While Singapore has made strides in raising employment opportunities for women, they are still earning less than men, reports The Straits Times, citing data by the Ministry of Manpower. The median income for women working in Singapore was 14.3% less than that for men in 2023, a narrower gap than the 16.3% in 2018. The study looked at the incomes of employees aged 25 to 54 who are Singaporean or permanent residents and working full-time.

Differences in occupation between men and women remained the key factor influencing the gender pay gap in 2023, among the various factors examined, said the ministry. One way this comes into play is where men are overrepresented in higher-paying occupations. However, from 2018 to 2023, the gender pay gap narrowed as the occupational profile of females improved more than that of men. Besides occupation, other labour market factors that contributed to the gender pay gap are differences in industries and weekly working hours. Human capital factors of age and education play a much smaller role.

After removing the effects of occupation and other labour market and human capital factors, Singapore’s adjusted gender pay gap in 2023 was 6%, down from 6.7% in 2018.