Gender pay gap widens among Hong Kong’s poorest workers, with women pulling in only 60 per cent of amount men earn
Women below poverty line earning HK$4,300 less than men on average, as many look to balance work and family needs with flexible contracts
The gender pay gap among those living below the poverty line has widened in the past 15 years, with women on average now earning only 60 per cent of the amount men do, according to an Oxfam report.
Last year, the average woman in a poor household earned HK$4,300 less than her male counterpart – that figure up from HK$2,500 in 2001. Fifteen years ago women were earning 67 per cent of what men pulled in, but that has now fallen to 60 per cent.
“A lot of poor working women have few job choices because of their household responsibilities,” Kalina Tsang Ka-wai, who heads Oxfam’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, said. “They tend to take more low-paying jobs, which also have the least amount of employment protection.”
