Dear reader,
Precisely a week ago, International Pay Inequality Day was marked. The day aims to draw attention to the slogan “equal work, equal pay”, fighting against various forms of discrimination at work, including those that penalize women.
Since 2019, the barometer of pay differences between men and women, which gives us information about whether men and women are paid the same for the same functions or positions.
The most recent barometer, published in July, contains data for the year 2022. It shows that women earn 13.2% less than men, which translates into an average difference of 160 euros per month, to the disadvantage of women .
When publishing this barometer, the Commission for Equality in Labor and Employment (CITE) translated “in detail” what that advantage means. “Considering this difference, in base salary, it would be as if Portuguese women, in 2022, had worked 48 dias without receiving any salary for their work”. In other words, they worked for free in the place of their paid work.
The number has been improving: CITE accounts indicate that, almost a decade beforea woman would have to work more 65 dias per year to get the same salary as a man.
Numbers aside, the issue seems to be difficult to resolve. Much of what happens in the world of work, in this regard, has to do with cultural issues, which resist laws, no matter how good they are.
In this regard, we all remember the recent statements by the Attorney General of the Republic in Parliament when he related the constraints of the Public Ministry with the number of women in the structure. Lucília Gago stated that “the weight of females is now more than two thirds or close to 90% if the age group up to 30 years old is considered”. “This circumstance constitutes a factor of aggravation of embarrassment due to situations of pregnancy, risky pregnancy, absence due to sick leave to care for minor children, taking parental leave (…)”, she detailed.
The 2023 report confirms the preponderance of women in Public Ministrywhere there were 1722 magistrates, of which 68.7% (1183) were women and 31.3% (539) men. Only in the group of magistrates aged 60 or over, the number of male magistrates is slightly higher than the number of female magistrates.
Which is not strange when you look at the students enrolled in Law courses. Official statistics reveal that in the 2022/2023 academic year there were 15,360 students on Law courses offered by public and private universities, of which 67% (10,393) are women and only 33% (4967) are men.
The feminization of the judiciary does not seem likely to change in the near future. The change towards equality between men and women at work must be cultural. And both they and they play a fundamental role.
The path – albeit with bumps – seems to be progressing in several areas, such as division of parental leave between men and women.
There are equity reasons for defending equality between men and women at work, but also economic motivations. For Women’s Day, the leaders of the European Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, argued, in an opinion article in the Expressthat “the mobilization of all available talent maximizes productivity and competitiveness”. This can start today, in every office.
Extra work
A laboratory on equality at work
Still regarding equality between men and women at work, CITE launched this month the Equality Labs. An initiative consisting of three training modules, each lasting three hours, and all in October. Those who sign up will have training in the following areas: “The Situation of Women and Men in the Labor Market”, “Instruments and Intervention Strategies for the Promotion of Equality and Non-Discrimination between Men and Women” and “Legal Framework”.
Minimum wage could reach 870 euros in 2025
O national minimum wage it could reach 870 euros next year, if the proposal that the Government prepared for the social consultation meeting is successful. The amount may be finalized without agreement being reached from all partners (employers and unions), making it necessary for the executive to make this proposal final through approval by the Council of Ministers. This amount exceeds the gross 820 euros that workers receive this year and is above the 855 euros that were provided for in the income agreement.
The last banker in Portugal
Maria Cândida Rocha e Silva launched Banco Carregosa, which she leads at the age of 80, and was the first female broker in Portugal. In an interview she gave to Business Journal argues that “entrepreneurs perhaps should have changed more”, talks about the way the younger generation relates to work and the fact that managers have not always taken care of the well-being of workers.
Warning that “generalizations are always very dangerous”, Maria Cândida Rocha e Silva understands, regarding young people’s relationship with work, that “people are not so concerned about work, about wanting to be better, about wanting to do it. Nowadays there is a bit of lack of interest.”
In March, on Women’s Day, in an interview with PÚBLICO, she declared: “I never felt that being a woman was a disadvantage.” And he was referring to work. At the time she said this:
– I always thought it was a big advantage.
-Even in this case, in a profession where virility was required?
-Nothing. But what is this virility? I think I’m much more virile, look how boring… It’s never been a disadvantage.
