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Gender pay gap: women earn 25% less than men

Gender pay gap: women earn 25% less than men

The discourse that we are building a more equitable and egalitarian society for men and women has expanded in almost all possible areas. “Women in power”, “women must be empowered” and “the women They are the future” are usually phrases used to reinforce the idea that we are getting closer to being as important, or recognized, as men, but the figures for the working market They reflect a foreign scenario.

The average monthly income of Peruvians is S/1,521.9, while men earn S/2,039.7, 25.4% more (generally S/518), according to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) over metropolitan Lima.

“You have to make an impact on the importance of the gap, because what it is saying is that there are people who are worth more and people who are worth less, so the idea of ​​an egalitarian society breaks us,” says María José Gómez, director of the Fundación Forge Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, in dialogue with La República.

Gómez explains that this salary difference is also reflected in the type of work we do, where the positions where more money is earned are occupied by men, as occurs in the technology sector; while the positions where the lowest earnings are made up are made up of women, that is, in care and services.

As of 2021, women mostly held positions in other services (36.4%) and commerce (27.5%), while agriculture (28.9%), manufacturing (9.3%), transport and communications (12.9%) and construction (12.5%) were occupied by men. And the gap becomes more visible in other regions. As of 2021, in Piura, Moquegua and Tacna, women only earned 54%, 59% and 60% of what men earned.

Little female presence in command positions

Bárbara Castro, professor of Finance at Pacífico Business School, points out that, for example, in the financial sector, of the universe of collaborators that amounts to 62,000 at the end of 2022, 54% of that entire population are women; however, they only handle operational tasks.

“There are more women who are within the economically active population, but if you double-click on those numbers, what you begin to see is that this participation occurs in operational positions. They are from middle management down. The gap that we still have to cover, many of the organizations in the different industries, is that women can take senior management or decision-making positions”, says the specialist.

Only 10% of the CEOs of the companies The most important in Peru are women, according to the Peruvian Chamber of Electronic Commerce (Capece).

Castro warns that the problem with more men leading companies is that the dynamics continue to be patriarchal and not only within the company, but also abroad.

The teacher also points out that the number of graduates from universities in Peru it is mostly female, but the question is why there are not more women occupying senior management positions. Don’t we have the same capabilities or don’t they give us the opportunities?

It must be remembered that, according to the World Economic Forum (2022), in Latin America, gender parity at all levels, including salary, will be achieved in 67 years. Will you be here to experience it?

Thus we have, According to recent INEI data, of the 5 million 93,000 people employed as of January 2023, 54% are men and the other 46% are women. If we disaggregate the figures, we observe that the population with adequate employment in Metropolitan Lima it is mostly male, while of the underemployed population, when the payment is not enough to cover the basic basket, 58% are women.

Meanwhile, the rate of unemployment The female unemployment rate was 9.6%, being 3% higher than the male unemployment rate (6.6%).

economic independence

Women tend to occupy the positions in the informal market because it allows them to have flexible time to perform other tasks, whether it is to raise their children or to care for the elderly with whom they live.

What does this reality imply? If a job is sacrificed when there is a need in the family, it is that of the woman, points out the director of Forge, adding that this is “extremely dangerous”, especially in a country like Peru, with figures of violence so high.

Between 2015 and 2021, three women were victims of femicide every 10 days, according to the National Observatory on Violence against Women.

“The love ties that generate in Peru is that many women cannot develop their life projects, they accompany the life projects of their partners. And in particular, when there is a situation of violence, it is very difficult to leave, but without economic autonomy it is practically impossible because you have nowhere to go”, warns Goméz.

Not having economic independence limits the opportunities to access studies and build a life project, adds the specialist, also it does not allow you to get out of a relationship even if it is not violent. “How are you going to get divorced if you don’t own anything?” she notes.

A path of opportunities

But there are some figures that reveal that economic independence is today a search for Peruvian women; For example, by 2022, 58% of people interested in investing in a business are women, according to a study carried out by the fintech tyba.

“Peruvian women stand out for being more interested in investment and saving, And although they are still behind in banking and investment, that curiosity should be capitalized to encourage them to have a more conscious management of their finances and access alternatives that are available on an equal footing”, explained Orietta Mazuelos, tyba strategy lead.

And on the academic side, six out of 10 students at the Certus institute are women and the careers most in demand by them are related to business and finance.

The director of Certus, Guillermo Sánchez, explains that in Peru there is a deficit of 300,000 technical professionals each year, which is an opportunity for more women to access these positions. “However, we need to break gender stereotypes in the academic and work spheres to motivate them to develop professionally, even in sectors dominated by men such as technology,” he pointed out.

For example, we talked to Isabel Espinoza (30), who lives in Villa Maria del Triunfo and paid for her technical studies to become an accountant. She has worked in a construction company for more than six years. She tells us that Although he is on the payroll and enjoys all the legal benefits, according to the market, he considers that his salary should be a little higher, “due to the amount of work, the number of things we do, since we fulfill other functions beyond the area in which we work, sometimes we see the logistics, sales, purchases, among other things”, he specifies.

Something that strikes her about working in accounting is that most employers tend to hire women, “because they say we are more orderly,” which doesn’t seem fair to her because it puts her male colleagues at a disadvantage.

Isabel describes her current employment situation as good, because “I feel confident that I know what I am doing, my work supports me and I also have the freedom to express my opinion if there is something I do not agree with”; however, she has a medium-term goal, which is to open her own accounting firm where she can be her own boss. “I have to finish the university part to go to college and that is still a long process.”

Like Isabel, many women aspire to have their own business. In 2022, 7,969 Caja Piura users accessed a credit to undertake. Most of the applicants (41%) are over 37 years of age and come from Lima, Lambayeque and Piura. By educational level, 75% have secondary studies, 12.5% ​​completed a technical level and the remaining 12.5% ​​have only studied primary school.

reactions

María José Gómez, director of the Forge Peru Foundation

“The salary gap makes it clear that there are first and second category people, and also that it is linked to the negotiation capacity with which women arrive at love relationships”.

Bárbara Castro, Professor of Finance at Pacífico Business School

“Change will be generated when women can be in decision-making positions. For this we have to know what are the cultural elements that hinder us from reaching these positions”.

Challenges in the technology industry

Focus: by Valeria Vargas, Human Resources Manager at SOAINT

More and more women want to have a greater presence in the world of science and technology. However, different challenges continue to be presented within the industry that make it difficult for them to enter. These are not alien to other business sectors within Peru, since they have an origin within society that is the sexism.

One of the main challenges is the stereotype that exists around women and men. In this 21st century, where there has been greater digitization as a result of the pandemic, there is still a bias that considers men more effective than women just because of a gender issue. Although this paradigm is being banished more and more, efforts must still be greater to considerably reduce the gap that exists.

And it is that there is a greater concern of the companies of the sector TIC, and in general, for developing a gender awareness within their ranks to lessen this gap. For example, mMore organizations develop hiring policies that ensure equality among their collaborators, as well as the development of workshops that allow them to deconstruct what they know about the “correct” around the functions of men and women.

We must keep pace with technological advances and seek more companies to ensure not only equity policies, but also an inclusive organizational culture to ensure safe spaces where women can develop professionally.

Infographic - The Republic

Infographic – The Republic

  Infographic - The Republic

Infographic – The Republic

  Infographic - The Republic

Infographic – The Republic

Source: Larepublica

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