Colombian women earn an average of 20% less than their male counterparts, according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).
The Director of DANE, Jorge Bustamante, told the crowd at an international business seminar in Bogota that the wage gap increased by 2.1% compared to the first quarter of 2011, when Colombian women earned 18.1% less than men.
“Although women become better educated than men, the [wage] gap remains in favor of men with all levels of education,” he said. While the most recent literacy rates for men and women in Colombia are comparable, females typically remain in school for 14 years, compared to 13 years for men, according to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency statistics.
Expert economist and former United Nations official Jose Antonio Ocampo recommended that Colombia rethink its economic models in order to create a more egalitarian society, saying “this goal involves the recognition of inequality, which is like a pandemic and is a universal phenomenon that is affecting the bulk of countries.”