Author: Kathia Ramos, researcher at FAIR Center.
Gender inequality manifests itself in economic, financial, political and social aspects. As examples are the glass ceiling, reduced representation in leadership positions, inequity in access to education and health services, just to name a few.
The economic and financial attention to the issue lies in the fact that inequality perpetuates economic vulnerability and poverty, hindering economic development. We can see this in two ways: the first is on the side of women, who if they do not have the same job opportunities, end up partially employing or not using their abilities, obtaining a lower or no income. On the other hand, employers (companies, institutions, organizations and their own ventures) do not have the possibility of hiring those who have the best skills, since not everyone reached that opportunity.
Although efforts have been made to reduce this inequality for decades, it is known that there is still a long way to go. Especially when this year Mexico had a decline of two positions in the Global Gender Gap Index, ranking 33 out of 146 countries compared to 2022, according to the IMCO.
There are still management positions, forums and round tables occupied only by men, even in spaces where gender issues are discussed. There are still differences between the salaries of men and women in the same job position, who share characteristics and capabilities. This is the present, it is appropriate to carry out and support actions that contribute to equity.
But what happens at the end of the professional career?
The gender gap is a burden throughout life and extends into retirement. In Mexico, 36% of existing retirement savings accounts in an Afore correspond to women, while the remaining 64% correspond to men, according to the National Commission of the Retirement Savings System (Consar) for June 2023. Compared to the employed population, both in the formal and informal sectors, it maintains a proportion close to 60% men and 40% women, according to ENOE data from the second quarter of 2023. However, the value of the Women's savings represent 34.8% of the assets managed by the savings system.
This means that there are fewer women saving and that this saving is less than that of men. In other words, the wage gap is transformed into a savings and retirement gap, since due to a lower income, women make smaller contributions to their retirement savings than men. The accumulated result is evidently lower.
There are structural factors that contribute to this inequity, such as women's greater participation in unpaid work, which consumes time that could be used for other professional purposes. Likewise, work interruptions to attend to domestic activities or the search for flexibility at work to provide more time for family care places women in the informal sector or self-employment, reducing their access to social security, work benefits or plans. saving.
The importance of analyzing and talking about this phenomenon allows for decision-making today. The participation of the public and private sectors is essential to invest in projects that promote professional equity, labor flexibility and reduce the gender pay gap. The actions carried out every day must contribute to the established objective, and if this is gender equality, the policies and practices must be aimed at achieving it.