LIMA: Although women in Latin America and the Caribbean are better educated, they earn less than men, according to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study released on Monday.

The report, entitled "New Century, Old Disparities," compared men and women in the same age groups and with similar educational levels, and concluded that men earn an average 17 per cent more than women.

While the gender wage gap has been shrinking in recent years, down from 25 per cent to 17 per cent between 1992 and 2007, "the process of closing this gap has been very slow," mostly due to "misguided stereotypes," said the study's author Hugo Nopo.

Early in childhood, these stereotypes discourage women from pursuing a wide range of better-paid jobs and encourage them to opt for jobs in lower-paid fields, such as teaching, healthcare and the service sector, the study said.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/17th-Oct-12