Do opinions on fair salaries vary with gender in South Africa?

Working Paper 919

Abstract

This study uses two survey experiments to test whether South African respondents perceive fair salaries differently for male and female workers in identical roles. Respondents were randomly assigned to evaluate vignette-based job descriptions in which only the character’s gender (indicated by names) varied. Across both experiments (one using open-ended salary estimates and the other a closed-ended comparison), we find no evidence of gender bias in wage fairness perceptions. Respondents did not assign lower pay to women than to men, even after introducing signals of productivity or caregiving responsibilities. Instead, salary judgments varied by job type,  with lower pay suggested for roles traditionally held by women (cashier and nurse), regardless of the character’s gender. These results suggest that public attitudes may support pay equity, with persistent gender wage gaps in South Africa perhaps rooted in occupational sorting and structural inequalities, rather than attitudinal bias.