Few women in work, opposite answers
Morocco and Pakistan are two of the 14 economies, out of 182, where fewer than one woman in four is in the labour force: 19.8% in Morocco and 24.0% in Pakistan, against 68.3% and 80.1% of men.
Among the women who are in work, the two countries give opposite answers. In Morocco 73.7% earn a wage or salary, 18.1 points more than men, the fourth largest gap in women’s favour of the 182 economies reporting it. In Pakistan 26.2% do, 21.3 points fewer than men, 178th of 182.
The table places them among fifteen other economies, one for each language this desk publishes in. Most of the richer ones sit slightly in women’s favour: the United Kingdom by 6.4 points, France by 4.9, Germany by 4.3, Japan by 2.8. Mexico is level at minus 0.2. India, the Philippines, Viet Nam and Indonesia lean towards men. Across all 182 the range runs from Uzbekistan, 23.4 points in women’s favour, to the Gambia, 26.4 points in men’s.
| Economy | Women in labour force | Wage share, women | Wage share, men | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 19.8% | 73.7% | 55.6% | +18.1 |
| Poland | 51.9% | 86.3% | 76.5% | +9.9 |
| Brazil | 53.6% | 75.1% | 65.3% | +9.8 |
| United Kingdom | 57.5% | 90.1% | 83.7% | +6.4 |
| South Korea | 56.8% | 80.4% | 74.6% | +5.8 |
| France | 51.8% | 89.2% | 84.3% | +4.9 |
| Germany | 55.6% | 94.1% | 89.8% | +4.3 |
| China | 59.4% | 64.1% | 60.1% | +4.0 |
| Japan | 55.6% | 92.3% | 89.5% | +2.8 |
| Thailand | 59.5% | 50.0% | 48.4% | +1.6 |
| Türkiye | 36.8% | 72.1% | 70.7% | +1.5 |
| Mexico | 47.4% | 69.1% | 69.2% | -0.2 |
| India | 32.4% | 20.6% | 26.2% | -5.6 |
| Philippines | 50.5% | 58.6% | 67.1% | -8.5 |
| Viet Nam | 68.9% | 41.4% | 50.8% | -9.4 |
| Indonesia | 53.6% | 39.2% | 51.0% | -11.8 |
| Pakistan | 24.0% | 26.2% | 47.5% | -21.3 |
Why they split
The obvious explanation is selection: where few women work, perhaps only those in salaried jobs do. It was tested before this piece was written, and it does not hold. Across the 182 economies, the gap in labour force participation and the gap in wage shares are unrelated: their correlation is plus 0.03. Pakistan is the counter-example in plain sight.
What does track the gap is unpaid family work, correlation minus 0.44. In Pakistan 54.0% of women in work are contributing family workers, the sixth highest share of the 182, against 10.1% of men. In Morocco the figure is 7.3%. A woman who works without pay in a family business, often on the land, counts as employed and earns no wage, so every such woman lowers her country’s wage share.
The same classification works in the other direction too. In India 32.5% of working women are unpaid family workers, in Indonesia 24.8%, and both lean towards men. In Poland and the United Kingdom the figure is under 1%, and both lean towards women.
- The participation rate counts women aged 15 and over who are working or looking for work, as a share of ALL women that age.
- The wage share counts women paid a wage or salary by someone else, as a share of the women IN WORK only.
- A contributing family worker works without pay in a business run by a relative. The classification counts her as employed, and she earns no wage.
So 73.7% of Moroccan working women earning a wage does not mean 73.7% of Moroccan women: it is a share of the women in work, and fewer than one Moroccan woman in five is even in the labour force. And a Pakistani woman working unpaid on her family’s land raises the country’s count of working women while lowering the share of them who earn a wage.
The three figures in this piece have different denominators, and reading one as another is the mistake the piece is about.
What the gap does not say
It does not say that working women are better off in Morocco or worse off in Pakistan. A wage job is not by definition the better job, and nothing here measures pay, hours or security.
It does not describe all women. The wage share is a share of the women in work, and in both countries that is a minority. Reading 73.7% as a statement about Moroccan women in general is the error the piece exists to prevent.
And it names no cause. Culture, religion and law are all offered as explanations for women’s work in both countries, and none of them is in these figures. A correlation of minus 0.44 across 182 economies is a real relationship and a moderate one: it leaves plenty of countries it does not describe.
What the data establishes
- In 2024, 73.7% of women in work in Morocco earned a wage or salary, against 55.6% of men: a gap of 18.1 points in women’s favour, fourth largest of 182 economies. Female labour force participation was 19.8%.
- In Pakistan 26.2% of women in work earned a wage or salary, against 47.5% of men: a gap of 21.3 points against women, 178th of 182. Female labour force participation was 24.0%.
- Across the 182 economies the gap in wage shares is unrelated to the gap in labour force participation (correlation plus 0.03) and tracks the gap in unpaid family work (correlation minus 0.44).
- 54.0% of women in work in Pakistan were contributing family workers, sixth highest of 182, against 10.1% of men and 7.3% of women in Morocco.
What it does not
- That working women are better off in Morocco or worse off in Pakistan. Nothing here measures pay, hours or security, and a wage job is not by definition the better job.
- That the wage share describes all women. It is a share of the women in work, a minority in both countries.
- Any cause, including culture, religion or law. None of them is in these figures.
- That unpaid family work explains the gap everywhere. A correlation of minus 0.44 is moderate and leaves many countries undescribed.
- Anything about 2025 or 2026, or about the 35 economies in the World Bank list that do not report all six series for 2024.
Method
- One source, one year, six series. World Bank Open Data SL.EMP.WORK.FE.ZS and SL.EMP.WORK.MA.ZS (wage and salaried workers, % of female and male employment), SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS and SL.TLF.CACT.MA.ZS (labour force participation, % of female and male population aged 15+) and SL.FAM.WORK.FE.ZS and SL.FAM.WORK.MA.ZS (contributing family workers, % of female and male employment). All are modelled ILO estimates. Reference year 2024, read on 14 September 2026, dataset last updated 2026-07-13 by the source’s own stamp.
- AGGREGATES ARE NOT COUNTRIES. Regional and income-group totals carry three-letter codes like countries do, and were removed using the World Bank’s own flag for them, leaving 182 economies with all six series for 2024 out of the 217 in its country list. Every rank and count here is out of those 182.
- The correlations are Pearson coefficients across the 182 economies, each counted once regardless of population: Pakistan and a small island state weigh the same. They describe how the gaps move together across countries, not within any one country.
- A HYPOTHESIS WAS DROPPED. The piece was first meant to argue that low female participation selects women into salaried work. Measured across the 182 before writing, the relationship is plus 0.03, so the claim was not made.
- Gaps are computed from unrounded source values and then displayed rounded, so recomputing a gap from the rounded shares in the table can differ in the last digit. The seventeen economies are the market of each language this desk publishes in, plus Pakistan.
Primary sources
- World Bank Open DataWage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment), modeled ILO estimateSL.EMP.WORK.FE.ZS · September 14, 2026
- World Bank Open DataWage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment), modeled ILO estimateSL.EMP.WORK.MA.ZS · September 14, 2026
- World Bank Open DataLabor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+), modeled ILO estimateSL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS · September 14, 2026
- World Bank Open DataLabor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+), modeled ILO estimateSL.TLF.CACT.MA.ZS · September 14, 2026
- World Bank Open DataContributing family workers, female (% of female employment), modeled ILO estimateSL.FAM.WORK.FE.ZS · September 14, 2026
- World Bank Open DataContributing family workers, male (% of male employment), modeled ILO estimateSL.FAM.WORK.MA.ZS · September 14, 2026
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