40% of female professionals feel underpaid for the work they do, study finds

Nearly a quarter of women shared that they have not received a pay raise at all within the past 12 months, according to the study.

Women who feel underpaid for the value of their work are not alone. A new study by Robert Walters, an international recruitment consultancy, found that 40% of women feel underpaid in their professional roles, compared to just 24% of men who said the same. Nearly 1 in 10 women said they rely on additional income outside of full time work to make ends meet. 

“Whilst the gender pay gap has narrowed over recent years, we still have a significant way to go. Our research indicates that men remain to be on higher wages, feel more satisfied with their salary, and are far more likely to receive a pay rise should they request it,” said Coral Bamgboye, Head of ED&I at Robert Walters Canada. 

The study findings reveal that only 39% of women earn a salary of $75k or more, which is 28% less than their male counterparts. 

Despite inflation and the additional rise in the cost-of-living over recent years, only a quarter of women said they feel that they can “live comfortably with a good amount of disposable income for savings or purchases of their choosing.” Of the women who did get a pay raise over the past year, the majority received an increase that was still below the current rate of inflation. The study found that 31% of women received a pay raise of just 1%-5%. 

The gender disparity between pay increases over the past year alone is shocking. The study found that almost 20% of men earned a pay raise of 21% or more, compared to just 9% of their female counterparts. 

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Only a quarter of women said they received nearly 75%-100% of the pay increase they asked for — and double the number of women compared to men received no pay increase at all following negotiations. Nearly another quarter of women shared that they have not received a pay raise at all within the past 12 months, according to the study. 

“… with more women reporting that they live ‘paycheck to paycheck’ compared to their male counterparts, we have a serious issue on our hands which could cripple the female workforce in terms of motivation, productivity, and all-around wellbeing,” said Bamgboye.