© Reuters. Salary difference between men and women goes to 22%, points out IBGE
The wage gap between men and women, which had been on a downward trend until 2020, rose again in the country and reached 22% at the end of 2022, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). This means that a Brazilian woman earns, on average, 78% of what a man earns.
Today, International Women’s Day, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva must present a bill to guarantee equal remuneration for men and women who perform the same function. In theory, the difference is already prohibited by the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), but there is a lack of mechanisms to ensure that the law is complied with.
According to experts, among the possible explanations for the recent increase in the wage gap is the fact that the pandemic has been more difficult for women, who, in many cases, left their jobs to take care of the home and family. “It can be assumed that women stayed longer out of the labor market and, then, it becomes more difficult to reinsert themselves”, says economist Bruno Imaizumi, from the consultancy LCA.
The coordinator of the Gender and Economics Research Center at the Faculty of Economics at the Fluminense Federal University, Lucilene Morandi, says that another possible explanation stems from the fact that the crisis in the service sector – which employs more women – was more intense during the pandemic than in industry and agribusiness (segments that concentrate more men).
The economist adds that measures such as those to be announced today by Lula are important for making it clear that the State is concerned about gender inequality and that it will consider policies that reduce the problem. She considers, however, that the law will not interfere in cases in which a company prefers to promote a man because it considers him more capable of assuming a position of command due to his gender.
‘FEMININE AREAS’
Insper professor Ana Diniz, a researcher in the area of diversity and inclusion, points out that, in addition to the problems that came in the wake of the pandemic and implied greater inequality between genders, other issues need to be tackled to reduce the discrepancy, such as the sexual division of knowledge . Historically, women are more present in areas considered “feminine”, such as those related to care (teaching, for example). These are also the areas that tend to be undervalued financially.
Deputy representative of UN Women Brazil, Ana Carolina Querino says that it is necessary to discuss the value of the work that has been done, in large part, by women. “For our society, it is fundamental to invest in the future generation. Therefore, it is essential to adequately remunerate those who work with education”, she says. “If we don’t rethink the value of these jobs, it won’t be possible to establish a real discussion about wage equality.”
Ana Carolina adds that the future law that intends to guarantee wage equality will need to have monitoring tools. She recalls that the 30% quota of the party fund for female candidates – created to increase the participation of women in politics – has not been respected by political parties, which resort to “tricks” to circumvent it.
According to Ana Carolina, in the corporate world it has been common for companies to create more management positions and allocate women to positions. When these positions are analyzed, however, it becomes clear that they are “junior managers”, for example. “This ends up creating some ways of maintaining wage inequality even for posts that would be equal.”
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paulo.