Number of self-employed women in Catalonia stalled since economic crisis

The number of self-employed women in Catalonia has remained relatively stable since 2008, when the economic crisis began, while there are now 12% less men who are their own bosses. A total of 192,751 women in the country are currently registered as freelance workers, 0.8% less than ten years ago, according to the latest figures, while the number of men is set at 353,199, nearly twice as many.

Between December 2016 and the last month of 2017, the number of freelance women in Catalonia decreased from 193,063 to 192,751, which represents a fall of 0.2% year-on-year. On the other hand, in the same period, the number of autonomous men grew by 0.1%, from 352,709 to 353,199, according to the report of the federation of Self-Employed Workers' Associations. In total, there are 545,950 self-employed people in the country.

Inequality at the workplace

According to the job listings website Infojobs, only 9% of working women occupy managerial positions. This data confirms that men still dominate the top roles in companies such as member of the board of directors and CEO.

A total of 88% of female directors in Spain have university degrees, mostly in Administration, Law and Business (33%).

Gender wage gap

The difference in pay between men and women also continues to be a problem. According to a recent report carried out by the Spanish treasury, women earn 29.9% less than men in Catalonia, thus highlighting how, in 2018, the gender pay gap is still a relevant issue in the country. A woman’s average salary in the country was set at 18,383 euros per year, 5,498 euros less than men. In Spain as a whole, women make an average annual salary of 16,281 euros.

According to the government body behind the report, it would take seven decades to close this wage gap. The treasury tax officers have explained that this inequality exists because “there are more women than men who do not earn more than 1,000 euros per month.”