Warning that, at this rate, it will take “half a century” to achieve equal pay since women work 73 days a year for free
The wage gap between men and women has increased for the first time since 2017 and stands at 20%, as reported this Friday by the Independent Trade Union Center and Civil Servants (CSIF) in the presentation of the Wage Gap report that is published. every year within the framework of Equal Pay Day, which is celebrated every February 22.
Likewise, she has warned that, with the current wage gap, women are working for free 73 days a year and that, at this rate, it will take “half a century” to achieve equal pay.
Specifically, he pointed out that the wage gap in Spain stands at 19.89%, 0.02% more than the previous year, with an average annual salary of 25,137 euros for men and 20,138 euros for women. according to the latest data from the Tax Agency, corresponding to 2022.
“Official data confirm that the pandemic marked a before and after in labor relations between men and women, since the latter have seen an increase in temporary contracts, part-time shifts, reductions in working hours and time dedicated to care. of minors and their dependents,” he noted.
Along these same lines, she has stated that the difference between women and men who have temporary contracts has multiplied by 12 since the pandemic. According to the latest EPA, if in the last quarter of 2019 there were 27,700 more women than men on temporary contracts, in the same period of 2023 there were 337,400 more.
Regarding unemployment figures, the union has explained that there are still more women in this situation (1.6 million compared to 1.1 million men, according to data from the Ministry of Labor and the State Public Employment Services corresponding to January 2024).
In any case, the case of public administrations has stood out, where the average salary for men is 33,931 euros, compared to 31,268 euros for women (more than 8 percent lower). “According to the EPA, the instability figures in administrations are worse than in the private sector,” he lamented. The number of women with temporary contracts is “double” than that of men, while women with part-time contracts are “more than triple” (152,900 women compared to 42,400 men).
The union has also denounced that the Government is failing to comply with the law on equal pay in administrations. In this sense, CSIF has demanded that the Executive carry out an annual analysis and evaluation of the gender gap in both public administrations and private companies.
In addition, he has requested the implementation of conciliation measures “without loss of pay.” “We ask for the correct transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of June 20, 2019 on the reconciliation of family life and professional life of parents and caregivers, which in Spain has currently been transposed in the Royal Decree- law 5/2023, of June 28”, he assured.
It has also proposed the universal creation of places for public and free nursery schools from 0 to 3 years old, as well as the promotion of co-responsibility through training and awareness campaigns, the creation of the figure of the union delegate specialized in Equality and against gender violence in each workplace, the integration of the gender approach in public administrations, the creation of specific regulations similar to Royal Decree 902/2020 to carry out remuneration audits in public administrations, the negotiation and implementation of Equality Plans in private companies and the implementation of the official registry of Equality Plans of Public Administrations.
To reach these results, CSIF has analyzed indicators from the Tax Agency, Social Security data, the Active Population Survey, data from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and the Statistical Bulletin of Public Administrations.
