PNG Labour Market Survey: Earnings, Gender, and Ambitions Findings, Analysis, and Policy Implications November 2024

This groundbreaking report – based on a nationally representative survey involving 2,026 respondents (42% women and 58% men) – provides insights on Papua New Guineans work conditions, ambitions, challenges, and opinions – and what it means for government policy.

The report is the first in recent years to collect data on earnings of Papua New Guineans, and the first to estimate the gender earnings gap in PNG.

Key findings include:

o The average Papua New Guinean in paid work earns 1564 PGK per month.
o However, there is a large gender pay gap, with women’s earnings lagging men’s by 13.7%.
o This stems from an even wider gender pay gap in self-employed work of 23.1%.
o Women also lag men in terms of labour force participation, especially in salaried roles.
o However, 93% of women and 88% of men say it is just as appropriate for women to do paid work as it is for men.
o In a similar vein, 93% of women and 87% of men think women can generally do the same kind of paid work as men.
o Yet, as things stand, 72% of people think women are treated unfairly at work compared to men.
o Looking beyond the status quo, 73% of women and 64% of men believe better job opportunities for women would be good for PNG as a whole.
o Papua New Guineans place responsibility on themselves to achieve their own work ambitions but hold the government responsible for overall job creation.
o They are generally optimistic about achieving their work ambitions but think government could do more to support the creation of jobs.
o 74% of women and 66% of men believe boosting the number of female political leaders would serve the country well.
o Accordingly, 76% of women and 60% of men would be more likely to vote for a female candidate.

Whether you are a policymaker, researcher, member of civil society, or interested member of the public – we think you’ll learn something new from this report.

Download the report here.

The report has been prepared by BCFW, with support through the PNG-Australia Partnership Building Community Engagement in Papua New Guinea (BCEP) program, and with technical support from the World Bank Pacific Observatory.