Korea had the biggest gender wage gap among 33 OECD countries, highlighting the skewed working conditions experienced by female employees in the country.This is according to the latest report on women’s work environment published by PwC, a global accounting and consulting network, to mark International Women’s Day, which falls on Friday.The report, titled “Women in Work Index,” has been released annually by the global firm since 2011. It focuses on five indicators: gender wage gap, female labor force participation rate, gender gap in labor force participation rate, female unemployment rate, and female employment rate in full-time positions. This year’s report is based on statistical data from 2022 and surveys 33 out of 38 OECD members, excluding Colombia, Costa Rica, Latvia, Lithuania, and Turkey.In the overall assessment of the five indicators, Korea ranked 32nd out of the 33 surveyed countries, with only Mexico behind it. Korea’s position, 32nd, remained unchanged from the previous year, indicating a lack of significant comparative improvements in the realm of women’s working conditions in the country.”Chile (31st place), Korea and Mexico ranked at the bottom of the index. All three countries displayed low female participation rates in 2022, at 58 percent, 62 percent and 50 percent, respectively. This compared to an average female participation rate of 72 percent across the OECD,” the report said.

In particular, Korea’s gender wage gap, among the five indicators, turned out to be the worst among the 33 surveyed countries.In 2022, Korea’s gender wage gap, defined as the median hourly wage difference between men and women, stood at 31.2 percent. This means that if the average wage for male workers is one million won ($756), the average wage for female workers is 688,000 won. This figure is nearly twice as high as Mexico’s gender wage gap, which ranked 33rd in the overall assessment.Between 2011 and 2022, the average gender wage gap across the OECD countries decreased only by 3 percentage points. In 2022, the average gender wage gap increased by 0.3 percentage point to 13.5 percent, compared to the previous year. This suggests that, despite an overall increase in women’s economic activity over the past decade, women are still more vulnerable in terms of earnings in the labor market, particularly in high-paying jobs. The report forecasts that at the current pace, it may take over half a century to reduce the gender wage gap across all countries.”The fact that both Korea’s Women in Work Index and its birth rate are among the lowest in the OECD countries shows a correlation between the two indices. As women’s increased economic participation can be a key solution to the country’s declining labor force due to low birth rates and aging population, companies should strive to foster an inclusive organizational culture that encourages the advancement and 슬롯 promotion of women,” Yoon Hoon-soo, CEO at Samil PwC, said