Bridging Uzbekistan’s pay gap takes child care and harassment-free jobs — World Bank
Women in Uzbekistan earn 35-40% less than men, even if they have similar qualifications and work in the same field, according to a new World Bank report. Closing the gender-related wage gap will take more than just equal pay: childcare, safer workplaces, better transport, and stronger job skills are all important.
The new Uzbekistan Poverty and Equity Assessment says that expanding women’s participation in the labour market is one of the clearest ways to further reduce poverty. Uzbekistan’s poverty rate fell sharply between 2021 and 2025, but women remain less likely to work and continue to earn substantially less when they do.
Child care, education and better mobility
The World Bank study flags child care as the most influential aspect. More affordable care would keep women with young children in work or help them return to it, rather than dropping out of the labour market altogether.
The second is education. The bank urges more investment in the skills employers really want, especially professional and technical training that can get women into better-paid jobs. Uzbekistan is close to parity in higher education with women already making up 53% of university students, but this progress has yet to translate into equal labour market outcomes.
Read more: New data highlights significant NEET crisis among Uzbekistan youth
Transport and public services are important too, especially outside Tashkent. The report recommends improving connectivity in lagging districts and neighbourhoods to ensure that women can easily access jobs, training and government services.
Workplace safety
A further obstacle is safety in the workplace. Kursiv Uzbekistan reported that a commission has been set up by the Ministry of Employment and the World Bank to protect women from harassment, violence and sexual harassment at work.
But the new findings highlight a larger problem already apparent in World Bank data: Uzbekistan has made progress on women’s rights on paper, including equal-pay protections, but implementation has been weak.
Read more: Total number of businesses in Uzbekistan rises to 474,000
On the legal framework, Uzbekistan scored 82.1 out of 100 on the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law index for 2026, but only 59.1 on supportive policies and 57.2 on perceptions of enforcement.
