Newly released data by the National Bureau of Statistics show that the earning gap between male and female employees in both the public and private sectors has widened in favour of male employees over the last three years. But womem working in the public sector have an added advantage over their counterparts in the private sector.
Dar es Salaam. The gap in remuneration between male and female employees in Tanzania has continued to widen, a 2016 survey published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has established.
If nothing else, this is ample testimony to the increasing socioeconomic gender disparity in the country.
In fact, the survey found that the earnings disparity between male and female workers in in both the public and private sectors of the economy significantly increased during the last three years.
However, the trend of annual earnings growth was lower for women employed in the private sector. In other words, women employed in the public sector are generally paid wages that are three times higher than those paid to women working in the private sector.
This was also the case with male employees, with those working in the public sector being paid more than their counterparts in the private sector.
The NBS study findings show that average monthly earnings for males in the private sector increased to Sh391,860 in 2016, up from Sh358,989 in 2014, while women workers’ earnings grew to Sh368,090 in 2016, up from Sh325,975 in 2014.
This is equivalent to a total increase of nearly Sh33,000 a month in three years for men, compared with a Sh21,000 increase for women employed in the private sector.
On the other hand, monthly average cash earnings for men working in the public sector increased to Sh1.27 million in 2016, rising from Sh854,022 in 2014. By comparison, the monthly pay for women in the very same public sector rose to Sh1.08 million in 2016, up from Sh755,308 in 2014.
For both sexes, therefore, the average earnings increased by nearly 50 per cent to Sh1.24 million in 2016 from the average Sh829,857 paid out in 2014 – an increase of nearly Sh420,000.
Commenting on the matter, a Labour and Employment expert, Mr Oscar Mkude, told The Citizen yesterday that the variations in remuneration between the sexes is contrary to Tanzania’s Employment and Labour Relations legislation which is intended to promote equal treatment and rewards for employees regardless of their gender, disability or colour.
Noting that most women find themselves lowly paid due to lack of aggressiveness during recruitment, unlike their male counterparts, Mr Mkude said: “You may find both a man and a woman having similar educational qualifications, but you will rarely see them being paid the same salary, even when they serve in similar positions.
“Also, some men are more highly paid than women partly because they work extra hours, which women don’t always do, depending on the prevailing circumstances.”
Mr Mkude also cited other factors as being historical, explaining that “women in the past were not allowed to participate in the labour market, according to traditions and religious reasons until in the 1960s when they started being involved.”
Mr Mkude, who in the past served as an economist with the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE), also said that “secrecy in the labour market, especially with regard to salaries and other terms of employment, were another factor which fuelled the pay gap between men and women employees.”
Expounding on this, the former ATE expert said people who are desperately seeking employment at first find it difficult to bargain on what they should be paid if and when they secure the job.
In the event, he called for increased gender activism and the requisite political will to make sure that this discriminatory problem is effectively addressed.
He added that the Labour and Economic Social Council (Lesco), as well as trade unions and ATE should work closer together in surmounting this disparity.
