Warsaw, 19/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The third European Women's Congress took place in Warsaw on 17-18 September. Six thousand women participated in the debates on reproductive rights, women's access to the labour market and the policy on quotas for women.
“Equal pay for equal work” was a demand shared by all participants who are quite aware that overall, women earn 20% less than men when working for the same company whilst performing the same job. Women find it more difficult to access the labour market. Commissioner Viviane Reding pointed out that “there are only one in 10 seats on the board of directors in major European companies that are held by women and only 3% of these companies are headed by women”. Figures in politics are even more worrying: in Poland, for example, 93% of parliamentary seats are occupied by men.
Participants also criticised the difficulty experienced by women in being able to reconcile their private and working lives. According to a Polish representative, this is one of the main barriers to women accessing the labour market. Jolanta Fedak, the Polish minister for work and social policy, is fighting to improve childcare provision. The question of family services is currently being examined by the Polish parliament. The minister said: “I consider that when parents are working, childcare should be subsidised by the state.” The minister's starting point is that people in Poland expect childcare for their children to be safe and income-related. The Polish minister explained that “parents have to change their perceptions. If both partners work, then both of them should look after the children. Paternity leave is important. Next year, paternity leave will be increased to two weeks”.
The policy on quotas was presented as one solution that is being tried out. “Madame Quota”, the nickname that Brigitte Grésy from France has given herself, praises the policy in her country. In Poland, this policy has helped to increase the number of women on the list of candidates in the general elections on 9 October to 40%. Nonetheless, most of them have been put at the bottom of these lists, which has been criticised by the Polish media. Reding believes that quotas are useful: “What a wonderful world it would be, if we did not need quotas. In the meantime, they help push things forward, especially in politics. The problem, however, can be located in the economic sphere. This is why I am fighting for the European Union also to raise the question of quotas in company boardrooms.” (VW/transl.fl)