The study showed that 33 percent of the surveyed people are paid from 15,000 to 20,000 Lek and another 38 percent from 20,000 to 35,000 lek
TIRANA, Feb. 6 – Around three-quarters of men and women in Albania say their earnings are not sufficient to meet the daily expenses and basic needs for food, clothing and housing, according to Gender Inequalities in Pay study carried out by the Gender Alliance Development Centre. The study found that the gender pay gap for 2011 was 5,725 Albanian Leks (ALL), i.e. women earned 17.4 percent less. The gender pay gap in Albania is mainly related to the level of participation in the labour force and the level of education.
Some 14.6 percent of women and men employed in urban areas are paid less than the official minimum wage. Only 15 percent of women and 11 percent of men earn the national minimum wage in Albania, which stands at 20,000 ALL, the study revealed.
A high percentage of people do not have a work contract (46 percent), but the number of employees that work under a contract is noticeably higher among women than among men. This leads to the conclusion that the number of women who pay their social security contributions is 7 percent higher than the number of men.
The smallest gender pay gap is found among the highly qualified professions. This because education enables women to earn salaries comparable to those of men, although there still is a gender gap of about 4 percent, the study showed.
Sixty three percent of the men and women think that the present pay system is not sufficiently
motivating.
Addressing the pay gap between men and women requires the existence and application of the existing legislative and non-legislative instruments, as well as the creation of new ones.
The study showed that 33 percent of the surveyed people are paid from 15,000 to 20,000 Lek and another 38 percent from 20,000 to 35,000 lek.
The conclusions and recommendations of the study were based on the processing of data collected through a questionnaire that was distributed to 1,000 individuals of official working age living in urban areas.
Government has recently announced the 10 percent personal income tax, launched in 2008 as part of a flat tax reform, will be lifted for monthly wages of up to 30,000 Lek (Euro 210).
INSTAT data show the average monthly wage for people employed both in the private and public sectors was at 34,767 lek in 2011. The average wage in the public sector climbed to 46,655 in 2011 while since mid-2012 the minimum monthly wage stands at 21,000 lek. The public sector provides only 17.7 percent of total employment in Albania. The private non-agricultural sector accounts for 27.6 percent while the private agricultural sector has a 47 percent share.
One in three households and one out of two businesses already have a debt to pay and do not plan to borrow again in the next six months, a Bank of Albania survey published in the financial stability report for the first half of 2012 has unveiled. The results reconfirm the difficult situation both households and businesses are facing as crisis impacts in Albania escalate with domestic consumption failing to recover because of consumers’ falling purchasing power and their rising saving trend expecting harsher times ahead.
