Gender wage discrimination and occupational crowding in Thailand's labor market

This study examines how occupational crowding shapes gender wage discrimination in Thailand’s labor market. Drawing on pooled third-quarter data from the Thai Labor Force Survey (2014–2024), the analysis focuses on two contrasting sectors, construction, dominated by men, and human health and social work, dominated by women. Three analytical tools are employed: the Bergmann Occupational Crowding Index, the Mincer earnings equation, and the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. The findings reveal that women remain concentrated in low-paid, care-related, and informal jobs, whereas men are overrepresented in technical and better-paying roles. Because occupational crowding contributes significantly to these patterns, it serves as a mechanism that reinforces labor market inequality. In formal construction, crowding accounts for 171.82% of the wage gap; yet 675.14% of the gap remains unexplained, suggesting a level of wage discrimination that extends beyond measurable worker characteristics. Even in blue-collar construction, where physical demands are often cited to justify wage disparities, women who possess comparable qualifications continue to earn less.In the healthcare and social work sector, dominated numerically by women, wage suppression persists, and a substantial portion of the wage gap remains unexplained. This pattern points to a systemic undervaluation of labor performed in feminized occupations. Across sectors, education particularly at the primary level yields minimal returns for women, especially in informal and manual roles.Although many believe that gender wage inequality results primarily from differences in human capital, these findings indicate a deeper structural issue. Labor market institutions assign value to work not only based on its content but also on who performs it. Women, crowded into undervalued occupations, are paid less even when performing similar tasks. Therefore, the Thai labor market continues to penalize women through both overt and subtle forms of discrimination.