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WOMEN EARN LESS THAN MEN
There's no good news for women . They continue to be paid worse, much worse, than men, and the pandemic has only made the situation worse. The pay gap for Italian women workers ranges from €2.500 to €10.000 a year, and the worsening gender gap in the workplace is linked to several factors. For example, women work, on average, in lower-paid companies ; department heads prefer to reward men for overtime, incentives, and bonuses without any plausible justification; and smart working is increasingly a female prerogative. Sixty percent of women workers' salaries are below €1.500 net per month (for men, this percentage drops to 28 percent). And 65,6 percent of women with a university degree earn less than €1.500 in monthly salaries, compared to 27,6 percent of men with a university degree.
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WOMEN EARN A THIRD LESS THAN MEN
WOMEN ARE MORE PREPARED THAN MEN
GENDER EQUALITY
Is it possible to talk about women , their role in society , at work , in education , and in establishment circles , without resorting to clichés or self-celebratory rhetoric about the female sex, which is consistently contradicted by the facts? It is possible , and we want to try to do so by starting with the numbers. The real, certified ones. The ones that tell us that Goal 5 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ( Achieving gender equality) is simply impossible to achieve in Italy . Far from our horizon, especially in Italy, it represents an enormous waste for the country, the entire country, and therefore for men as well.
Let's take a closer look at some numbers. The most reliable international report is the Global Gender Gap Report , which provides a detailed snapshot of gender inequality worldwide, comparing data from 149 countries . This link provides all the details, including wage and salary differences between men and women , as well as differences in access to education, healthcare, and higher positions in the distribution of power.
GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT
Overall, and with numbers in hand, we can say that in the world, seen through the eyes of 149 countries, equality between men and women, for example in wages, is making rapid progress. In half of these 149 countries, men and women earn the same amount for equal roles. Progress towards gender equality, which the UN considers essential for a truly sustainable planet, is occurring, albeit much too slowly . While we speak, perhaps with excessive emphasis, of "a century of women," that is, of a new world in which women are at the center of the field, and thus recognized, according to the calculations of the Global Gender Cap Report , it will take at least 108 years , at this rate, to reach the UN's 2030 goal of gender parity.
THE CONDITION OF WOMEN IN ITALY TODAY
We need to accelerate the pace, and we can't assume that it's only women who do it. Italy's case is paradigmatic. Our country's position in the Global Gender Cap Report is number seventy . Mid-table: better, you might think, than being at the bottom, as happens in other areas of social and economic life. Not at all: being ranked 70th out of 149 countries in the world for gender inequality is simply a disgrace , a scandal . Especially if you consider two other, not entirely irrelevant, aspects. First aspect: Italy, in this ranking that sanctions wastefulness in women's terms, fares worse than countries like Honduras and Montenegro, two nations that can loudly say they treat women better than us. That they discriminate against them less than Italy. Second aspect: in Western Europe, our common home, in terms of equal opportunities between men and women, Italy is at the bottom of the ranking, and only three small countries, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus, fare worse. Meanwhile, Western Europe, compared to other continents and thanks primarily to the Northern European nations, and not to Italy's contribution, is the place in the world where equal opportunities are most respected.
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN ITALY
On the other hand, still remaining faithful to the law of numbers, which Plato in his Republic defined as "essential for understanding and governing, as they help us reason and give direction," in Italy there is a truly incredible disparity in wages, salaries, and earnings, to the detriment of women. While men earn an average of $50.584 a year, women have to settle for $28.834 a year. In short: they do the same job and earn half as much.
READ MORE: 25 women leave their jobs to have a child. And 5,5 million give up maternity leave.
FEMALE EMPLOYMENT
IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN
We could go on and on, mentioning the percentage of unemployed women (in the southern regions, only three out of ten women work); the Bank of Italy's figures, according to which discrimination against women in the workplace translates into a waste, a loss, of as much as 6 percentage points of GDP for Italy; the shame of 25 women in Italy who, every year, must leave their jobs to have a child . It all points in one direction: women continue to be considered, in the workplace, an inferior gender , much inferior, compared to men. Discriminated against at work and martyred by domestic violence : approximately 2 women have been murdered in the last ten years within a family environment where men dominate, as at work, with their most brutal violence.
TO KNOW MORE: To stop the massacre of women, one femicide every 72 hours, proclamations are not necessary
EUROPEAN FUNDS TO FIGHT FEMINICIDES
Unfortunately, in the face of so much violence and so much lazy solidarity , the most important thing in the fight against femicide is not being done: putting money on the table. Resources are needed to build skills, provide support to women through anti-violence centers that often exist only on paper , and develop convincing responses from state bodies following complaints. And money is needed to finance specific programs to combat domestic violence. Where can we get it? A significant opportunity comes from the Recovery Fund , which cannot ignore this section of public spending.
ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY
Meanwhile, the only sector where women enjoy an undisputed primacy, in terms of recognition for their commitment and leadership roles, is volunteering . A universe where, notice, everywhere there is a functioning association, everywhere there is evidence of extraordinary generosity, there are women on the front lines. Women in many guises, mothers and singles, wealthy and poor, lay people and religious. For us at Non Squalare, the image of Sister Marianna during one of the many earthquakes that struck central Italy always comes to mind. Her face is stained with blood, she is lying on the ground in her humble nun's habit, surrounded by rubble and the bodies of three nuns who lived in her same convent, the Ancelle del Signore di Amatrice, which collapsed following the tremors. But just a moment after realizing she was safe, Sister Marianna was already on her feet, ready to resume her generous life, to fight to help others , to give her all of her now diminishing strength. Like so many women, whose value Italy seems unwilling to recognize.
WHAT WOMEN REALLY NEED:
- Public daycare centers: one in three children can't find a place. How do mothers manage to work?
- Microcredit: Three women in Catania open a vegan restaurant with funds from Caritas.
- Italian waste: women without power and without work. Forget about equality, we've really thrown a party for women.