International Equal Pay Day event: Policy options to close the gender pay gap over the life course

To mark the sixth International Equal Pay Day, the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs and the Governments of Luxembourg and Ireland are pleased to invite you to the upcoming event on 'Policy Options to Close the Gender Pay Gap Over the Life Course'.

The event will bring together the OECD Friends of Gender Equality plus (FOGE+), academics, policy makers and companies for an engaging discussion on gender equality and pay equity over the life cycle. Speakers will reflect on progress made so far, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and practical approaches to ensuring fair pay for women at all ages. 

In 2023, the median full-time working woman in OECD countries earned, on average, 11% less than the median full-time working man. While an improvement from the gender wage gap of 19% in 1995, wage differences continue to exist in all OECD countries. The pay gap has a long-term impact on the quality of women’s lives, on their risk of exposure to poverty and social exclusion. The pension pay gap is persistent and large, with average pension levels for women in OECD countries at 24% below those of men.

Starting at an early age, girls and boys are exposed to gender norms and stereotypes around paid and unpaid work – through various sources – that present a picture of women holding primary responsibility for unpaid work, such as care and household tasks, and men holding primary responsibility for paid work. As children age into adulthood, these internalised gender norms and stereotypes combine with social and policy environments, structural barriers, bias and harassment, and discrimination. Gender pay gaps further increase over the life course through the accumulation of career breaks and motherhood, work intensity, horizontal and vertical segregation as well as firm segregation, job transitions and salary negotiations.

Closing the gender gaps over the life course requires a cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach that works towards the achievement of gender equality outcome, including work-life balance policies, female-friendly entrepreneurship ecosystems, and policy action to offset the negative impacts of care‑related leave on pension entitlements or earnings.

The International Equal Pay Day on 18 September was designated as a day of observance in 2019 by the United Nations General Assembly. At the initiative of Iceland, eight member countries of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) presented the UN Resolution, which received broad support from 105 co-sponsoring countries. EPIC – initiated by the OECD, ILO, and UN Women – is the only multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to achieving equal pay for work of equal value and tackling the gender pay gap.