Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 23 per cent globally. What’s behind this gap?

The global gender pay gap is an expression of persistent inequalities between men and women in our societies and in 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.

When women enter the formal labour market, their paid work and their role as workers is often seen as subsidiary or supplementary to their principle role of “homemakers”. This in turn impacts how women are paid. Even where women have equivalent or better qualifications than men, their skills are not valued the same as men’s and their career progression is slower.

Image: Activists gathered on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol in downtown Denver, CO, to mark national Equal Pay Day in 2009 Craig F. Walker—Denver Post/Getty Images.