Moroccan workers harvest clementines in fields of Foleli on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on October 29, 2020. (PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP)

Migrant workers in the world’s richest economies are earning 12.6 percent less than national workers, and the gap is widening, according to the International Labour Organization.

It also said that migrants in high-income countries are more likely to be in precarious work, with more than one quarter on temporary contracts. That’s partly why such workers took a greater hit from the shutdowns of activity because of the coronavirus.

The ILO said migrants in high-income countries are more likely to be in precarious work, with more than one quarter on temporary contracts

Worsening Divide

The new report covered 49 nations, mainly in Europe and the Americas, and showed that the wage gap has widened in many countries in recent years, including Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Norway

“Migrant workers often face inequality of treatment,” even though “they play a fundamental role in many economies,” said Michelle Leighton, chief of the Labour Migration Branch of the ILO.

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In addition to wages, she cited access to employment and training, conditions of work, social security, and trade union rights.

COVID-19 has worsened the situation, widening the labor divide. Tens of millions of migrant workers lost their jobs, as they were in manual jobs and unable to work remotely.

The ILO report also showed that women migrant workers, concentrated in domestic care, earn 21 percent less than their male national counterparts. That’s higher than the gender pay gap of 16 percent in the countries surveyed.

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