Speech by President of the Government at even to celebrate International Women's Day

Madam Minister for Employment and Social Security; Madam Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality; Madam President of FEDEPE; ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like my opening words today to be in memory of each and every woman killed by their partner or former partner; and I would also like to recall all those women who still suffer from gender-based violence, which is the worst and most unacceptable manifestation of inequality that still exists. Our priority is to support them so that they can get out of this situation and we insist on the importance of taking this first step. I encourage them to report this situation because there is a way out: eight out of every ten women manage to achieve this, eight out of ten. They should be aware that they have the backing of one and all; obviously of the government, but also of the rest of the public authorities and powers, and of the people of Spain as a whole. We are united with them and we are committed to equality, justice and the dignity of women, and it is necessary to remember this on a day such as today.

Dear friends,

If I had to summarise what I am going to say in the next few minutes, I would say that we are doing well, but that we must make an effort to do even better.

A labour market in transformation, a 50-50 planet by 2030 is the goal that the United Nations has set for this International Women's Day. I am grateful for FEDEPE for its presence here to commemorate 8 March together. In my opinion, I believe that you very clearly represent the goals that a society must set so that equality between men and women, far from being a proclamation, a slogan or a wish, becomes a reality and is effective.

I believe that the problem we face here - I just said as much in Parliament - is not a legal problem, although laws can always be made better, and indeed I believe we have a good legal framework, which enshrines equality. Nor do I believe that we have a problem of different capabilities; our universities at this time have more female students than male students and they are more successful and have better academic transcripts. Hence, the real challenge facing our society is one of true equality, because, despite what the laws lay down, women often have more responsibilities that should not fall to them exclusively and suffer from stereotypes that affect their lives and which condition their labour and social development. That is why it is not enough to only think about the starting point, but rather about how to think about, and reach, the finish line.

I believe that all of you who make up FEDEPE are the finest example of what is possible. You represent, as your President said in her speech earlier, a group of women who have achieved very significant professional goals. You are where you wanted to be, where you set out to be, and I imagine that not without a great deal of hard work and sacrifice, often much more so than your male colleagues.

I have been made aware that from your executive positions you are helping things to change quicker in your companies, in your organisations and in your teams. You are aware firsthand, which is why you can do this better, of the barriers and the clichés that have prevented the development of women in the labour market for such a long time. Hence, you understand this more than most and can do the most to ensure that things keep on changing.

FEDEPE is now celebrating 30 years since this project began and 25 years since the awards that you also mentioned in your speech. Well, things have changed a great deal in Spain over the course of these years. In Spain, we have a certain tendency to look at what is not going well, but there are things that are indeed going well, as there are in any walk of life, and Spain is a considerably better country, fortunately, for those of us who are Spanish, than some would like us to believe. So, there are some things that have gone well over this time although, as I said to you by way of summary at the beginning of my speech, what is important is not what has happened, but what we must do to ensure that things go better in the future.

In 1987, and not such a long time has passed since then, 33% of women in Spain were in work; the level of activity has now risen by 20 points and we have never before seen an 8 March with so many women in work. This is the 8 March with more women in work in the history of Spain, and that is the result, undoubtedly and above all, of the contribution from Spanish society, but also from organisations like the one you are members of. And, for that reason, I wish to thank you today for working for women, because working for women today, more than ever, means working for Spain.

Spain, in such a complex and competitive world as the one we live in, must compete and it must compete for talent. Talent is our main asset for continuing to enjoy economic growth, for improving our productivity and for strengthening the sustainability of our model of well-being. Hence, we need everyone's talent, of both women and men, and to achieve that we need to break down barriers, narrow gaps and open up the panorama to the leadership of women. Do difficulties exist to this? Undoubtedly, although difficulties exist in all walks of life, but it is always possible to overcome them with determination.

Equality between men and women begins with employment, and this is the most important tool for achieving real equality, without a shadow of a doubt. We have gone through a crisis in Spain, the worst crisis we have seen in our country in a very long time, with five straight years of negative economic growth, something totally unprecedented; 3.7 million jobs shed between 2009 and the start of 2014, something totally unprecedented, and 10% of Gross Domestic Product lost in those five years, which was also unprecedented and which we hope not to ever see again.

During this crisis, between 2007 and 2011, Spain contributed… This is a truly dramatic statistic: seven out of every ten women who joined the EU unemployment queues were in Spain, seven out of every ten. Well, last week we saw the latest figures from the European Office, Eurostat, which showed that in the last year more than half of the women who left the EU unemployment queues did so in Spain.

We have now recovered all of the women's jobs lost during the crisis and, as I said earlier, there are now more women in work than on any other 8 March in our history. Hence, this is a positive figure, a good basis for continuing to work in the future, because the rate of people in work, the difference between men and women, is still very significant, a difference of above ten points. But, I repeat, back in 1987 it stood at 36 points. We are on the right path, but there is still a lot to be done.

On another note, equality starts with employment, but it continues with policies that allow the gaps that highlight inequalities that still persist between men and women to be corrected. There is still a lot to do, but progress is being made.

Another important figure: today, 55% of students enrolled at university are women, and that is thus correcting a gap that has always existed, which is the education gap.

Another figure: since 2011, two out of every three new entrepreneurs in Spain are women, and this is helping reduce the gap in entrepreneurship. 93% of women's jobs recovered are full-time jobs and that is an important step for correcting the greatest bias. The presence of women on the boards of directors of IBEX35 companies has increased four-fold in the last decade, although it is true that the starting figures were ridiculous and it is true that an additional effort still needs to be made in the future.

The wage gap has also dropped by four points - these are the latest figures provided by Eurostat not long ago - although there is still a lot to do to resolve the wage gap.

Another figure that we should also highlight is that there are 180,000 women who receive the pension supplement in acknowledgement of their contribution as working mothers. The balance of the first year, because this rule has been in force for a year now, has allowed the pension gap to be reduced by more than 11 points.

These are positive figures and figures which undoubtedly inspire us and must inspire us to continue working in the future. When there is a will to do things, when there is an interest and when this will and interest come together with determination and courage, results always come through.

There is a very important issue here, which is progress in work/life balance and co-responsibility policies, because we all know that this is where the barriers that hinder the professional development of women are to be found. Over recent years, important measures have been taken in Spain on this matter: not long ago we extended paternity leave to 28 days, double its previous length; we also extended the entitlement to a shorter working day for parents with children, from 8 to 12 years of age; we have introduced a complementary rule whereby the self-employed can also sign up to this possibility, and we have also pushed through a law whereby leave can be taken by both parents when a child is breast-feeding.

But, as I have been saying during the course of this speech, there is still a long way to go and that is why we want to form a great national pact on work/life balance and co-responsibility, which is very important for everyone, for both women and men, because I am absolutely convinced that there are an increasing number of men who also defend their rights to be with their children, and to more actively participate in their care and in their education.

I will draw to a close now. We must continue to tread this path slowly but surely. And today, International Women's Day, is the day to remember that in Spain we have some major collective projects to undertake: first, to bring an end to the scourge of gender-based violence, as I said to you at the beginning; second, to offer opportunities to the more than two million women who want to work but cannot find employment, because they don't have an opportunity; and third, to close all the gaps, which are not only an injustice but also put a country that must compete, at a competitive disadvantage, as I said before, in terms of talent.

Your ceaseless efforts at FEDEPE towards the transforming force that is women's leadership is a cause that is worthwhile, because there are those who believe that the public authorities, or governments, must resolve everything. Governments and public authorities can do what they can, but sometimes it is better for people to be left to do certain things by themselves, because they can do this somewhat better. So, whatever you contribute to this cause and to the general cause that affects us all, which is for our country to have increasingly higher levels of well-being and wealth for one and all is very important.

The future of Spain depends, to a great extent, on, between us all - I again repeat - us being able to achieve what we have been reminded of today by the United Nations, a 50-50 planet by 2030, and a 50-50 Spain, if possible, well before then.

In this speech I have sought to look closely at some positive aspects because, as I said at the beginning, it is a little tiresome that some people only look at what does not work while sometimes there are certain things that do work well. And I, at least, as the President of the Government, but above all as a Spanish citizen, feel very proud of living in one of the finest countries in the world to live in, albeit with our defects and our problems, which do exist, as others have theirs; but this is a country which, on this matter and on others, is heading in the right direction and, moreover, it has a society that is highly committed to making this nation, Spain, a fairer place.

Thank you very much and congratulations.