Gender salary gap over 12.6 per cent — SIGI

By JT - Aug 02,2018 - Last updated at Aug 02,2018

The average salary gap in the private sector stands at 23.7 per cent, in favour of men (File photo)

AMMAN — The number of Jordanians who had compulsory subscriptions at the Social Security Corporation (SSC) in 2017 totalled 1,053,251, where women constituted 27.6 per cent with 291,591 subscriptions, the Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI) said on Thursday, citing the 2017 SSC annual book.

SIGI noted that Amman accounted for the biggest share of both genders' compulsory subscriptions, with 84.6 per cent, while Tafileh came last, with only 0.2 per cent.

The institute highlighted a gap in the average salary between subscribed males and females, which stood at JD564 for men and JD493 for female, constituting a gender gap of 12.6 per cent.

The average salary of females in the public sector was higher than that of males, standing at JD493 and JD479 respectively, while the gap in the private sector was in favour of males, whose average salary stood at JD612, compared JD467 for females, marking a 23.7 per cent gap.

The gender gap in salaries stands at 16 per cent in the public sector and 18.3 per cent in the private sector, SIGI noted, citing figures from the Department of Statistics’ (DoS).

A 2017 DoS study showed that the average monthly salary in the public sector is higher than that in the private sector.

The average in the public sector stands at JD570 (JD601 among men and JD518 among women), while in the private sector, it stands at JD435 (JD452 for males and JD382 for females), SIGI noted.

As for main job categories, the salary gap in the legislators and higher administration employees category stood at 37.7 per cent (JD1,416 for males and JD1,028 for females), in the specialist group marked 38.7 per cent (JD705 for males and JD508 for females),

In the services and shop vendors, the gap was in favour for females at 6.1 per cent (JD329 for females and JD309 for males).

SIGI said that the salary gender gap causes millions of losses for women, which deprives them of enhancing their economic opportunities, and limits their capabilities to face economic hardships and future challenges.

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