Advancing Equal Pay in Spain: Key Activities and Achievements in 2026
The gender pay gap remains one of the main inequalities in the labour market. Although significant progress has been made in recent years towards the equal pay achievement, important pay gaps among women and men still exist as a result of structural factors such as occupational segregation, the increased presence of women in part-time employment and the unequal distribution of care work.
According to the data collected in the study The pay gap among women and men: causes, evolution and consequences, published by the Spanish Women's Institute, in 2023 the average annual gain of men was 30,372.49 euros, while the women’s one was 25,591.31 euros, representing a pay gap of 15.74%.
This report also notes that wage differences are particularly high in certain feminized sectors and that these inequalities have consequences beyond the workplace, also affecting women's economic stability and their future pensions.
During 2026, motivated by the Equal Pay Day celebrated in Spain on February 22, different actions have been developed aimed at promoting equal pay and advancing in the reduction of the wage gap. These are listed below.
- Report “The gender pay gap among women and men: causes, evolution and consequences”, carried out by the Women’s Foundation (Fundación Mujeres), has been oriented with the aim of analysing in depth the pay gap between women and men, identifying variables, assessing their causes and reflecting their evolution and incidence.
- Launch of the report “The gender pay gap among women and men: causes, evolution and consequences” on February 12. Conference available in Spanish and sign-language at: “La brecha retributiva entre mujeres y hombres: causas, evolución y consecuencias”. Program available here.
- Publication of the newsletter on equality at work number 9 “The pay gap among women and men” which is a reference document to analyse the pay gap as well as the implementation of measures addressed to promote equality at work.
- Thematic webinar “Unconscious bias while evaluating jobs”, organized in three dates, on February 19, 23 and 25. These webinars dealt with the way of identifying and avoiding unconscious gender bias in the job evaluation process.
- Development of the interactive tool “Among wages” (“Entre salarios”) which gathers wage data and pay gap data among women and men.
- Publication of the Roadmap of the pay register with a checklist format, that aims at providing companies with a tool to verify if their pay register complies with the minimal requirements established in the current legislation.
- Interactive tool based on the identification of actual facts or fake data related to the gender pay gap.
- Special ONCE coupon (lottery ticket) on February 22. In collaboration with the ONCE Social Group, this action is carried out to raise awareness and consciousness, incorporating an image related to equal pay for work of equal value in the coupon of February 22, the Equal Pay Day.