Women in Costa Rica earn 10% less than men do for the same job, on average, according to the State of the Nation Program’s 2021 report.
The report pointed out differences from 2001 to 2021. In 2001, there was a greater pay gap in high-wage jobs. This gap has narrowed recently but the gap in lower-income jobs has widened. Those women who manage to get better-paid jobs tend to earn closer to their male counterparts.
The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses broke salaries up into quintiles and found that in the lowest salary stratum, women earned 11% less than men, but in the highest stratum, they earned 7% less than men.
Costa Rica managed to join the International Coalition for Equal Pay last March. This should lead to steps that will help bridge the gender pay gap. The initiative includes several countries from Latin America and Europe.
