Setting new standards

The best part of a new year is the opportunity to make historic changes and one has already entered the record books. Iceland has become the first country in the world to make it illegal for women to be paid less than men for the same work.

Under the new rules companies will have to obtain a government certification if they employ over 25 people proving their equal pay credentials and those who fail to meet pay parity requirements will face substantial fines. Iceland currently holds the title of the world’s most gender equal country as ranked by the World Economic Forum and has done so for the past nine years. 

Even though 52% of Sri Lanka’s population is female, progress on equal pay has been slow. Sri Lanka ranked as low as 109 of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2017 and widened its gender gap in wage equality for similar work.

According to the latest report, which was released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in November, Sri Lanka scored 0.669 in 2017 whereas it scored 0.673 in 2016 and remained at 100 out of 144 countries. A country score of 0.000 showed imparity while a score of 1.000 meant parity. When the index was compiled in 2006 for the first time ever, Sri Lanka ranked 13 out of 115 countries. The steep drop since then shows how little attention equal pay has received in Sri Lanka, both from the private and public sectors.

Sri Lanka has widened its gender gap in the sub-index of ‘wage equality for similar work’ despite a modest increase in parity in ‘estimated earned income’. With an average remaining gender gap of 34%, South Asia is the second-lowest scoring region on this year’s Global Gender Gap Index, ahead of the Middle East and North Africa and behind Sub-Saharan Africa.

What makes Sri Lanka’s record even more shocking is that it is lower than the other countries in the region. Neighbors Bangladesh was ranked at 47, Maldives at 106, India at 108, Nepal at 111, Bhutan at 124 and Pakistan at 143. Even though Nepal is one of the outliers, it has been showing stronger progress over the years while Sri Lanka has been moving in the opposite direction.  

The chronic wage gap issue in Sri Lanka is clearly emblematic of several reasons. For one, even though Sri Lanka has a larger number of women, most of them are employed in the informal sector. Only about 34% of Sri Lankan women work in the formal sector and thereby have a better chance of demanding between pay and perks. Of the women in the informal sector many are employed in low productivity areas such as agriculture and have limited mobility to move to better paying jobs for a variety of socioeconomic reasons. 

Poor political representation is another reason. Over many years fewer than 5% of women have made up the 225 members of parliament, resulting in many issues that matter to women being overlooked. The progressive legislative reforms being rolled out in Iceland and elsewhere in the world have not even been considered in Sri Lanka with even a quota system for women representation rolled out recently. 

Sri Lanka’s economy runs on remittances, apparel and tea exports. All three are earned through the sweat, blood and tears of women. Continuing to deny them an equal wage is something all Sri Lankans should be ashamed of and work to change.