Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Wages in Spain

According to a report published yesterday by the Inland Revenue Office in Spain about the Spanish labor market and pensions, men earn salaries which are on average 30 percent higher than those of women. The average annual salary of men in 2004 was 17,964 euros, compared to 12,464 for women - a difference of 5,500 euros per year. If you multiply this amount by 40 (years in an average working life) the total difference adds up to almost a quarter of a million euros. Which is a very big gap indeed.

The study puts the difference down to the fact that the relatively recent incorporation of women into the labor market in Spain on a large scale means that they earn less because they have been employed for fewer years, and that their jobs tend to be more at risk than in the case of male employees. Furthermore, mothers tend to put their children's interests before their own professional development, and the percentage of women working part time in Spain is higher than in any other European Union member state. The report also highlights the lack of equal opportunities for women compared to men as far as professional promotion is concerned.

Statistics show that 58 percent of workers between 18 and 45 years old are men, and 42 percent women, whereas for workers between 45 and 65, the difference is much higher (over 20 percent).

Not surprisingly the report puts wages in Madrid at the top end of the scale, followed by Ceuta, Melilla and Catalonia (in that order). Jobs in the Energy and Water and Banking industries boast the highest average wages (31,846 and 28,911 euros respectively) whereas the Tourism (8,680 euros) and Trade (11,360 euros) industries offer the lowest average wages.

Related:
Unemployment in Spain at all-time low

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