Education has a big effect on earnings. Employees with tertiary education earn a lot more than people who are less educated, but regardless of the level of education, men still earn more than women, according to Statistics SA’s Monthly Earnings in South Africa 2017-2022 report.

The median monthly earnings of people with tertiary education who work for an employer were R21,000. This is R15,583 (or 288%) higher than the national median earnings of R5,417 for all employees.

For those who completed high school, median earnings were R5,700, slightly above the national median, but still far below those who carried on studying to obtain a post-school qualification.

For female employees with tertiary education, however, the median earnings were R5,000 (or 25%) lower than for male employees. Female employees who completed high school had median earnings of R4,992 a month, while male employees’ earnings were R6,000 a month, a 20% pay gap.