Brussels, 14/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - Viviane Reding has pointed out that, far from being an option or a luxury, equality between men and women must be an imperative and a reality in Europe.
On Monday 14 April, the European commissioner for fundamental rights presented an annual report on the progress made towards achieving equality between men and women. The scoreboard accompanies the annual report on the Charter of Fundamental Rights presented the same day (see other article).
The gender equality indicators are continually improving, even though progress is not at the same rate throughout the EU. The figures are encouraging with regard to the number of women in executive positions, for example. The commissioner was keen to point out that, since her legislative proposal for quotas of women on the boards of directors of companies floated on the stock exchange, the figures in this area have risen significantly. 11% of boards were made up of women in 2010 but this percentage jumped to 17% in 2014, with a rate of progress four times higher than between 2003 and 2010. The commissioner was delighted that the economy was having an effect in this regard, despite the fact that only a third of governments or national parliaments in Europe are women.
Employment. Steady progress has also been made in the rates of women employed, which has risen from 58% in 2002 to 63% in 2013. This is significant progress but still illustrates the inequality that exists between men and women in Europe because 75% of men are in work. This European average also hides significant disparities in the member states: the percentage of women employed in Scandinavian countries, Germany and the Netherlands is above 70%, as opposed to 50% in Italy and Malta and 44% in Greece.
Salaries. Wage disparities have not improved and the European average has remained static at 16%, although trends vary significantly from one member state to the other. Women continue to earn less than men, although more and more are graduates (60%). This disparity is even more alarming when pensions are examined because pensions for women are 39% lower than those for men, given the fact that many of them have worked part-time or have had to have their careers interrupted for different reasons.
Childcare. The path towards balancing work and family life has perhaps begun a new dynamic given that the number of children cared for in formal childcare facilities grew from 26% in 2007 to 30% in 2011. In the home, the distribution of labour, however, is still very unequal because household tasks account for 26 hours of work a week for women, as opposed to 9 for men. (MD)