announced that this year’s Equal Pay Day fell on Friday last week, four days earlier than last year, based on its estimate that women needed to work until this point in the year to achieve the same salary as men last year.
Women had to work an average of 54 more days than men to earn the same income because their salaries were on average 14.7 percent lower than their male counterparts last year.
The average hourly salary for female employees last year was NT$318, compared with NT$373 for male employees, the ministry said.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
While the gender pay gap has narrowed long term, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic slightly widened the gap from 14 percent in 2020 to the 15.8 percent in 2021 and 2022, it said.
However, last year the pay gap decreased to 14.7 percent, primarily due to the service industry requiring more workers, with most of those roles filled by women, it said.
Meanwhile, the ministry highlighted that Taiwan fares better on gender pay equality compared with other nations in the region and worldwide.
In 2022, the pay gap between men and women was 30.2 percent in Japan, 30 percent in South Korea and 17 percent in the US, it said.
The concept of Equal Pay Day was established in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity in the US to raise public awareness about the gap between male and female wages.
The ministry has announced Equal Pay Day every year since 2012.
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