MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean women paid less than men in 2021, study showed

Nearly 70% of registered employees nationwide earned below the country's average line

Chilean women earned 21.7% less than men during 2021, according to a study released Thursday.

The latest Supplementary Income Survey published by the state-run National Statistics Institute (INE) also showed that the average net monthly labor income stood at the equivalent of US$ 724. But that was in theory. In reality, 50% of workers had a monthly income of up to US$ 487, the report also noted.

People in regions such as Magallanes, Metropolitan (Santiago), and Antofagasta had an average income above the national average, while 69.7% of registered employees nationwide earned below the average line.

The Supplementary Income Survey (ESI) 2021 was applied to the October-December 2021 quarter to determine the income of employed people at national and regional levels.

Men's average wage stood between US$ 796 (nationwide) and US$531 (regional) last year, while that of women was US$ 624 (nationwide) and US$ 431 (regional). Hence, the -21.7% gap.

Of the total number of registered workers, 16.9% had earnings around or above US$ 1,063 and only 1.9% made US$ 3,191 or more.

The survey also showed that people with a high-school education accounted for 41.6% of all employed persons, with average and median monthly incomes between US$ 484 and US$ 425, while those with a “Graduate” degree earned between US$ 1,928 and US$ 1,588.

People in managerial positions accounted for 4.5% of the total number of workers, with incomes in the range between US$ 2,148 and US$ 1,661.

The southern region of Magallanes had the highest average monthly income in the country with US$ 898, followed by the Metropolitan region, with US$ 830, and the mining region of Antofagasta, with US$ 814. All three ranked high above the national average of US$ 724.