Expert Kudyukin: “Employers often consider women to be unreliable employees”
Russian women’s salaries are significantly lower than men’s, a FinExpertiza study found. If we break down the average salary in the country into its components, it turns out that last year the weaker sex received a third less than the stronger. It seems that there has been no gender inequality in society for a long time, but come on: the incomes of men and women are far from the same.
The average salary in the country, according to Rosstat, is 73 thousand rubles. But in terms of gender, it is distributed quite unevenly. Over the past year, the average salary for women was 56 thousand rubles, and for men it was almost 84 thousand per month — 27.7 thousand more. The largest gap is observed in the northern and Far Eastern regions, as well as in the Murmansk region and Kamchatka: respectively, the difference is 45%, in Transbaikalia — 41%.
Even in the twentieth century, such gender inequality would have been assessed as completely natural. How else? After all, a man is a breadwinner, he must support his family. What can a weak woman do? They say, so, in the wings… But today the 21st century is outside the window, the feminist movement does not allow employers to relax. Why on earth should the fair half of humanity earn less than the stronger half? Moreover, now there are practically no professions left in the country that women have not mastered. They run parliaments, fly, drive cars, lay sleepers… And they cope with their responsibilities no worse, and often better, than men.
So where does this gender disproportion in modern Russia come from?
To be fair, we note that a certain gap in wages is ensured by a special military operation, the burdens of which (and the payment for the risk) fell on strong male shoulders contract soldiers. And work at military-industrial complex enterprises is also largely done by men. But there are other factors.
“The principle of equal pay for equal work is observed in Russia, although not very strictly,” explains Pavel Kudyukin, a member of the Council of the Confederation of Labor of Russia, former Deputy Minister of Labor of the Russian Federation. –But in comparable positions, the salaries of men and women are almost the same. The problem is the employment structure. Women mostly work in lower-paying industries and, on average, occupy lower-level positions. In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons for gender inequality.
– The gender pay gap is a universal problem. In the US it is very significant, and probably no one knows about the principle of equal pay for equal work. If I am not mistaken, the only country in the world where there is no such gap is Iceland. And in general, in Scandinavian countries the difference in pay between men and women is minimal.
– Government policy, public sentiment. In general, Iceland is a unique country. Perhaps its features are related to the Viking heritage or difficult climatic conditions.
In Russia, the problem of feminized industries—those where predominantly women work—makes itself felt. And the general level of salaries there is lower.
– Unlikely. It is more likely that both candidates will be given the same salary, but then will begin to manipulate incentive payments — bonuses and other benefits — in favor of the man.
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— Maybe employers assume that the woman , if she is young, sooner or later she will start a family, go on maternity leave, and maybe more than once — in general, she is an unreliable employee. Sometimes even an employment contract includes a clause obliging the woman not to have children while she works for the company. This is a gross violation of the law, but some applicants for the position sign it out of despair.
— The civil service is a very feminized industry, there are much more women than men. However, as they rise through the ranks, their numbers drop sharply. The higher the position, the fewer representatives of the fair sex. But for the same positions, the salaries are the same.