This policy brief examines the gender earnings gap among wage employees in Bangladesh using individual-level data from the 2023 Labour Force Survey. Women earn, on average, about 35 per cent less than men in monthly terms. Observable differences in education, experience, occupation and other measured characteristics explain very little of this earnings gap. Female wage employees tend to be more educated and are more likely to live in urban areas and work in formal employment than their male counterparts. The gender earnings gap is considerably smaller in formal employment than in informal employment and is widest among the lowest-paid women. These findings suggest that education and skills, while essential for expanding women’s participation in paid employment and improving their occupational opportunities, are not sufficient to close the earnings gap. Policy should therefore focus more directly on wage determination, enforcement and employment conditions. Priorities include stronger wage documentation, effective enforcement of equal-pay provisions, gradual pay transparency, basic wage protection and formalisation in female-intensive informal occupations, and measures that help women enter and remain in better-paid work, including childcare, safer transport, predictable working arrangements and clearer promotion pathways.

Authors: Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Md Hasin Israq, and Asaf Ibne Salim
Publication Period: June 2026