Turkish women earning far less than men in equal jobs

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

A wide gap remains between the annual average principal occupation income of men and women in Turkey, according to figures from the Turkish Statistics Institution (TÜİK), which show that the difference remains wide even among university graduates and company executives. 

Income inequality is also alarmingly high in sectors where female workforce participation is high. 

The average principal occupation income, which refers to the basic job that a person earns most from, remained at 20,084 liras for Turkish men and 15,681 liras for women in 2014. 

The trend is also not good news for women, as the average wage for men increased by 10.75 percent from 2013 while the average wage for women increased by just 8.3 percent. 

The overall average stood at 19,051 liras, 10.4 percent up from 17,255 liras in 2013. 

The average principal occupation income for illiterate Turkish citizens was just 7,782 liras last year. Employed men who cannot read or write earned an average of 9,619 liras while illiterate women earned a mere 5,897 liras - marking a 37 percent gap. 

Those who did not graduate from any school earned an average of 10,433 liras, with a 38 percent gap between men and women in this category. 

This difference grows further to 45.7 percent for those who graduated from primary school. The overall principal occupation average earning for the category stood at 14,137 liras per year, with men earning an average of 15,369 liras and women earning an average of 8,339 liras. 

High school graduates earned an average of 19,385 liras, with the gap between genders decreasing to 32.4 percent. 

University graduates earned an average of 32,480 liras with a gender gap of 23.1 percent. 

Company executives earn an average of 42,943 liras in Turkey, according to the TÜİK figures, though the average gender gap among executives is 8,203 liras. 

In the service sector, which generally employs a high number of women, the gender gap remains high, with average earnings for men of 18,644 liras and average earnings for women of just 10,212 liras.