Management positions ‘overwhelmingly’ held by males – Commissioner for Equality

Management and supervisory positions are still overwhelmingly held by men and is one of the trends which may result in differences in the gender pay gap between men and women, according to the Commissioner for Equality Renee Laiviera.

Last week, The Malta Independent reported that a €2,984 difference between the average gross salaries of men and women was seen in 2015, according to reports released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), with men earning the higher amount.

Replying to questions by this newspaper, Laiviera mentioned a number of trends which may result in such pay and earnings.

“Management and supervisory positions are still overwhelmingly held by men,” she said, listing the type of jobs that men and women are more likely to lean towards as another reason.

“Segregation in education and the labour market is evident whereby men tend to be under-represented in occupations such as teaching or the care sector, while women tend to be under-represented not only in decision-making positions but also in sectors related to science, technology and engineering, which may offer higher wages,” she said.

Another trend mentioned by the commissioner is that the majority of people taking charge of important unpaid tasks remain women.

“Women are still taking charge of important unpaid tasks, such as household work and caring for children or dependent relatives on a far larger scale than men, which may also have an impact on employment patterns, such as shorter working hours for women and longer periods off the labour market,” said Laiviera, adding that these interruptions may hinder career progression resulting in negatively impacting earnings and pensions.

According to the Regional Statistics report, in 2015, the average gross annual basic salary for men was €17,813, whilst that for women was recorded at €14,829. The average gross annual basic salary for all employees was estimated at €16,565 at the end of that year.

The Equality Commissioner said that more Maltese women are now in work, with “official figures” indicating that the employment rate for women reached 53 per cent between January and March of this year. Laiviera pointed to the free childcare services as one of the main factors resulting in this increase.

“The introduction of free childcare services makes work pay for parents, particularly mothers, who could not afford the cost of private childcare services, thus empowering them to enter or remain in employment.”

“Such an increase in the employment rate of women may also have led to a higher gender pay gap with 10.6 per cent registered in 2014. On the other hand, Eurostat statistics also show that the overall gender gap in the earnings, which measures the combined impact on the average earnings of all working-age women both in and out of employment as compared with men, is decreasing, with 45.6 per cent registered in 2014 when compared to 56.3 per cent,” she said.

Men residing in the Western district of Malta, the geographical location which includes Attard, Balzan, Dingli, Iklin, Lija, Mdina, Mtarfa, Rabat, Siġġiewi and Żebbuġ earn the highest average gross annual basic salary, according to charts. Amongst women, it is also the Western district which earns the most, on average, both closely followed by the Northern district, which includes Għargħur, Mellieħa, Mġarr, Mosta, Naxxar and St Paul’s Bay.

Between 2010 and 2015, the average gross annual basic salary increased by over €2,000. It increased by €2,670 for men and a lower €1,382 for women.