Always current, the topic of inequality in the labor market returns to the center of the debate with even more force when the International Women’s Daycelebrated this Sunday, March 8 – a date that, before being commemorative, It is historically linked to the demand for rights and gender equality.
In Portugal, it must be said, the salary difference between men and women remains significant, rotating 15% and can approach 30% when analyzing management positions and top functions. The data was highlighted by Joana Silvaprofessor at the Catholic University and deputy chief economist of the World Bank, in an interview with DN.
“Often this gender gap is calculated while controlling for differences between the type of occupations people have. For people with the same occupation, working in the same sector of activity, what is the difference in payment?“, she states. According to the economist, this is a relevant difference even when comparing workers in similar functions.
One of the most evident dynamics in career development is associated with the birth of the first child. According to Joana Silva, the salaries of men and women tend to evolve in a similar way at the beginning of their professional lives, but this pattern changes at that moment.
“That’s what it’s called child penalty“, he explains. “From then on, the [salários] of men continue on the same trajectory, but that of women remains on a worse trajectory”. The wage gap then tends to increase, also accompanied by changes in women’s participation in the labor market.
The economist also points out several factors for this phenomenon, from social norms to the way domestic work is distributed, institutional conditions and even the availability of support for parenting.
“Aspects such as social norms, culture and also aspects such as the support that women can have to participate in the labor market and the price of this support, for example, of these quality daycare centers, play a very important role“.
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