South Korea’s Wage Gap: Reasons and Implications

Abstract

Basically, South Korea has been strongly influenced by the traditional philosophy of Confucianism, which made it difficult for women to be respected and seen equal to men. Although in the last decades women had access to high education and jobs, the wage gap between men and women still remains virtually unchanged and the Glass Ceiling Index score is one of the lowest among OECD countries. This paper aims to present the historical background that led to the creation of the present unequal gender environment in South Korea and tries to identify what the main reasons for its existence and its implications are.