Spanish teachers are the ones who need the most years to reach the maximum salary

A Spanish primary school teacher needs 39 years to reach the maximum salary, which a Dutchman achieves in only 18. This is stated in a report by the Federation of Public Services (FSP) of the UGT, which asks to address a salary increase due to the entry into force of the educational reform, negotiate the development of the professional career of the number of students per teacher and the reduction of the teaching load.

According to a union report that compares the salaries of 14 countries of the European Union and the OECD, the initial remuneration of Spanish teachers, which is estimated at 30,550 euros, is only above that of teachers in France (26,537). , Italy (24,297) and Portugal (22,351). However, the maximum earnings at the end of their professional career (43,526 euros) are below all of them, except for their counterparts in Italy (35,373), and only slightly above those of Finnish teachers (43,273), although these reach their highest point after twenty years of work.

Primary education teachers in Luxembourg and Switzerland are the ones with the highest maximum salaries, 119,057 and 114,246 euros. The remuneration of the Netherlands (73,201) is striking, which almost doubles the maximum salary of Spanish teachers (43,526) after only 18 years of service.

Spanish teachers of ESO and Baccalaureate, framed in the same civil servant group and with the same salary, have, like primary teachers, an initial salary (34,121 euros) higher than that of France (29,065), Italy (26,114) and Portugal (22,351). However, by achieving the maximum salary, France is above (49,514) Spain (48,447) and Italy below (40,597). Meanwhile, the differences with Portugal (48,245) barely reach 250 euros per year and increase with Finland (50,439) by almost 2,000 euros per year. Such a thing only occurs in ESO, since Finnish teachers who teach Baccalaureate also receive higher salaries.

Finland

In addition, at all levels, the maximum remuneration arrives in Finland after 20 years and 34 in Portugal, and not after 39, as it happens in Spain. UGT emphasizes that, for retirement purposes, the maximum contributions are reached with 35 years of service, so, in practice, many Spanish teachers reach retirement age without having been able to reach such remuneration.

The data places Spain, in all educational stages, in eleventh place of the 14 countries analyzed, a position that becomes twelfth at the end of the teaching career, except in the case of ESO, in which the eleventh place.

In addition, the salary increase is made in a very different percentage. While in France it increases by more than 70% and in Portugal it reaches almost 116%, in Spain the salary only increases by 42% throughout the teaching career. In Italy, the only country significantly below, the increases to reach the maximum salary are estimated at 50% and are acquired four years before Spanish teachers.

As in the comparison at European level, the salaries of teachers in Spain vary significantly depending on the autonomous community in which they carry out their work. These differences widen in many cases throughout the professional career, reaching over a thousand euros per month in primary school and 800 in secondary school.

The study puts on the table the reality of the imbalance that exists between some communities and others in all teaching bodies. Without taking into account the island communities and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which have special characteristics, the highest salaries are obtained by teachers in Asturias, Murcia and Euskadi, while the lowest are found in Extremadura, Andalusia and Castilla and Leon.

The situation of Madrid’s secondary and FP teachers stands out. These professionals, despite significantly increasing the amount they receive throughout their careers, cannot compensate for the fact that they receive one of the lowest initial salaries. This disadvantage means that, despite being one of the richest autonomous communities, its teachers receive lower salaries than the rest, except for teachers from Extremadura -the one with the least salaries-, Andalusian, Castilian, Leonese and Aragonese. These discrepancies exceed 200 euros per month with respect to Basque teachers, 320 in vocational training and 120 euros per month with respect to Asturian teachers.

As the study confirms, the differences from the year 2010 between the salaries received by teachers in Spain and those of the OECD and the EU have only increased. In fact, while as of 2014 the levels prior to the crisis were recovered in the average of the OECD and of 2015 in the EU, in Spain this level of income has not yet been reached.