The pay gap
Thanks to figures like Campoamor, women in Spain currently take an active role in society, holding high positions in both the government and private sector. However, inequalities still persist. This is easily reflected in salaries: according to the latest data, the average gross salary of a woman was 81.28 percent of that of a man's. The difference was even larger in the case of women's most frequent salary, which was 73 percent that of their male counterparts.Furthermore, the pay gap also varied across sectors and working schedules. Regarding the latter, while men working full-time earned an average of 30,074 euros annually, women had average salaries of 28,185 euros in 2021. For part-time positions, men had salaries, on average, 1,238 euros higher. As for sectors, men earned more than women in the vast majority of economic activities. Health and social services, wholesale and retail, motor repairs, and professional, scientific and technical activities registered the largest gender pay gap.
Feminization of poverty
According to the latest studies, women are in general at a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than men, particularly those with low education levels at a young age. Lower labor force participation rate, lower salaries and higher participation in sectors with part-time and precarious jobs are some of the factors behind the incidence of poverty among women. Another reason is that single-parent households are at a much higher risk of poverty, and the majority of single-parents households in Spain are led by single mothers.Despite the fact that the vast majority of people think that being born a man makes a person’s life instantly more open to advantages, most people from both genders considered that Spain had gone far enough giving women equal rights with men. Furthermore, and despite all this evidence, one out of every ten persons in Spain thinks that gender inequality does not really exist.
