Gender wage gap increased to 25% in 2021 and would close within 50 years

The International Women’s Day represents an opportunity to highlight the main challenges that Peru faces to eliminate gender inequalities. Although progress has been made in recent years, various indicators reveal that, as a result of the pandemic, women have experienced a more adverse environment to access not only better working conditions, but also positions of greater leadership in the Executive, says the Peruvian Institute of Economy (IPE).

Largest wage gap

Female labor participation has been limited as a result of the pandemic due to the increase in domestic work —greater child care in virtual classes—, and the mobility and capacity restrictions that affected intensive sectors in the hiring of women such as commerce and services. .

In that line, According to IPE calculations based on the National Household Survey (ENAHO), the labor income gap between men and women throughout the country increased from 19% in 2020 to 25% in 2021. However, when adjusting compensation for characteristics such as age, educational level and economic activity, the wage gap would have widened from 24% in 2020 to 35% in 2021, the highest level in a decade.

Economic parity would be an elusive goal in the short term. Assuming the average revenue growth rate of the last 15 years (2004-2019), the gender wage gap could only be eliminated within 50 years.

Less equal cabinets

In 2021, the opportunity for the empowerment of women in the political sphere to be much greater was lost. While the participation of women in Congress reached an all-time high (38%), the proportion of ministries led by women has dropped to just 18% on average during the first seven months of the current administration. This percentage represents almost half of the average of cabinets formed over the last decade (33%).

Gaps in educational achievement

Women still face greater difficulties in completing educational achievements compared to men. In 2020, 65% of males aged 15 and over had completed secondary education. In contrast, only 58% of women reached this level of education. According to the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum, while neighboring countries such as Argentina and Colombia have managed to completely reduce the educational gender gap, Peru ranks 95th out of 156 countries evaluated.

The economic cost of teenage pregnancy

The public budget for the year 2022 destined for each woman between 15 and 49 years of age is lower in regions with greater unmet needs for family planning. Considering that more than half of the women who use a modern contraceptive method acquire it from a public institution, the role of the State in ensuring adequate planning is key and, for now, inefficient.

Inadequate family planning has repercussions, among other factors, on adolescent pregnancy, which makes women with lower incomes the most affected. Adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 in the lowest income quintile are estimated to be five times more likely to become pregnant than those in the richest quintile. As a result of teenage pregnancy, the possibility of having a job, especially formal, is reduced, which would mean a salary income up to 14% lower, on average.

It is necessary that every March 8 become a date to recognize progress and redouble efforts so that both women and men can develop in equal conditions and thus access the same opportunities, recalls the Peruvian Institute of Economy (IPE).