Gender disparities in Ugandan urban labor market: an analysis of the gender wage gap

Abstract

After decades of the fight against gender discrimination in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Uganda in particular, gender disparities in labor markets persist. This paper provides a new empirical evidence of the gender wage gap in the Uganda labor market. Results show that men continue to enjoy a wage premium over women at the mean and across the wage distribution. Findings further indicate that the gender wage gap is wider at the lower tail of the distribution thereby revealing the existence of a sticky-floor phenomenon in the Ugandan urban labor market. Despite the actions and strategies put in place in Uganda to reduce the gender gap in education and training in the country, human capital variables still have a strong mitigating effect through returns to endowments (discrimination). These results imply that highly feminized jobs should be upgraded given the low representativeness of women in valuable jobs compared to men. Innovative strategies to promote the human capital development of women are also necessary in eliminating gender-based disparities in labor market. Specific public policies are suggested in conclusion.