Male farmworkers are better paid than their female counterparts, especially those in Eastern Visayas, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the “Trends in Agricultural Wage Rates” report, male farmworkers in the country receive at least P25 more than female workers. The average male agricultural workers were paid P284.72 per day, while female farmworkers get P255.80 per day.
The lowest daily agricultural wage rates for the males were recorded in Central Visayas at P238.80, while females in Eastern Visayas got the lowest pay at P217.98 per day.
“It’s possible that there really is a gender gap in the sector,” National Statistician Lisa Grace S. Bersales told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the PSA’s two-day 1st Data Festival on Thursday.
“Again, we released this to catalyze questions on why this is happening. We would like to solicit comments from data stakeholders regarding the data that we have so that we can improve it,” Bersales added.
Across regions, PSA data showed that the daily nominal wage rate was highest in Calabarzon at P370.14 and lowest in Central Visayas at P236.97.
Data from the PSA indicated that daily wage rates were highest in Calabarzon for male and female farm workers at P371.72 and P351.07, respectively.
Mimaropa recorded a wide male-female wage differential at P64.35 per day, with male farmworkers receiving P307.25.
This was followed by Central Luzon and Caraga with P46.41 and P41.82 in wage differences between male and female, respectively. The least wage gap between male and female farmworkers of P2.54 was recorded in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Palay farm laborers registered the highest nominal wage at P303.98 per day, while corn
farmworkers received the lowest pay at P246.05 per day.
PSA data showed the daily nominal wage rates of those working in coconut and sugarcane farms were pegged at P271.72 and P253.69, respectively.
The biggest wage differential of P32.39 per day was noted in palay farms where the salaries of male and female laborers reached P309.83 and P277.44, respectively.
In contrast, the gender wage gap was smallest in corn farms, where male workers were paid P251.21 while female workers received P230.91 per day.