Por Redaccion 
The Minister of Employment, Business, and Autonomous Work, Rocío Blanco, has reported that her department allocated over 100 million euros last year to various measures and programs aimed at promoting the employment of Andalusian women, an investment that benefited more than 135,000 women throughout 2024.
This was conveyed by the Employment Minister in a parliamentary committee, where she outlined the initiatives implemented to boost the activation of the labor market and enhance the employability of groups facing greater difficulties in accessing the job market, including women.
Among other examples, she explained that incentives such as those aimed at promoting the recovery and generation of stable employment in Andalusia or those included in the Emplea-T program include measures in favor of women, with increased support when the hired person is from this group. In the first case, nearly 4.4 million euros were allocated in 2024 to promote stable employment for 1,565 Andalusian women, while the Emplea-T lines containing these benefits have already benefited 882 women with 11.64 million.
Another incentives mentioned by Rocío Blanco during her appearance are those related to improving employability among people with disabilities in special employment centers and in the regular job market. In this case, which also provides higher amounts when the hired person is a woman, around 7,500 women with disabilities benefited last year from an investment close to 39 million euros.
The Andalusian Employment Service has also been developing programs for mediation and guidance to promote women’s labor insertion, such as the Program for Women’s Support in rural and urban areas, which in 2024 enabled the assistance of 1,822 women, with 908 successfully integrating; the Professional Experiences Program for Employment (EPES), which benefited 2,282 women through its 2023-2024 call for proposals endowed with 24 million, as well as T-Accompany, through which nearly 26,800 women have been assisted.
Likewise, the Comprehensive Support and Accompaniment Service for the socio-labor insertion of women victims of gender violence attended to 518 women in 2024, who received over 4,600 hours of guidance, 34,013 hours of training, and 6,717 hours of actions aimed at insertion.
Another pillar on which the Employment Department acts to promote women’s labor integration is Vocational Training for Employment. Among the programs launched, she highlighted the one that includes a hiring commitment for women victims of gender violence or trafficking and sexual exploitation, implemented through an agreement with the Spanish Red Cross, in addition to Preparadas, aimed at developing skills for employability and digital entrepreneurship among women in rural areas, which will run until June 30, 2026, with an allocation of 30.68 million, benefiting over 55,300 women out of the 85,000 planned by the end of 2024.
Andalusia also has specific measures to promote self-employment among women. For example, in addition to the zero quota, self-employed women who have ceased their activity due to childbirth and return to self-employment within two years from the effective date of cessation can receive up to 24 additional months of bonus. In the past year, nearly 8,000 women took advantage of this, with an investment of 8.24 million.
Self-employed women can also apply for the support line for starting their activity, which increases the amount in their case and has benefited nearly 6,600 women with an investment of 30.5 million euros, among other measures promoted by the Department that ultimately «aim to create jobs, promote women’s participation and presence in the labor market, and overcome any labor discrimination stemming from work-life balance.»
Labor Market
In the same vein, Rocío Blanco reviewed the situation of Andalusian women in the labor market, based on data from the study conducted by the Argos Observatory for International Women’s Day on March 8, ‘Women in the Andalusian Labor Market. 2024,’ showing that last year the gender gap in Andalusia continued to narrow.
Among other data, the document notes that the gender pay gap in Andalusia has decreased by 1.9 points from the previous year and by 5.54 points compared to 2008, although men still earn 7.32% more in gross salary per hour worked than women.
In 2024, the number of female affiliates to Social Security in Andalusia stood at 1,601,038 women, accounting for 47.11% of employed individuals, and women occupied 56.74% of new jobs created. By regimes, women are in the majority in Andalusia in the Special Household Employees System of the General Regime (95.59%) and among workers affiliated with the Agricultural General Regime (50.45%).
Analyzing women’s participation in the labor market, the report indicates that the Andalusian female active population amounts to 1,907,500 women and the female activity rate stands at 51%. However, despite a 26.14% growth in the female active population over the last 18 years, their participation in the labor market remains lower than that of men.
However, it increases as their qualifications improve, so that in the strata with higher education, the weight of the female population in the market equals that of men. Thus, the female activity rate exceeds 77% for those with university or doctoral studies and stands at 6.82% for those without studies.
The Argos monograph also analyzes the reasons why women do not participate in the labor market, with the dedication to household tasks being the main cause (mentioned by 37.57% of inactive Andalusian women). For men, the main reason (66.47% of cases) is receiving a retirement pension.