Gender Wage Differences in Finland. The Structure and Trend of Private-Sector Male and Female Wages and Wage Gaps

This report analyses the trends in private-sector male and female wage dispersions and wage gaps up to 2005. The focus is on three central wage and salary earner groups : white-collar and blue-collar male and female workers in manufacturing industries and services sector male and female employees. Additionally this overall analysis is complemented with similar analyses for different job hierarchy levels (white-collar manufacturing male and female workers only), as well as for industries differing in their share of women. Separate analyses are also undertaken concerning the influence of key individual characteristics and also of the employing establishment on the dispersion of male and female wages. The data comes from the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) which compiles detailed individual-level wage data from its member companies. The results show that both the level and trend in the dispersion of male and female wages are highly similar in the male-dominated manufacturing sector but largely different in the female-dominated services sector. Also the role of various modes of performance-related pay turns out increase for males relative to women with the female-dominance of the employee category under study. The (dis)similarity in the categorys male and female wage dispersions is found to be closely related both to the frequency of women and to the size of the (unadjusted) gender wage gap at the different levels of the wage distribution. The gender wage gap increases when moving up the wage ladder. So does also the role of various performance related pays. Moreover, also this effect seems to be strongest in female-dominated employee categories.