Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
A new report on the gender pay gap in Spain has revealed that women would have to earn over 20 percent more each year than men to get the same salary.
According to the annual ‘Wage gap, sticky floor and glass ceiling’ assessment published by the finance ministry, the disparity in average pay packets for men and women in 2024 stood at €5,156 per year.
Women would need to earn an additional 23,2% per hour in order to match the average salary of men.
Eurostat data shows that Spain’s gender wage gap is now more than double the European Union average of 11 percent.
The gender pay gap has decreased by 0.7% in Spain compared to last year.
However, the absolute difference has widened by €64 due to inflation and wage increases.
According to experts, at the present rate it will take about 23 years to eliminate the gender wage gap.
According to the report, 4.2 million women – 42.9 per cent of those in employment – earned less than the minimum wage rate of €15,876 per year in 2024, accounting for 55 per cent of all workers on low incomes.
READ MORE: Read about the rival marches that took place in Madrid and Barcelona on International Women’s Day as the transgender row divides the feminist movement
The study also highlights differences in gender pay gaps by age group.
Female workers aged under 18 earn €818 less than their male counterparts, but the disparity widens to an eye-watering €10,017 per year among those aged 65 or over.
Women aged 18 and under earn 47 percent less than men, but this drops to 11.3% for women aged 26-35.
From then on the gap gets wider, according to experts. This is due to problems in promoting people and the pressure of childcare and child-rearing.
The gap between women aged 36-45 is 22.3%.
It reaches 55,6% for people over 65.
Canary Islands and Balearic Islands have the smallest pay gap between younger and older workers.
Andalucia and Madrid, as well as Asturias, are the regions with the greatest disparities between average salaries for men and women.
By sector, the biggest differences are found in IT (€8,138) and business (€7,353), which can be put down to a small proportion of women in the highest salary brackets.
On the other hand, the smallest difference is found in construction and real estate, where the gap sits at €1,453 per year.
Click here to read the latest Spain News at The Olive Press.
