Access and use of economic resources

In this area we focus on the existing gender inequalities regarding the access, continuity and quality of the remunerated work and also regarding the imbalance in the salaries and the boundaries which brake women’s future professional careers. Traditionally, the fact of being a man or a woman influenced the role played in the society. A sexual division of work made women responsible for care (children, elderly persons and persons who are sick, dependent and with functional diversity), while men were more likely to be linked to the formal labour market and paid employment.

In order to analyse to what extend this situation lasts in the municipal context, we show data on inequalities in the involvement of women and men in the three economic agents of generation and exchange of economic resources: the labour market, the State and the home. Besides, we pay special attention on the inequalities in women’s and men’s access to the municipal employment policies.

Furthermore we will add a proposal to guide future studies, drawn from the qualitative research carried out.

Labour market

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics) , 2016.

55.12% of the unemployed persons in Compostela are women.

Among the female population, the unemployment taxes increase between the ages of 25 and 44 years; among these age groups the gender gap expands considerably. In old age (from 50 to 59 years old) the female unemployment level decreases. This information can be influenced by the fact that most of the women that profit from a retirement, widow’s or disability pension are elderly women.

The qualitative research shows that the risk of female unemployment increases proportionally with age. For that matter, it is important to assess to what extent the gender stereotypes have an influence on the selection processes of the city, especially in the catering and services sector, one of Compostela’s pillars.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2016.

In this case we focus on the inequalities in the unemployment levels of men and women depending on the duration. The gender gap widens as the duration of unemployment increases, and it reaches more than 10 points in the age of people who have been unemployed for more than a year (women: 55.92%, men: 44.08%). This indicator shows that women are at higher risk of long-term unemployment.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), December 2016.

The tendency confirms that female unemployment is higher compared to male unemployment as the level of education increases. The most extreme case are the unemployed women who have a post-secondary education and who double the men at the same level.

  • The unique case where men represent a higher percentage than women is the case of unemployed individuals who have completed their primary studies.
  • However, it is confirmed that women between 25 and 45 years old with post-secondary studies are those who widen the most the female percentage of unemployment.

The qualitative research points out the severity of unemployment in young women with a university degree. The general view is that the emigration level in the city and in the country is far higher among women with this profile, since precariousness forces them to migrate.

 

 

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2016.

In the case of part-time and permanent seasonal contracts, there is a notable gender gap: the percentage of women in relation to men increases between 23 and 27 percentage points. This makes clear that women’s temporality is higher than men’s. The gender gap in the category of temporary contracts reaches eleven percentage points, a notable difference in relation to the category of indefinite contracts which is 3 percentage points.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2016

The highest female percentages are concentrated in prevalently temporary contracts. The most common types of contract among women are: “temporariness”, “training contract” and “ordinary indefinite contracts and subsidy for employment promotion”. In any case, women predominate in part-time contracts.

The qualitative research points out the existing gender inequalities in the use of time. Delving into this subject is imperative in order to develop a plan of joint responsibility.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2016.

Women represent 51.98% of the population registered with Social Security in 2016. Women mostly fit within the sectors which correspond to the tasks related to care or to administration and management. The category of “housekeeping activities as employers of domestic personnel; housekeeping activities as producers of goods and providers of services for private use” excels as a completely female-dominated sector (96.69% of women).

In the qualitative research we reflect on the precariousness evolving the domestic workers sector, a sector that enables the general reconciliation in the city at expense of the inability of these workers to conciliate. Besides, it also shows the existing gender barriers that prevent men to work in this sector (they represent a minor part and the few that exist turn up as a consequence of the economic crisis).

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2014.

The wage gap reaches a difference of more than one euro per hour in wages. Furthermore there is a notable wage gap between women and men in all types of contracts and types of working days: men earn more than women in any case (indefinite contracts: women 7.3 and men 9.4; temporary contracts: women 7.3 and men: 7.6; full-time: women 8.7 and men: 9.6; part-time: women 6.4 and men 7 Euros per hour). It is relevant that the gap exists equally in the more female-dominated types of contract and types of working days: temporary contracts and part-time work. It is clear that there is a higher rate of precariousness in the case of more female-dominated works.

Home produced resources

Currently we do not have available information to analyse the existing inequalities regarding the use of economic resources at home, but the aim is to focus future researches in the existing inequalities, both on the use of the economic resources and on the time spent on the productive and reproductive work.

Economic benefits

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics, 2015.

* [Social emergency aids (AES), contributory pensions of the Social Security (permanent disability, retirement and death and survivors pensions), non-contributory pensions of the Social Security, LISMI benefits (the law for social integration of disabled people), benefits from the National Social Assistance Fund (FAS), family benefits for dependent children, unemployment benefits, Social Integration Benefit of Galicia (RISGA)]

The data confirm that most of people who receive and have access to non-contributory benefits (retirement or disability pensions), the RISGA and the AES, are women. Considering the distribution of people that receive benefits and pensions, the percentage of women increases, with a percentage difference of 5%.

This indicator shows that the risk of poverty in women is higher than in men. The fact, that women spend part of their lives working unpaid, that their work lives are more insecure and precarious and that they have a higher risk of dependency are some of the factors that affect these numbers.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2015.

* [Social emergency aids (AES), contributory pensions of the Social Security (permanent disability, retirement and death and survivors pensions), non-contributory pensions of the Social Security, LISMI benefits (the law for social integration of disabled people), benefits from the National Social Assistance Fund (FAS), family benefits for dependent children, unemployment benefits, Social Integration Benefit of Galicia (RISGA)]

The gender gap appears in the case of the pensions and benefits as well as in the case of the contributory pensions to the Social Security: men earn around 270 euro more per month than women. This difference represents around 30% of the average monthly wage that women earn.

This shows the impact of precariousness in work life (temporary contracts, high level of part-time work, job instability…) which increases poverty in women who receive a pension or benefit.

Municipal employment policies

Data source: Local Employment Agency, 2015.

The level of female users of the agency is higher (61.29% of 32 408 applicants registered in 2015). Nevertheless, considering the web users we can see that there is a gender gap which goes up to 8 percentage points. In this way inequalities that can be related to the access, capabilities or use and management of digital tools can be seen.

Data source: Local Employment Agency, 2015.

More than half of the people that send their CV to the ALC are women (58,49% of 5870 people). Considering age and sex criteria it seems that the youngest women are more able to achieve better labour insertion through municipal employment policies. In this way, as the age increases, women’s level of insertion drops until the biggest gender inequality between sexes in the 41 to 50 years age group (one of the age groups with the highest risk of unemployment, as we verified in the previous indicators research).

 

 

Data source: Local Employment Agency, 2015.

Although women occupy a more prominent space in the employment applicant lists (61.29% of 32 408 applicants registered in the ALC in 2015), they receive the lowest unemployment benefits. This information points out that there is an increase of the risk of exclusion in women.

Data source: Local Employment Agency, 2015.

The percentages of women and men who take part in the actions are considerably equal, although the most visible gender gap appears in those training courses of the traditionally male-dominant sectors.