Gender pay gaps among agricultural and non-agricultural wage workers: A cross-country examination

Benali, Marwan; Slavchevska, Vanya; Piedrahita, Natalia; Davis, Benjamin; Sitko, Nicholas; Nico, Gianluigi; and Azzarri, Carlo. 2024. Gender pay gaps among agricultural and non-agricultural wage workers: A cross-country examination. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc9143en

While gender pay gaps in higher-income countries have been extensively studied, less information is available about the status of the gender pay gap in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). This study provides new empirical estimates of the gender pay gap in agricultural and non-agricultural wage employment across a sample of ten LMICs covering multiple regions. The Kitagawa–Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition approach is used to unpack the factors that explain the pay gap across the sample of countries. The analysis shows large and significant gender gaps in pay in both agricultural and non-agricultural wage employment. Across the sample, the gender wage gap in favour of men is on average 18.4 percent in agricultural wage employment and 15.1 percent in the non-agricultural sector (unweighted means). The unexplained part of the gap, which is associated with discrimination and other unobservable factors such as skills, preferences or social norms, is the largest contributor to the wage gap in both sectors. However, differences in education, sector of employment and access to full-time employment also contribute to the gap. This background paper was prepared to inform Chapter 2 of FAO’s report on The status of women in agrifood systems: https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CC5060EN .