A study by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and National University of Singapore economist Jessica Pan found that the median pay of men and women in Singapore has narrowed over more than a decade, from 8.8 % in 2002 to 6% in 2018, after adjusting for factors such as age and occupation, the Straits Times reported.
A study by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and National University of Singapore economist Jessica Pan found that the median pay of men and women in Singapore has narrowed over more than a decade, from 8.8 % in 2002 to 6% in 2018, after adjusting for factors such as age and occupation, the Straits Times reported.
The report acknowledged improvements in education and increases in the employment rate of women in contributing to the decreased pay gap. In particular, women were increasingly represented across broad occupational groups. The largest increase was in PMETs, as representation rose 7% from 39% in 2002 to 46% in 2018.
Singapore’s gender pay gap is lower than the latest available figures from countries like the United States (8%), Canada (7.7%) and China (18.3%).
However, the 6% adjusted pay gap means that a woman may still be doing the same job as her male colleague of the same age and education level for less pay.
Primarily, a large percentage of the pay gap was could be explained by men and women gravitating to different occupations based on perceived gender roles. Many women remained in traditionally “female” occupations (such as nurse or secretary), which generally paid lower than traditionally “male” occupations (such as director or financial manager).
“The social context is dominated by traditional gender roles, where we see men as continuing to be primary breadwinners, women continuing to have this expectation that they will continue to provide care for children as well as older persons,” said Shailey Hingorani, Head of Advocacy and Research at AWARE, during an interview with CNA.
This tendency of men and women to work in different occupations is referred to as occupation segregation. The report went on to speculate on some possible ways this occupation segregation could have contributed to the pay gap.
Firstly, there could be heightened occupational segregation today in comparison to 2002. In Singapore, men continue to be over-represented in higher-paying occupations while women tended to be in lower-paying occupations. For example, managing directors and chief executives tended to be men; whereas the most common occupation for women continued to be general office clerk.
“Somehow there is a hard skills versus soft skills inclination when it comes to women looking for jobs, and perhaps the softer skills tend to pay a little bit less,” said Junie Foo, Co-Founder and Chair of BoardAgender, during the CNA interview.
Alternatively, the degree of occupational segregation could be similar but the differences in pay across occupations could have increased. When the top 10 Singaporean occupations were compared, occupations with more males (such as finance and electronics) tended to see higher increases in income, while female-dominated occupations (such as receptionists and office clerks) saw only small increases.
A last possibility is a combination of factors at work, such as heightened occupational segregation together with increased differences in pay across occupations causing the pay gap.
The report went on to describe that women may still be affected by societal expectations vis-à-vis their roles at work and at home, causing them to gravitate towards certain professions. Research showed that women continued to generally be the primary caregivers in their families, and hence tended to prioritise workplace flexibility even at the cost of pay.
Additionally, women tended to gravitate towards people-oriented occupations, due to generally having stronger interpersonal skills. Research on what women desired from their careers indicated that broadly, they tended to prefer jobs that require empathy and people interaction and prioritised having opportunities to work with people and/or being helpful to others or society. This possibly explains why women were over-represented in people-oriented occupations such as HR personnel, teaching and healthcare.
While the decrease in pay gap is a cause for celebration, Singapore still has a long way to go in terms of lowering occupation segregation.
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