Women on top

Manama

Supreme Council for Women, headed by wife of His Majesty the King HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, marked its 14th anniversary yesterday. An institution that supports the welfare of women in Bahrain, have some more good news coming its way in the form of certain statistics related to the work culture in the Kingdom. 

Women between the age of 30 and 44 years took home more money than their male counterparts last quarter in average monthly income. 

These women in the Civil Sector drew an average monthly salary of almost BD819 – about 7.6 per cent higher than the average of BD761 their male counterparts received a month in the last quarter this year, according to the Second Quarter Statistical Report for Civil and Private Sectors in Bahrain published by the Kingdom’s Social Insurance Organisation last month. 

Moreover, women constituted more than half of the Civil Sector employees between the age of 30 and 44 years. Men and women between this age group constituted 49pc – the highest portion – of total Civil Sector employees in the quarter, according to the
report. 

These numbers point at an increase of women in the sector, which has traditionally been a men’s forte.

This healthy trend of more women, with higher average pay, according to the numbers from the report, show how Bahrain’s dedication to the welfare of women in the civil sector has fared, especially when developed nations such as US and UK still debate the gender wage-gap issue. Even the best place in the US for pay equity – Washington DC – paid women just 91 per cent of what men were paid in 2013, according to a report by the American Association of University Women.

Going with the recent trend in the GCC, where women are finding it easier to land a high paying job than before, the Kingdom seems to be leading by example.

With gender wage gap even creating trouble for US Presidential candidates in politics debates, Bahrainis can, with pride, note that our Kingdom has left much of the western world trailing behind in terms of uplifting women in the workplace.