Iona Napier
A POLL about pay found that 100% of Spanish under-25s believe their direct colleagues are paid exactly the same, irrespective of their gender.
But more half (55%) of 26 to 40 year olds said that they felt that salary inequality exists; what’s more, 58% of 41 to 54 year olds also agreed.
This may suggest that employers are waking up to the so-called gender ‘pay gap’ when it comes to hiring new employees; but those who have been in work for longer may still feel they are lagging behind.
Those soon to retire, the over 55s, were the most adamant about the pay gap, with 62% saying they believed there was inequality – with 53% of the voters women and a significantly larger 70% men. This of course may reflect on the views of their generation, starting full-time work in the 1970s.
But firms can certainly be more proactive about gender differences, with the poll finding that only 32% of respondents said that their company had procedures in place to address pay gap problems.
It’s a global issue, with 48% of women across 31 countries saying that they don’t think they have the same professional opportunities as men.
Specifically in Spain, the response to the same question was a massive 68%. One option to solve the problem would be quotas to regulate gender in the workplace – one in nine people polled thought that this would be a good idea.
