“There are a range of countries in which the wage gap worsened due to recessions but this was not the case of Portugal,” Morais said in New York where she is attending the United Nations debate on the status of women.
However, according to recent Eurostat figures released, gender-based wage disparities fell back 0.9 percent across the European Union between 2008 and 2013 to stand at an average of 16.4 percent while Portugal notched up the largest single rise, 3.8 points to reach 13 percent.
“When you take into consideration this period of time, running from 2008 to 2013, in fact there was a rise and it would have been even larger if we reached back to 2006. However, for the first time, this level decreased from 2012 to 2013, from 14.8 percent to 13 percent,” said the state secretary.
Morais added that the recession had impacted on both genders and “wages are not the only indicator that counts in the labour market.”
“The difference in unemployment rates between women and men for example used to be far greater than they are now. Unemployment at one particular phase in the recession even impacted on men more than women because the industries and sectors worst affected were heavily masculinised,” the state secretary continued.
Furthermore, there was reference to the latest World Economic Forum index on gender equality that saw Portugal rise 12 places.
“In other EU countries, there are higher rates of female participation, however the majority of those who work do so on a part-time basis with rates in excess of 60 percent. In Portugal, this amounts to only 14 percent and so we have both a lot of women working and working full-time,” concluded Morais.