The Ministry of Labor on Thursday set this year’s Equal Pay Day at Feb. 24, based on estimates that Taiwanese women needed to work that far into the year to earn the same amount as the average man did last year.
The date of Equal Pay Day is derived from the estimate that Taiwanese women on average have to work 55 more days than men at their current rate of pay to earn the same amount because their salary is 15 percent less than that of their male coworkers.
This year’s figure is better than last year’s, which came four days later, on Feb. 28 (59 extra working days for women). Equal Pay Day in 2013 was worse still, falling on March 2.
Equal Pay Day is a symbolic day that can be different for each nation. Each nation designates its own Equal Pay Day depending on how many more days it takes working women to earn the same salary as their male counterparts.
The concept was established in 1996 by the US National Committee on Pay Equity. It aims to raise public awareness of the gap between men’s and women’s salaries.
Taiwan’s gender wage gap of 15 percent remains smaller than the US’ 17.5 percent. The next Equal Pay Day in the US is on April 14.
Taiwan’s wage gap is also better than Japan’s 33.5 percent and South Korea’s 30.8 percent last year.
While calling for efforts to further close the gap, the Ministry of Labor said the numbers indicate that salary disparity in the workplace has steadily improved since 2003, when the gender pay gap was at 20.1 percent.
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