Brussels Briefing: Work and well-being - The gender gap in job quality

With an introduction by Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director of Eurofound, this in-person event was an opportunity to hear from MEP Evelyn Regner on the priorities of the new European Parliament and expert Barbara Gerstenberger, who shared Eurofound’s latest findings related to job quality and well-being at work. Together, with Evelyn Regner MEP, Eurofound colleagues explored questions such as:

• For which aspects of job quality do we see big differences between men and women and what is the impact on well-being? 
• Is there a new divide between those who work remotely and those who don’t? 
• What are the main psychosocial risks at work and are there differences in risks for men and for women? 
• How is telework affecting work-life balance for men and women? 
• And as the gender pay gap persists, what other areas lead to women being paid less than men, such as lack of pay transparency, or unequal sharing of care responsibilities between women and men?

The event brought together up to 40 participants with representatives from the EU institutions, EU cross and sectoral social partners, EU Presidencies, National Permanent Representations to the EU, civil society and Think tanks based in Brussels. It is an opportunity, during Gender Equality week, to engage directly with MEP Regner and Eurofound experts on the most recent data and analysis. After the opening and presentation, a Q&A and an exchange of ideas with the audience took place.

A photo gallery is available and a presentation can be downloaded below.

Men and women do not experience work and the various aspects of working conditions in the same way. Gender segregation in the labour market has been widely researched. But it is not only about men and women working in different sectors and occupations. Even in the same occupation, working conditions and job quality of male and female job holders can differ in many aspects. To measure job quality, over the years, Eurofound has developed seven different dimensions of job quality which include physical environment, work intensity, working time quality, social environment, skills and discretion, prospects and earnings.

Image © John Wildgoose/KOTO/Adobe Stock

For any queries about the briefing, please contact Cristina Arigho.