1 euro hamburgers of popular fast food chains no longer cost 1 euro, which means woman. Not because they are the main consumers of this product, but dubious culinary taste and certain harm to health in case of large or repeated intake. but that’s why price increaseOr likewise, inflation hurts women more than men and is a real risk to their well-being and their pockets. sanity. The concept has already been baptized with an anglicism: ‘o-flation‘.
Inflation, economists sayreduced tax‘, that is, it affects those who have less and is more bearable for the richest. “And women are overrepresented among the most economically vulnerable groups,” explains the UB economics professor. Judith Val. According to the latest data from the INE Salary Structure Survey, one in four women earned less than 901 euros per month before Covid. “Or, for example, 84 percent single parent families They are run by women,” adds Vall.
“People with fewer resources dedicate a larger portion of their income to basic needs, such as health, for example. food consumption and therefore they may be more affected by inflation”, explains professor of applied economics at UdG Sara Ayllon. According to a recent analysis OCUcost of shopping cart increased last year 9.4%. foods like liquid oil private label has become 53% more expensive and macaroniloess banana Canary Islands or Salmon It is sliced between 30% and 40%. This means an additional cost of approx. 500 euros per year for families.
These products are the economists’very strict demand‘, which makes it harder to find substitutions. “You can stop going on vacation if it’s too expensive, but it’s harder to limit heating during the winter months,” explains the researcher. Caixabank Research Rita Sánchez Soliva, in a recent article. This is confirmed by the latest data published by Eurostat In this respect. According to these, while the lowest income households spent 13% on food and 20% on housing, gas, electricity and heating before the pandemic; high-income households spent less than 10% and 5%, respectively.
class question
Based on these numbers, economist Sánchez Soliva estimates: In the EU as a whole, inflation is higher for the lowest income earners than for the highest income earners.. There is a difference of 7.3 percent in the first, 6.5 percent in the second, that is, eight out of ten. And in that sense, initial analyzes show alarming numbers for Spaniards’ pockets. Well, even though gross income has decreased by about 4% compared to the pre-pandemic period, inflation is exceeding 5% as opposed to the same period, according to the same analysis by Caixabank’s office.
“If the most feminized sectors take longer to update their wages according to the evolution of prices, the gender pay inequality that already exists in the labor market is likely to worsen,” the UdG researcher says; however, this cannot be statistically measured until a few months from now. Currently, women earn on average 19% less than men. work Office BBVA It’s already pointing in that direction. “Human capital constraints are accelerating wages around the world. build and industry [sectores más masculinizados]. This is more difficult to achieve in the service sector. [sector más feminizado]where productivity is lower and unionization is likely lower,” he warns in the latest situation analysis. One sector, particularly the services sector, which has reached this inflationary spiral with a few activities affected by the pandemic –Hotels, travel agency, restoration, lazinessetc- will be punished specially.
a mind load
go to the supermarket and Seeing how prices go up, or going through their household bills and seeing how they’re getting fat, is frustrating and frustrating.. And it is no coincidence that these tasks are mostly undertaken by women. According to the latest research by the Government of Catalonia on quality and working conditions, 54.7% of women undertake more or all of the housework. “There are several studies that show that women tend to save more because they have lower salaries on average and therefore will receive lower pensions. They also tend to save for themselves because their position in the labor market is more vulnerable . to lose their jobs,” explains Vall. .
According to this year’s report of the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA), 43% of financial advisors in Spain think women are more aware than men about the importance of saving for retirement, compared to 16% who think the opposite. “Seeing how the same purchase they made before is costing them more money may be a bigger concern than it is for men,” the UB economist continues.