Will women workers benefit from living wages? A gender-sensitive approach to living wage benchmarking in global garment and footwear supply chains

The global garment and footwear industry relies heavily on the work of women, who represent up to 80% of its global workforce. The current living wage debate presents both opportunities and risks for the millions of women workers in this industry. This paper argues that it is imperative to adopt a gender-sensitive approach in the living wage discourse, and to look at the implications that such an approach has on the methodology of calculating a living wage and on the measures to implement it.