Women in Korea earn one-third less than men, report says

Economy

Published: 08 Mar. 2023, 14:26 Updated: 08 Mar. 2023, 16:31

Women in Korea earn one-third less than men, report says

Members of a women's organization give out roses to people in celebration of International Women's Day at Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Women earn on average 35 percent less than men, a recent report says.

The average monthly salary of women in Korea was 2.2 million won ($1,660), while that of men was 3.39 million won, according to a report released by a labor research institute under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on Wednesday, International Women’s Day.

The report said that a higher percentage of female employees, 29.3 percent, earned less than 1.66 million won a month. Only 9.9 percent of men earned less than that amount.

Some 94 percent of working women in their 70s and 81 percent of working teenage women earned less than 1.66 million won a month.

Women had shorter work tenures, which the report cited as a major cause of the pay discrepancy.

Women worked 4.81 consecutive years on average, 2.11 years shorter than men, who worked 6.92 years.

Unfair employment structures also play a role in these disparities, the report claimed, noting that many women work in low-paying jobs as irregular contract workers.

It added that 38 percent of female employees worked in small businesses with fewer than 10 people.

Researcher Jeong Gyeong-gyun, the author of the report, called for a law to publicly disclose income and labor data by sex, adding that the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s policy on labor essentially leaves it up to businesses to close workplace gender disparities.

“A transparent, gender-based disclosure system with clear objectives, like the notion of 'equal pay for equal work,' is required to resolve the gender disparity,” she said.

BY LEE SU-MIN, SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]