The gender pay gap (GPG) remains a significant issue worldwide. In the European Union, women’s gross hourly earnings are on average about 12.0% below those of men (Eurostat). Across the OECD, in 2023, the median full-time working woman earned about 11% less than the median full-time working man, roughly 89 cents to every euro (or dollar) a man earned. The unadjusted gender wage gap across OECD members averages about 11.9%.
But these aggregate figures mask deeper disparities, especially among immigrant women and other vulnerable groups. A recent study by the International Labour Organization found that, in high-income countries, the pay gap between national men and migrant women can be about 20.9%, much higher than the aggregate gender pay gap.
Vulnerable women such as immigrant women, women from ethnic minorities, those with low formal education, single mothers, or those in precarious legal or labour market situations face compounding barriers. Language and cultural barriers, non-recognition of qualifications from abroad, barriers to professional networks, and overrepresentation in informal, temporary or part-time work contribute to these wider gaps. In many cases, the “motherhood penalty” (interruptions of career for child-rearing) is more severe for immigrant women, and re-entry into well-paying sectors is more difficult.
Some OECD countries show especially large gender wage gaps. South Korea, for instance, has one of the highest at about 31–32%. Conversely, some countries, such as Belgium, show very low gaps (around 1–2%) in specific measures of full-time earnings.
To close the gap for immigrant and vulnerable women, it is not enough to pursue “gender-neutral” policies. Intersectional policies are needed. These include recognizing foreign credentials, targeted upskilling and language support, strengthening labour rights (especially in informal sectors), improving pay transparency, ensuring that parental leave and childcare support are inclusive, and ensuring anti-discrimination enforcement is robust. Without addressing these specific additional disadvantages, immigrant and vulnerable women will continue to lag behind even as average gender pay gaps slowly decrease.
Serra Húnter Fellow of Sociology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
Former DAAD-Gastprofessorin at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg