On Monday 13 October, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) examined the draft joint own-initiative report on the pay and pension gap between women and men in the European Union.
With an average pay gap of 12% in 2023 and a pension gap of 25.4%, the report shows the scale of the problem and the “maternity penalty” (https://aeur.eu/f/izx ).
The text responds with a series of solutions, including: - set quantified targets in a new European equality strategy; - better value female-dominated professions; -recognise years of care in the calculation of pensions, and; - accelerate the implementation of the directives on transparency of remuneration adopted in 2023 (https://aeur.eu/f/izo ), and on the presence of women on boards of directors, which came into force at the end of 2024 (https://aeur.eu/f/izq ).
Speaking on behalf of the FEMM committee’s co-rapporteur, Mirosława Nykiel (EPP, Polish), Eleonora Meleti (Greek) reiterated the text’s ambition, namely that women need to have dignified living conditions at all ages.
Women’s access to the sectors of the future, entrepreneurship, affordable childcare and more flexible working conditions are all issues that need to be addressed.
For Irena Joveva (Renew Europe, Slovenian), co-reporter for the EMPL Committee, represented by Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová (Slovakian), a “comprehensive and ambitious” approach is needed, with indicators in economic governance, as well as better access for women to finance, mentoring and vocational training, particularly in rural and outermost areas.
Ana-Carla Pereira, Director for Equality and Non-Discrimination at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice (DG JUST), welcomed the own-initiative report.
She went on to say that the Commission was working on the implementation of the Remuneration Transparency Directive, and that it was developing practical job evaluation tools. The EU institution is overseeing the transposition of the directive on gender balance on boards of directors.
The European official also identified structural difficulties, such as involuntary part-time work, career breaks and the undervaluing of care professions.
To see the own-initiative report: https://aeur.eu/f/izm (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)