For example, the gender pay gap persists regardless of the level of education women achieve, explained economist and professor at José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA), Iliana Álvarez.
Data from the 2022 Household and Multiple Purpose Survey (EHPM) shows that women continue to be disadvantaged despite being better prepared than their male counterparts.
Of the 100 percent of employed people, 14.4 percent have completed 13 years or more of study, 18.1 percent of women and 13.5 percent of men, although men receive the same or higher salaries.
An average salary gives men gains of up to $642.18, while women only get $582.98 under the same conditions and better preparation.
A report from El Mundo newspaper that looked at the issue pointed out that the general pay gap between men and women in the labor market has persisted for years. In 2021 it reached 14.5 percent, the lowest level in the last decade, but according to the UCA's latest socio-economic analysis there is no respite.
On the other hand, more than half of workers in the country report abnormal working hours and a salary below the minimum wage.
The socio-economic analysis revealed that women engage in unpaid work (household tasks) and suffer from labor and social exclusion in addition to doing paid work.
Another element that will continue to work in the coming years and may increase is that 26 percent of Salvadorans aged 65 or older continue to work, in a country where only one in four pay contributions to the pension system and their income is secured.
The main cause of this problem, which also affects many women, is that they do not have pension protection or that their income is insufficient. However, the proportion here is lower than in Latin America, where the average proportion of working adults is 30 percent, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Statistics show that El Salvador is the eighth country in the region with the highest labor force participation rate for this age group, in a setting that includes Panama, Honduras, Paraguay and Guatemala with high labor force participation rates among older adults.
Likewise, the phenomenon of population aging calls into question the need for measures to promote women's labor force participation and postpone the retirement age, says the ILO, at a time when women in El Salvador receive fewer pensions due to their age and low salaries.
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