Three reasons why the gender gap goes beyond salaries

BarcelonaWhen we talk about the gender gap —and the inequalities that separate men and women in the workplace— it may seem that the only important data is 19.5% of men earn more than women in CataloniaBut this gap and the consequences it brings have a much wider scope; and this was reflected this Wednesday in an event moderated by the ARA journalist Antoni Bassas and organised by the La Caixa Foundation by the triad of economists specialising in gender issues, Lídia Farré, Libertad González and Judit Vall. The three academics presented different studies and arguments to understand that the gender gap goes far beyond salaries.

Employment rate

Farré, who is a senior scientist at the Institute for Economic Analysis (IAE-CSIC), has recalled that there are many other areas where there are discrepancies between the situation of men and that of women, starting with the employment rate. While 68% of women of working age have a job, this percentage is seven points higher in the case of men, with 75%. "74% of part-time jobs are held by women and the majority [87%] are men who interrupt their professional career to take care of their children," Farré explained. The expert has stressed that there is "a cocktail of factors that makes inequalities continue to persist and that are important today." For example, she has mentioned that only 39% of management positions are occupied by women, versus 61% of men.

"Gender equality is much more than a question of social justice, it is also a question of economic efficiency and we want to emphasise this aspect," Farré added. The researcher cited a recent study carried out in the United States which showed that the change in women's labour participation between 1960 and 2010 could explain between 20% and 40% of GDP growth. "The fact that women take advantage of their talent to carry out certain professions to which they did not have access has contributed to the evolution of the economy," she said.

Health

The UB Economics professor and IEB researcher, Judit Vall, has stressed another negative effect that is not usually given much visibility: underfunding and the lack of data on everything related to women's health. "Since 2000, adverse effects of medicines affect 52% more women; serious or fatal effects affect 36%," she warned. The academic has criticised the fact that there is a bias in the effectiveness of treatments that harms women and the barriers they face in obtaining a real diagnosis. Thus, she cited a study presented in Denmark that indicated a delay of 2.5 years more in the diagnosis of cancer in women compared to men, and 4.5 years more in the case of diabetes.

Vall has recalled that these inequalities in the area of health have an economic impact, since these episodes of illness begin mainly during the working stage of women between 20 and 65 years. According to the latest estimates cited by the economist, if these differences were eliminated, this would mean an increase of 1.7% in the world's GDP and the world's economy would grow by one trillion dollars by 2040. "Women will participate more in the labour market, they will depend less on public insurance systems and we will be able to reduce their poverty."

Role in the home

Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) professor Libertad González has recalled that while women are behind in the statistics for labour participation, they continue to take on more hours of unpaid work at home than men. "On average, they spend eleven hours more per week than men caring for children and another four hours on housework," she warned, citing a study published with Farré with samples of 4,000 families with children from all over the State. In this sense, she has highlighted that "the birth rate has fallen a lot" and has gone from 2.2 children per woman in 1980 to 1.6 in 2022. González has related this drop to the combination of two facts: women work more and men have not increased their participation in caregiving too much. The expert has also indicated that greater gender equality in homes could contribute to increasing the birth rate, which would have "undoubted" benefits on the economy as a whole.

Many of these differences, however, have to do with social roles that are still perpetuated. "I propose that just as there are more and more role models for professional success for women and certain stereotypes have been broken, we should do the same with men and provide caring role models for young men who do not have role models, just as we encourage more girls to study mathematics," González suggested.