An Oil report (the International Organization of Labor) dated May 2019 makes things clear: besides stating that companies that promote gender diversity achieve a significant increase in profits, it underlines that an increase in female employment it is associated with a growth in gross domestic product. The latter result is based on an analysis of data from 186 countries for the period 1991-2017. “Companies - says Deborah France-Massin, director of the oil office for employers' accounts - consider gender equality among their staff as a fundamental factor”.
Yet, despite these data suggesting any kind of discrimination, the difference between men and women still remains marked. Above all in terms of pay and above all, as regards the European perimeter, in our country. The 2019 Gender Gap Report created by the JobPricing Observatory with Spring professional focuses on this. In Italy, the difference in compensation between male and female workers, despite having decreased by 2.7 percent from 2016 to 2018, still remains wide: the average gap recorded is 2,700 euros gross, equal to 10 percent more in favor of men.
But why in a capitalist society like ours, in which profit must be the beacon of reference for any company, is there a paradox like this?
In the first place, of course, for a cultural fact. Let's not forget that the massive entry of women into the world of work is a relatively recent phenomenon, just as the granting of fundamental rights is relatively recent. Today, while discussing “ius soli” and granting citizenship to immigrants, it may seem a heresy to deny women the opportunity to vote. Yet until 1946, the year in which access to the polling booths in Italy was extended to the female population, this was a foregone conclusion.
One thousand nine hundred forty-six, less than 75 years ago: when city ladies were advised not to go out without covering their heads and rural women used to wear a veil.
It will be said: 75 years are an eternity. And in fact things have changed radically, but not sufficiently to erase, for example, the shame of femicide, a wound still terribly open in the body of our society. A society that, in recent years, has been undergoing dangerous setbacks in education, provided that large areas develop social relationships established on the law of the most ignorant, strongest and most violent.
Today is celebrating Women's Day: using the offer to say that it is necessary to put in place a great collective effort, the attention of education, study, knowledge and respect for the other return to being at the center of the life in every corner of our country. This is an advantage for everyone, including men, for the news that a party similar to that of women will never be scheduled during the course. It doesn't seem difficult to understand why.
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