It is a controversial statistic for the 21st century, but the truth is that Portuguese women’s salaries are on average 18% below those of men.
This means that to earn the same amount as the opposite sex, women effectively have to work an extra 65 days per year.
The alarming news comes from data compiled by the European Commission (EC) and has been highlighted in Portugal by the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (CITE), who brought the topic into the limelight last year when results were exactly the same.
According to CITE, the conundrum has its roots in “old-fashioned stereotypes” and the problem is that “indirect discrimination” is very “hard to identify and change”.
In a bid to shake-up mentalities and forge forwards, the EC created its Equal Pay Day last year – an event that takes place in each country according to the number of extra days women have to work. March 6 was Portugal’s Equal Pay Day – ironically, coming two days before International Women’s Day.
But before we think that Portugal is one of the worst offenders, it has to be said that the gender pay gap throughout Europe has failed to improve over recent years. It stands at around 16%.
EC Vice-President Viviane Reding commented: “European Equal Pay Day reminds us of the unequal pay conditions women still face in the labour market. The pay gap has only narrowed marginally in recent years. To make things worse, the very slight decreasing trend for the past years is largely a result of the economic crisis, which has seen men’s earnings decrease, rather than women’s earnings increase.”
