- Parental and paternity leave – Uptake by fathers
- Slow start for gender pay transparency in Germany
- Progress in paternity and parental leave for fathers – Are baby steps enough?
- Discrimination against men at work: Experiences in five countries
- Pay transparency in Europe: First experiences with gender pay reports and audits in four Member States
- Working time patterns for sustainable work
- Occupational change and wage inequality: European Jobs Monitor 2017
- Social mobility in the EU
Gender equality
08 February 2019
Equal treatment of men and women has been a fundamental principle of the European Union since its inception. In 1957, the principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the Treaty of Rome. Since then, European institutions regularly reaffirm the principle, promoting it as a core value of the EU.
This principle has been restated in the 1976 Directive on equal treatment between men and women. As more women are entering the labour market, the EU and Member States reaffirm their commitment to promoting gender equality, advances in the education of women and progress towards closing the gender pay and employment gaps. Looking towards the future, the European Commission’s ‘Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016–2019’ has been created as a reference framework, underlying the need for an increased effort at all levels of policymaking towards improving gender equality. It also supports the 2011–2020 European Pact for gender equality.
- EUR-Lex: Council Directive 76/207/EEC on equal treatment for men and women
- European Commission: Gender equality
- European Commission: Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality 2016-2019
- Council of the European Union: Council conclusions on European Pact for gender equality (2011–2020)
- Eurostat: Unadjusted gender pay gap, 2016
- European Commission: Action Plan 2017-2019 Tackling the gender pay gap
Eurofound’s work
Eurofound implements a gender mainstreaming approach which is transversal to its research in the areas of working conditions, industrial relations, labour market change, quality of life and public services. For instance, topics such as pay and income, care, employment participation, leave, skills and training, work organisation, working time and work–life balance, among others, are covered from a gender perspective across various strands of Eurofound’s work, in its pan-European surveys and regular reporting at national level.
Key contributions
A recent report by Eurofound on working time patterns for sustainable work examines, from a gender and life course perspective, the links between working time patterns, work–life balance and working time preferences, on the one hand, and workers’ health and well-being on the other.
Eurofound has carried out a study examining patterns of social mobility across the EU, looking at barriers to equal opportunities and policies to promote it. It analyses patterns of social mobility for men and women separately, underlining and highlighting the increasingly important gendered patterns of social mobility in different countries.
A previous study on the gender employment gap explores the characteristics and consequences of gender gaps in labour market participation, as well as potential ways of closing these gaps.
Featured: The gender employment gap: Challenges and solutions
11 October 2016 - Women’s labour market participation in the European Union has increased over recent decades, passing 70% in 2014. Nevertheless, women’s employment and participation rates are still lower than those of men in almost all Member States. This report explores the main characteristics and consequences of gender gaps in labour market participation. It finds that the total cost of a lower female employment rate was €370 billion in 2013, corresponding to 2.8% of EU GDP. The report also examines policies and measures aimed at fostering female labour market participation, which could be central to closing gender gaps.
The gender employment gap: Challenges and solutions
The growing participation of women in the labour market has prompted changes in the way European social partner organisations tackle gender issues. Research has also assessed the role of the EU social partners in advancing gender equality in the EU.
The European Jobs Monitor (EJM) analyses occupational segregation by gender and wage inequalities. Gender equality is also covered in regular updates on pay and working time across the EU and in regular reporting at national level via Eurofound’s European Observatory of Working Life.
Survey data
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) aims to provide a wide picture of the situation of men and women at work in Europe. In recent questionnaires, gender mainstreaming has been an important topic. The survey monitors a broad spectrum of issues, occupational, sectoral, time and pay gaps, as well as work–life balance and health and well-being. The sixth EWCS, carried out in 2015, shows inequalities and differences in terms of gender, employment status and occupation.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) also covers the gender dimension, in relation to issues such as employment, income, education, family and care responsibilities, health and work–life balance.
The European Company Survey (ECS) reports on the issue of gender balance in relation to workplace policies and practices across Europe, including working time and take-up of leave.
Gender Equality Index
Eurofound cooperates with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on gender-related topics and data from both the EWCS and the EQLS feed into EIGE’s Gender Equality Index.
Resources
- Data visualisation: Sixth European Working Conditions Survey
- Data visualisation: Third European Quality of Life Survey
- Data visualisation: European Jobs Monitor
- European Industrial Relations Dictionary entries: Equal opportunities, Equal pay, Equal treatment, Equal treatment in collective bargaining, Equal treatment in social security, Equality between women and men, European Institute for Gender Equality, European Pact for Gender Equality, Gender equality, Gender mainstreaming, Gender pay gap
Ongoing work
Highlights (11)
Tümü (574)
- Gender equality - Women and men at work
- Female entrepreneurship: Public and private funding
- Women in management: If we want to get serious about gender equality we need to talk about job quality
- Parental and paternity leave – Uptake by fathers
- Slow start for gender pay transparency in Germany
- Informal meeting of EU Employment and Social Policy Ministers (EPSCO)
- Pay is just one aspect of disadvantage for women on the labour market
- A modern agenda for work-life balance
Publications (114)
- Gender equality - Women and men at work
- Female entrepreneurship: Public and private funding
- Women in management: If we want to get serious about gender equality we need to talk about job quality
- Parental and paternity leave – Uptake by fathers
- Slow start for gender pay transparency in Germany
- A modern agenda for work-life balance
- Progress in paternity and parental leave for fathers – Are baby steps enough?
- Women in management: Underrepresented and overstretched?
Articles (434)
- Malta: latest working life developments Q2 2018
- Sweden: latest working life developments Q2 2018
- Estonia: latest working life developments Q2 2018
- Finland: Experiences of pay auditing measures
- United Kingdom: Low take-up of Shared Parental Leave scheme
- Germany: Failure of proposal to allow part-time workers claim full-time position
- Netherlands: Latest working life developments – Q2 2017
- Portugal: Latest working life developments – Q2 2017
News (18)
- Pay is just one aspect of disadvantage for women on the labour market
- Equality still far from reach for women in management
- Sharing caring
- EU Agencies unite against harassment on International Women’s Day
- Evidence-based research is fundamental to gender equality in Europe
- Putting a gender spotlight on living and working in Europe
- Male employment rebounds and part-time work surges
- Eurofound marks International Women’s Day / Eurofound News, March 2016
Events (8)
- Informal meeting of EU Employment and Social Policy Ministers (EPSCO)
- A modern agenda for work–life balance - Webcast available
- Informal Meeting of Ministers of Employment, Social Affairs, Family and Gender Equality (EPSCO)
- Changing working conditions in Europe: Moving towards better work: Overview report of Eurofound's sixth European Working Conditions Survey
- Sustainable development goals and gender equality: the role of family policies and exchange of good practices
- Launch of the 6th European Working Conditions Survey - Luxembourg EU Presidency Event
- Social partners in the EU: Acting for gender equality
- Wage determination and wage inequalities in Europe