Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: A Driver of Economic Growth and Social Justice

International Equal Pay Day 2026

Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: A Driver of Economic Growth and Social Justice

On International Equal Pay Day 2026, Yasser Hassan, Director of the ILO Office for Türkiye, highlights the importance of equal pay for work of equal value and the need to address the gender pay gap in Türkiye.

18 September 2026

Work of equal value deserves equal pay.

More than seven decades after the adoption of the ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), this principle remains as relevant as ever. Yet women continue to earn less than men around the world - by 18 per cent on average globally.

In Türkiye, the gender gap is also reflected in labour force participation and earnings. Women's labour force participation stands at 36.4 per cent, compared with 72 per cent for men. Even among university graduates, women earn 17.4 per cent less than men.

These figures tell us that equal pay is about more than paying women and men the same for doing the same job. It is also about how we value work.

The principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value is particularly important in addressing occupational segregation and the undervaluation of women-dominated occupations. It asks us to look across different jobs and assess whether work requiring comparable skills, responsibility, effort and working conditions is being valued fairly.

We know that reducing the gender pay gap requires a comprehensive approach in all contexts - one that combines formalization and enforcement of labour standards with policies that promote equal opportunities, redistribute unpaid care work and ensure fair valuation of work across all sectors.

This is not only a matter of fairness. It is an economic imperative too.

When women's skills and contributions are undervalued, economies fail to make full use of their human capital. Closing gender gaps in employment and pay can increase household incomes, improve the allocation of talent and strengthen more inclusive and resilient economic growth.

This is part of a broader transformation of the world of work. In Advancing the transformative agenda for gender equality in the world of work, the ILO emphasizes that achieving gender equality requires more than addressing individual instances of discrimination. It requires transforming the structures, institutions and policies that shape women's participation, opportunities and outcomes in the labour market. Equal pay for work of equal value is an essential part of that transformative agenda.

Equal pay is therefore both a foundation of social justice and a driver of economic progress.

For Türkiye, there are already strong foundations on which to build. Türkiye has ratified all 10 ILO Fundamental Conventions, including the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), providing an important foundation for advancing gender equality and equal pay.

In 2025, Türkiye joined the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), bringing together governments, employers, workers and international organizations to accelerate action on gender pay equality. Türkiye has the commitments, partnerships and policy tools to make further progress, as well as a good opportunity to build on them.

This year, the adoption of ILO Convention No. 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy, by the 114th session of the International Labour Conference in June 2026 provides a new framework to ensure that emerging forms of work deliver decent working conditions and fundamental rights for all.

We also have practical tools to guide action. In March 2026, the ILO published Towards Pay Equity: A Comprehensive Response to the Gender Pay Gap, highlighting the need for a coordinated approach that combines pay transparency, objective job evaluation, reliable data, social dialogue, effective institutions and labour inspection, social protection and care policies.

The way forward is clear. We need to better measure and understand pay gaps, strengthen pay transparency and gender-neutral job evaluation, expand women's access to higher-paid and traditionally male-dominated occupations, and remove the barriers that limit women's participation and progression in the labour market.

Social dialogue, with collective bargaining at its heart, is a powerful tool for reducing the gender pay gap. Issues related to gender equality should be integrated into the core agenda of social dialogue, not treated as isolated topics, and the adopting of a gender lens across all discussions on wages, working conditions, job classifications and the promotion of policies to identify and eliminate both direct and indirect discrimination.

The ILO stands ready to work with Türkiye's tripartite constituents to further enhance their knowledge and skills to understand gender pay issues and their root causes so that they turn the commitments into measurable change.

The time to turn this principle into progress is now.