Canarian Weekly
06-03-2015, 11:40
THE difference between what men and women earn in the Canaries is at its highest level for 13 years.
On average in the archipelago, there is a 17.03% difference in like-for -like pay cheques while in Spain the difference is 23.93% – the highest rate since 2002.
In theory, this difference means that to get the same pension, a female worker must contribute 11½ years more work than her male counterpart.
This is one of the findings of the UGT “Equal Work, Equal Receivable” research which shows that Spain is the “European champion” when it comes to an equality wage gap.
Almudena Fontecha, a UGT spokesperson, said: “Not only do we again have to put up with 2002 levels, but this gap occurs when the employment rate is lower – ie, there are fewer women workers and they suffer a greater wage gap.”
In real terms the gender pay gap implies that in 2012 women stopped receiving 27.783 million euros in salaries and would have to work an extra 79 days a year to earn the same as men.
The report shows the evolution of the wage gap in gross annual remuneration for the period 2008-2012, and shows an increase of 2.08% in the five years UGT attributed to “the lack of equality policies” and “lack of enforcement of the law prohibiting such discrimination because there are no objective factors that explain these differences”.
Fontecha added: “Women are reaching the training levels the labour market demands, but it seems that there is no level playing field in Spain. Let’s be clear – there is no objective reason why women are paid less.
“On a part-time basis comparison, the UGT indicates that Spain reaches one of the highest levels of inequality on the continent. “The gender gap is 19.3%, compared with a European average of 16.5%. Only Hungary, Germany and Slovakia exceed 20%.
“When taking into consideration the gross annual wage, or full-time work, the wage gap in Spain shoots up to 24%, and this affects two million women and 25% of Spanish workers.”
Men are less represented in part-time work and, since the salaries of part-timers has been reduced because of the crisis, this is another factor that has hit female pay.
The UGT warns: “The perversion of not achieving real equality between women and men carries the risk of applying suffering to women.”
The report draws on annual surveys of wage structure from the National Institute of Statistics to show how the wage gap has increased between 2008 and 2012 in virtually all sectors.
In education, the gap grew by 7.65% in five years, and in the health sector, it rose 6.02%.
“The education sector has been the most affected by decreases in wages for the entire working population of this activity and where the wage gap has tripled in five years,” said Fontecha.
Overall, the highest rates of pay gap are in the category of “other services”, with a pay gap between men and women standing at 36.1%; followed by administrative and support service activities (33.21%), professional, scientific and technical (31.6%) activities; and health and social services (30.33%) activities.
UGT says higher wage differences occur in occupations that require less skill, precisely the most feminised, as in the service sector, where unskilled tasks are performed by 80% of women, who charge 30.67 % less than their male peers.
The situation is similar throughout the country. Of the 17 autonomous communities, only five are below the national average of 23.9%: Baleares (16.78%) and Canaries (17.03%) have the lowest rates, followed by Extremadura (19.38%), Madrid (21.55%) and Castilla-La Mancha (23.16%).
On the opposite side, Aragon (29.98%), Navarra (29.57%), Cantabria (28.05%) and Asturias (28.04%) are the major differences
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/gender-pay-gap-widens/)
On average in the archipelago, there is a 17.03% difference in like-for -like pay cheques while in Spain the difference is 23.93% – the highest rate since 2002.
In theory, this difference means that to get the same pension, a female worker must contribute 11½ years more work than her male counterpart.
This is one of the findings of the UGT “Equal Work, Equal Receivable” research which shows that Spain is the “European champion” when it comes to an equality wage gap.
Almudena Fontecha, a UGT spokesperson, said: “Not only do we again have to put up with 2002 levels, but this gap occurs when the employment rate is lower – ie, there are fewer women workers and they suffer a greater wage gap.”
In real terms the gender pay gap implies that in 2012 women stopped receiving 27.783 million euros in salaries and would have to work an extra 79 days a year to earn the same as men.
The report shows the evolution of the wage gap in gross annual remuneration for the period 2008-2012, and shows an increase of 2.08% in the five years UGT attributed to “the lack of equality policies” and “lack of enforcement of the law prohibiting such discrimination because there are no objective factors that explain these differences”.
Fontecha added: “Women are reaching the training levels the labour market demands, but it seems that there is no level playing field in Spain. Let’s be clear – there is no objective reason why women are paid less.
“On a part-time basis comparison, the UGT indicates that Spain reaches one of the highest levels of inequality on the continent. “The gender gap is 19.3%, compared with a European average of 16.5%. Only Hungary, Germany and Slovakia exceed 20%.
“When taking into consideration the gross annual wage, or full-time work, the wage gap in Spain shoots up to 24%, and this affects two million women and 25% of Spanish workers.”
Men are less represented in part-time work and, since the salaries of part-timers has been reduced because of the crisis, this is another factor that has hit female pay.
The UGT warns: “The perversion of not achieving real equality between women and men carries the risk of applying suffering to women.”
The report draws on annual surveys of wage structure from the National Institute of Statistics to show how the wage gap has increased between 2008 and 2012 in virtually all sectors.
In education, the gap grew by 7.65% in five years, and in the health sector, it rose 6.02%.
“The education sector has been the most affected by decreases in wages for the entire working population of this activity and where the wage gap has tripled in five years,” said Fontecha.
Overall, the highest rates of pay gap are in the category of “other services”, with a pay gap between men and women standing at 36.1%; followed by administrative and support service activities (33.21%), professional, scientific and technical (31.6%) activities; and health and social services (30.33%) activities.
UGT says higher wage differences occur in occupations that require less skill, precisely the most feminised, as in the service sector, where unskilled tasks are performed by 80% of women, who charge 30.67 % less than their male peers.
The situation is similar throughout the country. Of the 17 autonomous communities, only five are below the national average of 23.9%: Baleares (16.78%) and Canaries (17.03%) have the lowest rates, followed by Extremadura (19.38%), Madrid (21.55%) and Castilla-La Mancha (23.16%).
On the opposite side, Aragon (29.98%), Navarra (29.57%), Cantabria (28.05%) and Asturias (28.04%) are the major differences
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/gender-pay-gap-widens/)