Mexican Women Earn Less Than Double Daily Minimum Wage, Says Study

In Mexico, women make 14% less money than men do on average, and more than two-thirds of working women earn less than the daily minimum wage of 173 pesos (US $8.80), a new study by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) has found.

Mexico and nine other nations were included in the study to measure the gender pay gap. The data for Mexico comes from INEGI, the national statistics institute.

The head of IMCO, Valeria Moy, recognized that the gender pay gap has decreased from 20% in 2005 but added that the rate of improvement has been "very slow" during a presentation of the study in Mexico City.

“If women want to have the same average yearly income as men, they would have to work 51 additional days,” she said.

According to IMCO, Mexico has a smaller gender pay gap than Iceland and the U.k, but the 14% figure ignores the reality that "very few women" work in Mexico's "remunerated economy." Among those who do, 70% earn less than two minimum salaries, IMCO said, meaning that most women earn less than US $18 per day.

Oaxaca has the largest gender pay gap among Mexico's 32 federal entities, followed by Colima and Hidalgo.

The only state where women earn more than men on average is Chiapas.

Among 10 countries IMCO researched, Mexico had the second lowest wage gap.

According to IMCO, the media business in Mexico has the highest gender pay disparity, with women earning 33% less than males.

However, women employed in the real estate, construction, and mining sectors earn more than men on average, the study found.

Mexican women were also found to earn more than men in the electricity, water, and gas sector, the agriculture industry, and when working for the government or an international organization.

IMCO said that industries with a low proportion of female employees are those where women make on average more money than males.

According to IMCO, in order to achieve income equality, practices like asking prospective employees about prior salaries, taking into account marital status, age, and whether or not they have children, and mentioning in a job ad that the position is for a man because it has traditionally been filled by people of that gender, should be eliminated.