Spain will take 70 years to achieve real equality in employment

USPA NEWS - One type of Spanish women who suffer double discrimination in employment. They are the mothers, 17% less pay that charge as women should add an additional 5% forgone for being mothers. According to ILO, if deeper reforms are not undertaken in this area, real equality in Spain take to get 70 years.

"We want to be a competitive country that can not afford that better educated generations of women in our history encounter obstacles to provide full capacity". The Minister of Health, Social Services and Equality, Alfonso Alonso, said that to complete the economic recovery is needed everyone, men and women, and proposed employment as the most solid platform to achieve equality of opportunity.

For every woman "can do and be what you decide". This has been affirmed in Commemoration of International Women's Day 2015, celebrated this Sunday, March 8th. To underscore this commitment to employment as synonymous with independence and progress for women, this year the official ceremony was held "in a key environment for the achievement of equal opportunities between women and men, the scope of the company". Specifically, at the headquarters of IBM, one of the companies forming part of the network with the distinctive Equality in the Workplace".

After visiting the facilities and meet with workers and with the president of the company in Spain, Marta Martinez, the minister has appealed to all companies to engage and show "intelligence" with measures to eliminate the wage gap between women and men and promotion of balanced presence in all professional levels. In recent years there have been significant advances, resulting in data and the advancement of women on boards of directors of IBEX 35 companies now account for 17% compared to 12.1% in 2011.

However, the female employment rate is still 12 points below that of men. The pay gap is estimated at 17.8% and women spend two hours more per day than men to tasks related to the home. And this, despite the dropout of girls less than seven points of the boys and the percentage of graduates in education is 60% of the total. Tackling these inequalities, based on training, merit and talent does "best companies" said the minister.

Therefore, the Government has provided new measures to further this line. Stresses the next presentation of the Special Plan for Equality of Women and Men in the Workplace and Wage Discrimination against 2015-2016, which is finalizing the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Employment. This is one of the projects under the Strategic Plan for Equal Opportunities approved by the Cabinet a year ago. Its implementation is "fruit of the government's commitment to constitutional values" as the right to work and free choice of profession.

It averages are included as self-diagnostic tools that enable organizations to detect and correct wage inequality and incentives for hiring women in sectors in which underrepresented. The Ministry, through the Directorate General for Equal Opportunities, this legislature has already allocated 1.2 million euros from the funds of the European Economic Area for projects to eliminate the wage gap.

Together with equal pay, promote entrepreneurship and promoting women in management positions are actions that the Government is working. An example is the Program to Support Women's Entrepreneurship, which Equality held in collaboration with the Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce. Thanks to him, only in 2014 has advised more than 15,000 users and 2,753 companies have been created.

As for women in positions of responsibility, highlights the OFF program, launched in 2013, which involved 120 women, of which 20% have been promoted by their companies. Alonso has also referred in his speech to the worst form of inequality that women face today: violence perpetrated against them by the fact of being. Condemning all acts of violence against women and especially remember the four victims killed so far in 2014, the Minister has referred to the need to "combat roles and gender stereotypes still deeply rooted in our society".

The minister concluded his speech with an invitation to all men to join the campaign HeforShe UN Women, which aims to publicly reinforce their commitment against all forms of violence and discrimination against women. Everyone, said Alonso, "we must join forces because each step in eliminating discrimination is a sign of maturity, development and success".