The Vice-President of the European Commission, Věra Jourová, gave a speech on Monday 3 October on the economic cost of inaction on gender inequality. She was speaking at the conference “The Europe of Tomorrow: Gender Equality and the Economy” organised in Prague on 3-4 October by the Czech Presidency of the EU Council.
Ms Jourová spoke about these issues as the European Parliament and the Council of the EU will be continuing, on Thursday 6 October, the inter-institutional negotiations on the directive on equal pay for men and women for equal work, which began in June (see EUROPE 12927/10). “Not doing anything against the pay gap and low employment rate, it is economically unwise”, she said. She estimates that each year the gender gap in employment rates generates a loss of €320 billion in the EU.
Too little childcare
For the Commission Vice-President, the lack of childcare facilities is a barrier to employment, particularly for women. Faced with this “incredible market failure”, she encourages EU countries to invest in these services, including through European funds, such as the ERDF, the European Social Fund or the recovery funds. “We have sent a clear message to the Member States that this is not [public] expenditure, but an investment that pays off very quickly”.
In addition, the ‘European Care Strategy’ raises the Barcelona targets from 33% to 50% of children under 3 years of age to have access to affordable, quality childcare (see EUROPE 13016/7). “The bitter truth is that many Member States still do not fulfil 33%. I will not name and shame, but the more you go to the east of Europe, the lower the number is”, she lamented.
The risk of poverty exacerbates violence
Finally, Věra Jourová pointed out that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have accentuated negative trends in gender equality. In particular, the crises have led to an increase in violence against women, including on the Internet. “After years of waiting for the Istanbul Convention to be ratified, we decided to put forward the Directive to fight violence against women and domestic violence which includes very important aspects fo digital violence”, she noted (see EUROPE 12906/14). Poverty and wage inequality, she also said, increase the risk of women becoming trapped in cycles of domestic violence.
While the proposed directive enjoys “relatively strong support in the European Parliament”, the vice-president fears that it will meet with resistance in the EU Council, “because in a lot of Member States, doing something for gender-equality does not bring popularity with the voters”. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)