The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) today hosted the second webinar of its 2025 series, bringing together trade union representatives, researchers, and OECD officials to examine connections between narrowing gender pay gaps and declining opportunities for younger workers.
The webinar, moderated by Therese Svanström, Chair of Sweden’s TCO, examined two significant labour market trends: progress in closing gender pay gaps since the 1970s and declining employment prospects for younger workers, who now face worse career outcomes than previous generations at similar career stages.
Salvatore Lattanzio, an Economist at the Bank of Italy, shared research from a National Bureau of Economic Research study exploring how younger men have experienced growing gaps in earnings and career advancement. The research reveals that in many places the narrowing gender pay gap is primarily driven by young men’s wages falling in the distribution, rather than by women’s wages rising significantly.
Valerie Frey, Senior Economist at the OECD, presented research on gender wage disparities internationally and policy approaches countries are adopting, particularly pay transparency measures. She discussed how such policies aim to reduce disparities by making gender-based pay differences more visible, while noting that progress in closing gender wage gaps has decelerated significantly since 2000.
Following the presentations, participants explored interconnected policy challenges, including pay disparities between occupations and the importance of raising wages in sectors where women are typically overrepresented, such as the care sector. Discussion also focused on the role of trade unions in addressing the gender pay gap.
The evidence is clear that progress on gender equality has stalled, whilst younger workers face deteriorating career prospects. Without strong collective bargaining systems, we risk entrenching these disparities rather than addressing their root causes through fair policy solutions.
Despite progress, labour market norms and behaviours continue to maintain the gender wage gap and income differences. Women take longer parental leave, work part-time more often, and are concentrated in essential sectors like care - sectors that are not well paid despite high workloads and stress. This is why investing in gender policies, such as parental leave, and taking action to achieve pay transparency is crucial. We need to address gender equality to be able to deliver economic justice for millions of workers.
TUAC will pursue these discussions within OECD forums, underscoring collective bargaining’s critical role in addressing the interconnected challenges of gender equality and demographic change, particularly in the context of the digital and green transitions.
TUAC’s upcoming September webinars will address wealth and income disparities and potential solutions, followed by a session on alternative economic policy frameworks and how the OECD might champion more equitable growth models.
Photo credit: Marcel Crozet / ILO
