Policies required to address 17% gender pay gap
(CNS): The community affairs ministry, which has responsibility for gender issues, is now focusing its attention on addressing the pay gap which sees women earning some 17% less than men, despite being equally, if not better, educated. Following revelations in the 2010 census about the significant difference between the pay received by men and woman, specific gender information has been collated into a new brochure, which is expected to assist, not just the public sector, but the private sector as well with the need to address society’s gender inequalities. Policy makers will be able to use these statistics to make critical decisions across a variety of subject areas that will work towards improving the identified gender gaps.
The Minister for Community Affairs, Gender and Housing, Mike Adam, pointed out that the census has now confirmed long held concerns.
“Previously only suspicions or anecdotal evidence suggested pay discrimination was an issue in the Cayman Islands, but the data from the 2010 Census that is highlighted in this brochure reflects that pay inequalities do indeed exist between women and men at all levels,” he said.
The new brochure points to the statistics which show that in 2010, on average, women were paid almost 17% less than men, and they earned less whatever their educational level. There were also some very large income gaps by sex and occupation, with females in elementary occupations earning an average of 64¢ for every $1.00 that a man earns.
When it came to education, however, the data confirmed once again that females are accessing educations systems more than men. In 2010, a higher percentage of women were attending school for both full-time and part-time study, and females were also more likely to have an Associate’s Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree or higher. In 2010, 18.3% of girls aged 15 years and older had passed no examinations, compared to 21.5% of boys in the same age group.
Regardless of the higher education acquired by females compared to males, this unfortunately did not translate in broad terms to equitable pay rates with their male counterparts.
The ministry’s senior policy advisor for gender affairs, Tammy Ebanks, said she was very pleased with the brochure, which is expected to help focus attention on the realities of inequality.
“The final product strikes a balance between visual appeal and clear presentation of important data," she said. "It really provides a concise and simple snapshot of the differences and similarities between men and women in the Cayman Islands, and I believe it will be of interest to the public.”
The statistics cover population, education, health, economic activity and home ownership and also break down the data to show differences among Caymanian and non-Caymanian males and females in many areas. Respective levels of education, the likelihood of having health insurance or chronic health conditions, average income and other information relevant to the people of these islands are all presented as engaging info-graphics. For ease of interpretation, the data is also accompanied by explanatory text.
Betty Talbert, the deputy director and chief statistician from the ESO, recently presented the data at a regional CARICOM seminar, where participants described the project as a ground-breaking model which should be followed by other countries within the region.
The brochure is currently available online at www.genderequality.gov.ky and www.eso.ky and hard copies will be produced in the very near future. Officials encourage the public to read the brochure and to learn more about their rights and obligations under the Gender Equality Law and other legislation that promotes non-discrimination.
If any person believes that he or she has been discriminated against contrary to the Gender Equality Law, he or she may file a complaint with the Gender Equality Tribunal. For more information persons are invited to contact the Secretary at get@gov.ky or 244-3226 or visit www.genderequality.gov.ky
See brochure below.
Category: Local News
Being "better eduacted" doesn't translate into being a better work or doing the job more effectively.
Wait…..I don't recall being asked about my salary during the census?
gender equality statments?……. someone is busy looking busy….zzzzzzzz
on average men are more intelligent than women……
That statement is not true. What is true is that the IQ bell curve of men is flatter than for women – there are far more men at the extreme tails of high and low intelligence. There are good evolutionary reasons for this in the context of a hunter-gatherer social animal. The effect of the difference in IQ distribution may explain some aspects of why men earn more. The men at the high end of the curve earn more and there are more of them. The obverse is less true – the men at the lower end of the curve can often compensate with physical labour benefits, so the men at the lower IQ end will tend to have more options in an economy than women in a similar position.
I had to give you a thumbs down there buddy, and I have been a man for more than 50 years. Looking to your left and right from your position at the bar is not a good sample.
Youve been a man for more than 50 years? What about the other 10
what were you doing in the bar oldtimer?
An intelligent person would never allude to that, which is why men mostly write these trivial, obnoxious comments..
BTW,I am a man. You could do with listening sometimes, and I mean listening rather than just assuming you are always right and justyfying things with daft comment that cannot ever be proved. Next you will be saying one colour is superior to another, one nations citizens superior…read "Mein Kampf". Hitler started there. Sounds like you are well on your way.
Rather suspect you are being provocative, but would also have to question the intelligence of anyone that would use that one liner to be provocative…
it's a fact….but then again facts are ignored when you are lost in a fog of political correctness
Actually the fact is that men are represented more at both ends of the bell curve. However, the majority of men and women fall within the bell curve (that’s why it’s a bell curve!), so I would say the difference in pay has more to do with sexism, and less to do with the fact that about 2% of men are uber-intelligent. Remember, men are also over represented at the other end too!
The psot from Reality Cheque below explains why the bell curve deviations translate into higher earning power for men as a whole. It does not mean all the difference is explained by this, but on a level playing field it would explain why men as a group would earn more than women as a group.
men and women should be treated equally but they are not equal……
The cumulative effect of less risk aversion in career choices accounts for a significant element of the disparity. That elemt of the difference should not be "bridged" as it is a simple pay off for a better risk reward strategy.
That may apply to how far one advances but it hardly accounts for being paid less for the same job.
Men's strategies (in the game theory sense) dervied from the lower risk aversion mean better wage negotiation power. This probably only accounts for a small part of the difference but it does count for some of it.