The Real Reason Ethiopian Women Earn Less

The numbers are stark. According to the Ethiopian Statistics Service, in 2022, the average monthly earnings for female paid employees in urban Ethiopia stood at 4,414 birr, while men earned 6,525 birr. For every birr a man takes home, a woman earns roughly two-thirds. But framing this as a simple pay discrimination problem misses the deeper structural reality driving the gap.

A Labor Market Split in Two