Salary Inequality: Women receive less than men in 82% of professions, reveals IBGE
According to a survey, the average monthly salary of women is 17% lower than that of men. Furthermore, it was found that the Northeast Region has the lowest average salary compared to other regions of Brazil.
Women received lower salaries than men in approximately 82% of the main Brazilian areas of activity - Photo Reproduction/Internet
Gender pay inequality is a recurring and worrying theme in the Brazilian labor market, as evidenced by published data this Thursday (20), at Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). According to the most recent survey, Women continue to face significant pay gaps compared to men across a vast majority of professions, highlighting an alarming reality of persistent inequality.
According to the research results, it was found that, in 2022, women received lower salaries than men in approximately 82% of the main areas of activity in Brazil. Among the 357 areas analyzed, only in 63 of them, which corresponds to 18%, did women earn average salaries equivalent to or higher than men.
The Wide Disparity in Pay
The data highlights not only the persistence, but the extent of the problem of wage inequality in Brazil. Even in sectors where educational qualifications are similar or even superior between genders, as in technical and professional areas, women continue to be paid disproportionately less. In 2022, some of the areas with the highest female presence in Brazil, such as Health, Education and Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation, recorded lower average salaries for women compared to men.
In the area of Human Health and Social Services, there were 226,692 women with an average salary of R$2,514.52, while 181,362 men received an average salary of R$2,926.35. In the Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education sector, more than 2.3 million women earned an average of R$3,932.52, while around 1.1 million men received an average salary of R$4,845.77. In the Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation group, there were 173,653 women and their average salary was R$2,470.35. On the other hand, the group had 78,514 men, who received, on average, a salary of R$2,603.15.
In 2022, the average salary for women was R$3,241.18, representing a difference of 17% less compared to the average salary for men, which was R$3,791.58. This survey was based on the Central Business Register (CEMPRE) of 2022, which compiles data on companies and their employees, including salaries, but excluding entrepreneurs classified as Individual Microentrepreneurs (MEI). IBGE analyzed the salaries of salaried workers in companies in different areas of activity, separating them by gender, and calculated the average salary for each group.
The area with the greatest salary disparity was the manufacturing of virgin, magnetic and optical media, where men received R$7,509.33, while women earned just R$1,834.09, a difference of 309.4%. On the other hand, in the area of international organizations and other extraterritorial institutions, women outperform men in terms of salary with a significant difference: they received, on average, R$ 9,018.70, a value 47.7% higher than that of men, who they earned R$4,717.09.
When analyzing the 20 main activity groups according to National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE), it is observed that women receive lower salaries than men in 17 of them. The greatest salary disparity was found in the group of Financial activities, insurance and related services, where men earn, on average, R$ 10,469.21, while women receive R$ 6,205.02, which represents a difference of 68. 7%.
The only three groups in which women obtained higher average salaries than men were: International organizations and other territorial institutions, where they earn R$9,018.70, 47.7% more than the R$4,717.09 they received; Construction, with women earning R$3,381.12, 17.9% more than men's R$2,776.09; and Extractive industries, where they receive R$6,791.76, 6.8% more than their R$6,328.57.
IBGE survey
In 2022, according to IBGE data, Brazil had 9.4 million companies and other active formal organizations, which employed a total of 63 million people. Of the total number of companies, 6.6 million did not have salaried workers, but employed 8.4 million people who received income as partners and/or owners. Another 2.9 million companies employed 54.3 million people, of which 50.2 million were salaried employees and 4.1 million were partners and/or owners.
In total, these organizations disbursed R$2.3 trillion in salaries and other forms of remuneration. The average monthly salary was R$3,542.19, equivalent to 2.9 minimum wages. Of the more than 50 million people employed, 54.7% were men and 45.3% women. In relation to the size of the companies and the number of salaried employees, the majority (76.8%) had between 1 and 9 professionals, 19.8% had 10 to 49 employees, 2.6% had 50 to 249 employees, while 0.8% of companies had 250 people or more.
Despite being fewer in number, larger companies were responsible for more than half (54.1%) of total salaried employment and absorbed 69.3% of salaries paid. Salaries tend to be higher at larger companies. According to the data, companies with 250 employees or more paid, on average, R$4,528.67 per month. This value is 152.6% higher than the average salary paid by companies with 1 to 9 professionals, which is R$1,793.08.
Education
In 2022, a survey revealed that the majority of employed people, that is, 76.6%, did not have higher education, while 23.4% had a university degree. The salary difference between these groups was significant: workers with higher education earned an average of R$7,094.17 per month, while those without university education received approximately R$2,441.16, about three times less.
The sectors that hired the most professionals with higher education were, in ascending order: education (64.3%), financial activities, insurance and related services (60.6%), and public administration, defense and social security (47.4%). %). On the other hand, the areas with the highest proportion of employees with a low level of education were: accommodation and food, with 96.1%; agriculture, livestock, forestry production and aquaculture, with 94.1%; and construction, with 92.6%.
Lowest Salaries by Region
In 2022, according to IBGE data, the Northeast stood out as the Brazilian region with the lowest average wages. Salaried people in the region received, on average, R$2,809.16 per month, while the national average was R$3,542.19. Comparatively, the North had an average of R$3,274.07 and the South of R$3,382.09. In contrast, the Central-West region had the highest average salary, reaching R$3,941.54, followed by the Southeast, with R$3,841.47. Despite lower average salaries, the Northeast stood out as the third region with the highest number of active local units, totaling more than 1.6 million by the end of 2022.
The region with the largest number of units is the Southeast, which has more than 5.4 million, followed by the South, with approximately 2.1 million. Until 2022, the North and Central-West regions were the only ones with less than one million local units, with 897 thousand and almost 496 thousand, respectively. In 2022, the Federal District led with the highest average salary, according to data from CEMPRE, reaching R$5,902.12, equivalent to approximately 4.9 minimum wages at the time.
Next, Amapá recorded R$4,190.94 (3.5 minimum wages), followed by São Paulo with R$4,147.84 (3.4 minimum wages). The states with the lowest average wages were Paraíba, with R$2,636.31, and Alagoas, with R$2,645.65, both around 2.2 minimum wages.
