A woman working full-time on average earns 83 cents for every

dollar a man earns, and women's median annual earnings are more
than $10,000 less than men's.
The global gender pay gap is an expression of persistent
inequalities between men and women in our societies and our
places of work. The social and cultural norms that broadly cast
men’s roles as decision-makers and women’s roles as carers, play
a significant part—not only in terms of the type of paid work into
which women are channelled—but in terms of how that work is
valued and remunerated.
Closing the gender pay gap requires a package of measures,
central to which is decent work.
One of the most effective and quickest ways to narrow gender pay
gaps is through minimum living wages (or wage floors) and
universal social protection. Minimum living wages benefit all low-
paid workers. Since women are starkly overrepresented in low-paid
work, it would usually help women more dramatically. Germany, for
example, recently introduced a national minimum wage to tackle
its stubborn gender wage gap of 22.4 per cent.
Another measure to close the gender pay gap must include the
provision of quality public childcare and elderly care services and
family-friendly workplace policies. Policy measures that encourage
men to share care responsibilities–for instance, paternity leave—
have proven useful in changing the social norms that drive the
gender wage gap. The Scandinavian countries are a case in point
and have so far made the most progress in this area.
Transparency within companies in criteria and decisions
concerning pay can also help prevent gender bias.