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female medical worker smiling
Women in the health and care sector face a larger gender pay gap than in other economic sectors, earning on average 24 per cent less than their male peers.
Photo:ILO

Equal pay for work of equal value

, celebrated on 18 September, represents the longstanding efforts towards the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value. It further builds on the United Nations' commitment to human rights and against all forms of discrimination, including discrimination against women and girls.

Across all regions, women are paid less than men, with the gender pay gap estimated at around 20 per cent globally. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls continue to be held back owing to the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men, poverty and inequalities and disadvantages in access to resources and opportunities that limit women’s and girls’ capabilities. Progress on narrowing that gap has been slow. While equal pay for men and women has been widely endorsed, applying it in practice has been difficult.

In order to ensure that no one is left behind, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address the need to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Furthermore, the SDGs promote decent work and economic growth by seeking full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. Mainstreaming of a gender perspective is crucial in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for human rights and gender equality. It takes the effort of the entire world community and more work remains to be done. The United Nations, including and the (ILO) invites Members states and civil society, women’s and community-based organizations and feminist groups, as well as businesses and workers’ and employers’ organizations, to promote equal pay for work of equal value and the economic empowerment of women and girls.

Why does the gender pay gap persist?

Ingrained inequalities cause the gender pay gap. Women, especially migrant women, are overrepresented in the informal sector, leading to low-paying, unsafe working conditions without social benefits. Women also perform three more hours of daily care work than men, including household tasks and caring for children and the elderly. The motherhood penalty exacerbates pay inequity, with working mothers facing lower wages, particularly as the number of children they have increased. Gender stereotypes, discriminatory hiring practices, and promotion decisions also contribute to pay inequalities.

What must be done?

At a time when labour markets appear to be weakening, there are widening inequalities, and mounting challenges to multilateralism, our collaborative message must be even more powerful: equal pay for work of equal value is a fundamental matter of labour and human rights, social justice, and economic resilience, and a strategic priority for building competitive and sustainable enterprises.

As a Fundamental Convention, the directly addresses the principle of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value. International Labour Standards emphasize the crucial role of workers' and employers' organizations in achieving this goal through social dialogue, with freedom of association and collective bargaining at its core.

Countries must reinforce equal pay for work of equal value as a shared goal that benefits workers, businesses and society at large. Achieving equal pay for work of equal value and position pay equity is a human right and social development imperative.

Equal Pay International Coalition

The (EPIC) is led by the , , and . The Coalition’s goal is to achieve equal pay for women and men everywhere. By bringing together a diverse set of actors with different areas of focus and expertise, EPIC supports governments, employers, workers, and their organizations to make concrete and coordinated progress towards this goal. EPIC is currently the only multi-stakeholder partnership working to reduce the gender pay gap at the global, regional and national levels.

Did you know?

  • Women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn for work of equal value – with an even wider wage gap for women with children.
  • Women are more likely to be unemployed than men worldwide, with wide disparities regionally.
  • It is estimated that only 28 per cent of women employed worldwide get to enjoy paid maternity leave.
  • Globally, nearly 65 per cent of people above retirement age without any regular pension are women.
  • Women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men.

Your gender equality checklist

Learn

This from the ILO helps you to learn about gender pay policy and how to reduce the gender pay gap.

Event

EPIC debate

In the lead-up to the in November 2025, EPIC is hosting a side event. The event features a dynamic “EPIC Debate”, between a representative each from employers’ and workers’ organizations, intended to foster an open, thought-provoking discussion on the challenges, and opportunities and solutions for achieving equal pay for work of equal value.

Date: 18 September 2025

Time: 17:00 – 19:00 EDT

Place: ILO Office, New York

Concept note and programme

Equal pay for work of equal value, as defined by the , means that all workers are entitled to receive equal remuneration not only for identical tasks but also for different work considered of equal value. The gender pay gap originates from ingrained inequalities. Pay equity matters because it is a glaring injustice and subjects millions of women and families to lives of entrenched poverty. As more women are plunged into poverty, the fight for equal pay and pay equity takes on a new sense of urgency.

 

Sport is rewriting the rules of pay equity. Recent victories in sport have shown the world that historical equal pay wins are possible. From the pitch to the court, women athletes have pushed for, and won, historic equal pay deals in US soccer, tennis, surfing and volleyball. But even there, the progress is uneven. The private sector cannot afford to be outpaced by the developments in sports. Businesses hold the power to make equal pay for work of equal value a global reality, with tangible economic and performance benefits. 

COVID-19 shined a light on the critical importance of health and care workers, who were applauded and celebrated. It also laid bare the extent of inequalities workers in this highly feminized sector have been facing for decades. It is for this reason that the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization co-developed the first ever global sectoral .

 

Realizing women’s economic empowerment requires transformative change so that prosperity is equitably shared and no one is left behind. The international community has made this commitment in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Every woman should enjoy her right to decent work. As a global champion for women’s empowerment, asks: What do we need to get there?

 

an abstract illustration of people engaged in an event

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.