The Acting Minister of Labor, Migration and Social Security, Magdalena Valerio has highlighted the role of women in the Social Economy, a sector that contributes "actively to social cohesion, equal opportunities for men and women, the creation of a quality and more equal employment and the reconciliation of personal, family and work life ".
The Minister of Labor made these statements at the presentation of the "Study on the social and labor situation of women in the associated work cooperatives in Spain", prepared by the Spanish Confederation of Cooperatives of Associated Work (COCETA).
Valerio has claimed the role of the Social Economy and in particular of women in the cooperative sector, "both as promoters of innovation and quality jobs as well as promoters of social change".
According to the statistics of the General Directorate of Autonomous Work, the Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility, as of March 31, 2019, there are 19,374 cooperatives in Spain that directly employ 384,493 people. Of these, 49.8% are women.
As for the associated work cooperatives registered in the Social Security, in 2018 they were 6,805, 59 more than the previous year, and employed 92,849 people (excluding the self-employed regime), 3.1% more than the previous year.
The head of Labor also wanted to highlight the profile of women in the associated work cooperatives: on the one hand, the improvement of professional qualification, which has changed radically, from 47.1% to 79% of women with university studies "This allows us to see that women in cooperatives are in a good position to face the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0".
On the other hand, although the average age range of women in the 35 to 44 age range is maintained, there are hardly any women under 25 years of age. This leads to the conclusion that "mechanisms of visibility of this business formula must be encouraged so that younger people see cooperatives as a professional project".
As a sign of the good harmony between the Government and the Social Economy, the Ministry of Labor is cooperating with the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) so that the Institutional Declaration on the occasion of the Centennial of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which will be approved in the coming weeks at the Geneva meeting, collect the Social Economy with the prominence it deserves.
Positive figures
The Minister of Labor has highlighted the latest data on affiliation to Social Security with the record "for the first time, of a figure of women employed above 9 million." Data that "encourage to continue working" and that is reinforced, according to Valerio, by the statistical data of the Social Economy.
"The women of our country, little by little but unstoppably, we are gaining ground in society and, although there have been advances in aspects such as education, access to employment or the reconciliation of personal, family and work life , we must advance even more to achieve real equality, "said Magdalena Valerio.
In spite of the advances, there continues to be a lower incorporation into the labor world by women and their working conditions are not comparable with those of men, with a wage gap of around 22%. Therefore, added the minister, "correcting the wage differences is also a bet to improve the retirement pension, whose gap reaches 35%."
In this area, the Minister of Labor highlighted the approval of the package of measures on equality approved in the Royal Decree of March 1, 2019, of urgent measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities for women and men in employment. and the occupation. Royal Decree that provides for the extension of paternity leave up to 16 weeks in 2021, thus equating to maternity leave. Without forgetting the obligation to prepare equality plans in companies with 50 employees, the transparency of salary tables, or the recovery of the contribution of non-professional caregivers of dependent family members.