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For those countries where gender pay gaps havenarrowed, it is important to look at why: is thishappening in a context of overall wage growth,where women are catching up with men? Or isit happening in a context of declining wages,where living standards are falling for everyone?Figure 2.9 suggests a mixed picture.Out of the 45 countries where gender pay gapshave declined, 32 have seen unequivocallypositive change, with an overall increase inreal wages and a narrowing gender pay gap,meaning that women’s wages have grown fasterthan men’s. This has been the case, for example,in Brazil, Malta, Nepal and Ukraine. Meanwhile,in five countries gender gaps have narrowed ina context of falling real wages for both womenand men. In these cases, gaps have narrowedonly because men’s wages have fallen moredramatically than women’s. This pattern—whichprevails in Egypt, El Salvador, Hong Kong (SARChina), Panama and Sri Lanka —can hardly beconsidered progress, because instead of womencatching up there is a levelling down for all. 140In the six remaining countries, the gender pay gaphas narrowed in the context of rising real wages forwomen and falling or stagnating wages for men.This is the case in Austria, Honduras, Israel, Japan,Mexico and the State of Palestine, where womenhave been gaining some ground in terms of theirpay while men have lost out.The deterioration of men’s wages is particularlymarked for those on low incomes. In developedcountries, the disappearance of manufacturingjobs due to technological progress and thedecline of traditional industries, coupled withthe reduced influence of organized labour, hasled to downward pressure on the wages of lesseducated male workers. 141 In developing countries,globalization and trade liberalization haveincreased skill-premiums for a minority of highlyeducated workers. But for the majority of lowerskilledworkers, greater capital mobility, decliningunionization and lack of regulation have keptearnings at low levels. 142‘Glass ceilings’ and ‘sticky floors’:variations in gender pay gapsThe largest gender pay gaps are usually found atthe top of the wage distribution—the ‘glass ceiling’for highly skilled women workers—and at thebottom—the ‘sticky floor’ for women working in thelowest paid jobs. 143 As a corollary, gender pay gapstend to be larger in countries where the overalldistribution of wages is more unequal. In the OECD,for example, gender pay gaps are smaller in theNordic countries where overall wage inequalities(or wage dispersion) are lower. 144In a study of 26 European countries, a glass ceilingwas found in 11 countries and a sticky floor in 12.In three countries—Germany, the Netherlandsand Norway—women at both ends of the wagedistribution faced large gender pay gaps. 145Similar patterns are found in many developingregions if education is taken as a proxy forsocio-economic status. Gender pay gaps tend tobe large for workers without education but areeven larger for those with secondary and postsecondaryeducation. 146 They are also often widerin informal compared to formal employment. Insub-Saharan Africa, for example, the gender paygap is 28 per cent in informal employment, wherethe majority of women work, compared to 6 percent for formal workers. 147With regard to rural-urban differences, genderpay gaps are sometimes wider in urban areas.This may be because employment options in ruralareas for both women and men are quite limitedand low paid across the board, while urban areasmay offer a wider range of work opportunities,albeit with greater pay differentials. 148 Forexample, in South Asia, urban women earn 42per cent less than their male counterparts; whilerural women earn 28 per cent less than ruralmen. Both women and men have lower thanaverage earnings in rural areas and, in absoluteterms, rural women are at the bottom of theearnings ladder. 149 In parts of Latin America,gender pay gaps are compounded by ethnicity,resulting in indigenous women being particularlydisadvantaged. 15097