Job. Women with more qualifications but with lower salaries than men

Portuguese women represent 49.5% of the workforce employed, but although the number of women in leadership positions has increased, the salary gap compared to men worsened by 71.63% in the last decade. The conclusions are from an analysis of the Randstad Research to the evolution of women in the labor market between 2014 and 2024.

According to the same data, in 2014, the average difference between the average monthly liquid income of a man and a woman was in the 141 euros, with the average performance of the man being in the 892 euros and that of the woman in the 751 euros. However, it says that in 10 years, this difference has increased by fixing in 242 euros: while men receive an average of 1,311 euros per month, women earn 1,069 euros. « Despite being the agriculture sector which records the highest salary pit growth (about 750%), it remains in services above average variations, currently there is a 304 euros difference. »

With regard to the number of women in directive positions, Portugal recorded a positive improvement of 25.2 percentage points. In 2014, the country was 10.3 percentage points below the European average in the percentage of women in leadership positions, with 9.5%. Arrived at 2024, Portugal equals the European average, with 34.7% of women in directive positions (presidency, members of the Board of Directors and workers' representatives), ”says the same document.

In Portugal's position in the Global Gender Equality Index, the country increased by 53.7 percentage points in 2013 to 68.6 in 2024. However, Portugal continues 2.4 percentage points below 71 of the European Union average.

And the data are not here. “The growth in the presence of women in the labor market was parallel to a decrease in female unemployment, which in 10 years has a drop of 45.6%(157,900 unemployed women), currently setting at 6.9%, above the national average of 6.7%. However, this fall was lower than that of male unemployment, which decreased 48.9%, ”he says.

Full time and precarious bond

Pordata data also advances with other numbers and say that, contrary to women in other European countries in Portugal, the percentage of women employed in part -time work is 10%, while men is 4.6%. “We are the 9th EU country with the lowest proportion of women working on part time. In countries such as Austria or the Netherlands, more than half of women employed work in this regime, ”adding that“ specifically in women who work in part time with children, we are in 8th place among the European Union countries with the lowest percentage (only 7.9% of workers in our country and who are mothers, they do to part time). In Austria, the Netherlands and Germany two thirds of workers who are mothers are part -time employed (69.2%; 67.9%and 65.4%; respectively) ”.

The document also says that although Portugal stands out in female labor participation and women do it essentially full time, almost one in five women (17.7%) has a temporary employment contract. Insecurity in employment, among workers due to others, increases in younger women – between 25 and 34 years old, almost one in three have a term of time (28%); For women of foreign nationality from outside the EU 43.5% have a term of time.

The study admits that many of the vulnerabilities in the labor market are in professional areas with the highest female presence, noting that almost half (49%) of women employed worked in 2023 in three of the categories of professions that earn lower remuneration, namely: “Uncupid workers (a category where women represent 69% of the total, compared to 31% of men); Administrative personnel; and workers of personal services, protection and security and sellers due to others (see tables).

Family life also weighs

Already another study done by EurofirMS-People First draws attention to the fact that women have higher qualification levels to men, surpassing them by 30%. However, it acknowledges that, although they are increasingly prepared for the job market, females continues to sacrifice more hours of work and income to devote themselves to family life and children's care. “Motherhood aggravates this gap. The data reveal that when they are mothers, women have 5.5% more part -time contracts than men, ”he says, adding that“ the data still reveals evident occupational segregation. Women are more present in health and social support, education and hotel and restoration sectors. In contrast, men dominate sectors such as construction, transforming industry and car reparation. ”