Gender Wage Gaps in Japan under the COVID-19 Pandemic

         
Author Name SUMIYA Kazuhiko (Fellow (Policy Economist), RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. January 2022 22-P-001
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Abstract

This paper empirically analyzes gender wage gaps in Japan under the COVID-19 pandemic. I present descriptive statistics using the Basic Survey on Wage Structure until 2020. The results are summarized as follows:

Although differences in the level of monthly wages (including taxes and benefits) between men and women were observed before the pandemic, the wages of low-wage workers (bottom 20%) of both men and women fell substantially in 2020. For women in particular, there might have been changes in the attributes and composition of the workforce, with part-time workers losing or leaving their jobs and full-time workers working fewer hours. Similar results were obtained for men's and women's wages even when the sample is limited to "regular workers."