Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on equality between women and men, 2005
Date: 2005-02-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European social policy, gender equality, report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 14.2.2005 
COM(2005) 44 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on equality between women and men, 2005 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

4. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

Main developments ...................................................................................................... 3 

EU legislation............................................................................................................... 3 

Gender gaps.................................................................................................................. 4 

Immigrant women and men ......................................................................................... 5 

Challenges and policy orientations .............................................................................. 6 

Strengthening the position of women in the labour market ......................................... 6 

Increasing care facilities for children and other dependants........................................ 7 

Addressing men in achieving gender equality ............................................................. 7 

Integrating the gender perspective into immigration and integration policies............. 8 

Monitoring developments towards gender equality..................................................... 8 

Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 9 

ANNEX.................................................................................................................................... 10 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The second annual report on equality between women and men, as requested by heads of state 
and  government  at  the  Spring  European  Council,  in  March  2003,  is  the  first  to  cover  the 
enlarged EU of 25 Member States.  

Equality between women and men is reinforced by the new Treaty establishing a Constitution 
for  Europe.  In  addition  to  the  provisions  of  the  current  Treaty  on  gender  equality,  the 
Constitution expressly states that equality is a value of the Union, which should be promoted 
not only inside the Union but also in its relations with the rest of the world.  

The  demographic  changes  with  an  ageing  population  and  a  shrinking  working  population 
continue to be a major challenge in the EU after enlargement. The tension between combining 
family  and  professional  life,  partly  due  to  lack  of  child  care  and  insufficiently  flexible 
working conditions, appears to be contributing to the postponement of having the first child 
and  to  low  fertility  rates  in  most  Member  States.  However,  experience  shows  that  Member 
States  having  comprehensive  policies  to  reconcile  work  and  family  life  for  both  men  and 
women show higher fertility rates as well as higher labour market participation of women.  

The  integration  of  a  gender  dimension  into  policies  will  contribute  to  attaining  the  overall 
Lisbon objectives. There is a need for new initiatives to increase employment in order to meet 
the  challenge  of  an  ageing  society,  including  providing  adequate  pensions  for  women  and 
men. Particular attention must be paid to mobilising the full potential of female employment 
and to boosting labour market participation of older women and immigrant women who have 
the lowest employment rates.  

This  report  shows  main  developments  of  the  relative  situation  of  women  and  men  in 
education,  employment  and  social  life.  It  focuses  on  immigrant  women  and  men  and 
addresses challenges for the further promotion of equality between women and men. 

2. 

MAIN DEVELOPMENTS 

2.1. 

EU legislation 

A most recent success has been the extension of the Community acquis beyond the field of 
employment. In December, 2004 the Council adopted the Directive on the principle of equal 
treatment between women and men in the access to and supply of goods and services1, based 
on Article 13 of the EC Treaty. The Directive applies to goods and services available to the 
public, which fall outside the area of private and family life. It lays down the principle that 
sex based actuarial factors should be eliminated. 

1 

Council  Directive  2004/113/EC  of  13  December  2004  implementing  the  principle  of  equal  treatment 
between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services (OJ L 373, 21.12.2004, p. 
37). 

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The Commission has also adopted the recast proposal2, aiming at clarifying the principle of 
equal  treatment  between  men  and  women  in  matters  of  employment  and  occupation  by 
bringing  together  five  existing  directives  in  a  single  text.  The  Council  adopted  a  general 
approach  in  December  2004  and  the  adoption  of  an  opinion  by  the  European  Parliament  is 
expected during spring 2005. 

The  Directive3  on  the  residence  permit  issued  to  third-country  nationals  who  are  victims  of 
trafficking in human beings was adopted in April 2004, as requested in last year’s report on 
equality between women and men4. It calls for granting residence permits to victims who co-
operate  in the fight  against trafficking in human beings or against action  to  facilitate illegal 
immigration. 

2.2. 

Gender gaps 

Despite  the  slowdown  in  economic  growth  during  the  last  few  years  and  the  limited 
employment growth, a positive trend towards closing gender gaps remains in education and 
employment  in  the  enlarged  EU  25,  while  the  pay  gap  between  women  and  men  remains 
almost unchanged. 

Women still outnumber men in education. The percentage of women graduates (tertiary level) 
increased to 58 % in 2003, due to the higher level of education in the new Member States5. 
Women now also represent 41 % of PhD graduates. 

The gender gap in employment decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 15.8 % between 2002 
and 2003 in the EU-25. With the female employment rate at 55.1 %, the intermediate target of 
women’s  employment  rate  (57  %  in  2005)  still  remains  within  reach.  Apart  from  younger 
women aged 15-24, women’s employment rates continued to increase for all age groups and 
particularly  so  for  older  women  (by  1.5  p.p.  to  reach  30.7  %  in  2003)6.  However,  the  gap 
between older women and older men remains the highest (19.6 p.p.).  

The share of part-time employment is on average 30.4 % for women compared to only 6.6 % 
for men and the gap has slightly increased since 1998. This is one among many factors, which 
explains the gender pay gap. The new Member States have a much lower proportion of part-
time jobs, partly due to labour market rigidity and partly due to the lower wage level, which 
makes this option less available.  

Unemployment  has  slightly  increased  in  2004  but  the  gender  gap  is  still  significant  as  it 
remains the same as in 2003 (1.7 p.p). Unemployment rates are 10 % for women and 8.3 % 
for men. 

Reconciliation between work and family life remains a challenge for both women and men. 
Women with small children continue to show employment rates 13.6 p.p. lower than women 

2 

3 

4 
5 
6 

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation of the 
principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and 
occupation (2004/0084/COD). 
Council Directive 2004/81/EC on the residence permit issued to third-country nationals who are victims 
of trafficking in human beings or who have been subject of action to facilitate illegal immigration, who 
cooperate with the competent authorities (OJ L 261, 6.8.2004, p. 19). 
COM(2004) 115 final. 
Eurostat, UOE, 2003. 
Eurostat, LFS, 2003. 

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without children while men with small children show 10 p.p. higher employment rates than 
men without children7. This is the result of limited access to childcare and gender stereotyped 
family patterns. Women perform the major part of the domestic work and consequently have 
more limited time for paid work. Men do less than 40 % of all domestic work and between 
25% and 35% of childcare work in couples with children aged up to 6 years8.  

There is little evidence of progress in closing the gender pay gap, which remains stable in the 
EU-15 at approximately 16 %9. The estimated figure for EU-25 is slightly lower, 15 %, when 
the pay gap in the new Member States has been taken into account. Gender segregation in the 
labour market also shows slow progress and remains high both at occupational10 (17.5 %) and 
sectoral11 (25.2 %) level. 31 % of managers were women in 2003, up from 30 % in 2002. 

The  gender  gaps  in  overall  poverty  risks  appear  limited.  Nevertheless,  elderly  women  still 
have higher risks of poverty than elderly men12. Furthermore, single parents, mostly women, 
tend  to  suffer  from  cumulative  disadvantages  and  are  particularly  vulnerable  to  social 
exclusion 

Pension systems differ widely across the EU. In most countries they are designed to replace 
earnings from work in exchange for life-long contributions, rather than awarding benefits to 
all elderly people on the basis of residence. Women's entitlements are significantly lower than 
men's due to their reduced labour market participation. However, some countries are adapting 
their systems by awarding pension rights for periods of care for children, dependent elderly or 
disabled persons. 

The mid-term evaluation of the ESF in the EU-15 shows that women have benefited from the 
whole  spectrum  of  labour  market  activities,  inter  alias  specific  measures  to  develop  and 
support effective childcare strategies, more adaptable forms of organisation for education and 
training, and specific activities targeting women.  

2.3. 

Immigrant women and men 

In 2003, immigration contributed to more than 80 % of the total population growth in the EU-
15. Recent inflows were dominated by families reuniting and asylum-seekers in most Member 
States.  

In  2003  the  share  of  non-EU  nationals  in  total  employment  was  about  4  %  in  the  EU-1513. 
The employment rate of non-EU nationals was on average much lower than that of EU and 
significantly more so for women (16.9 p.p. lower than EU nationals) than for men (11.0 p.p. 
lower  than  EU  nationals).  The  gap  remains  substantially  unchanged  for  men  with 
qualifications (13.0 p.p.), while the difference between highly qualified migrant women and 

7 
8 
9 
10 

11 

12 
13 

Eurostat, LFS, 2003. 
How Europeans spend their time, Eurostat, 1998-2002. 
Eurostat, estimate 2003. 
Calculated  as  the  average  national  share  of  employment  for  women  and  men  to  each  occupation; 
differences  are  added up  to  produce  a  total  amount of gender  imbalance  presented  as  a  proportion of 
total employment (ISCO classification). 
Calculated as the average national share of employment for women and men to each sector; differences 
are  added  up  to  produce  a  total  amount  of  gender  imbalance  presented  as  a  proportion  of  total 
employment (NACE classification) 
Eurostat, ECHP, 2001. 
Eurostat, LFS, 2003. 

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EU  national  women  increased  to  23.2  p.p.  This  shows  that  immigrant  women  are  lagging 
behind in labour market integration and it reflects the fact that the EU does not fully utilise the 
skilled female employment potential among immigrants. 

The unemployment rate was more than twice as high among non-EU nationals compared to 
EU  nationals.  Immigrant  men  and  women  have  similar  unemployment  rates,  except  for  the 
high skilled where women tend to be unemployed more often than men14. Women migrants 
are concentrated in low paid industries and occupations. The information available on wages 
shows that immigrant women are at a particular disadvantage. In 2000, while women in the 
EU  on  average  had  16  %  lower  pay  than  EU  men,  immigrant  women  (non  EU  nationals) 
earned 10 % less than EU national women. For men the pay gap between EU nationals and 
non-EU nationals was 4 %. 

The  employment  rate  of  immigrants  varies  according  to  the  place  of  origin15.  Foreign  born 
from  other  industrialised  countries  have  a  similar  or  higher  employment  rate  and  a  lower 
unemployment rate than the EU average, while immigrants from other parts of the world have 
substantially  lower  employment  and  higher  unemployment  rates  than  the  EU  average. 
Differences in employment rates are largest among women.  

3. 

CHALLENGES AND POLICY ORIENTATIONS 

At the Spring European Council 2004 it was acknowledged that gender equality policies are 
instruments  of  social  cohesion  as  well  as  economic  growth.  Efforts  to  promote  gender 
equality have so far mainly focused on women. Changes for women also affect men as gender 
equality  is  about  the  relationship  between  women  and  men  based  on  equal  rights,  equal 
responsibilities and equal opportunities in all spheres of life.  

To  meet  the  challenge  of  an  ageing  society,  Europe  needs  to  mobilise  people  to  enter  the 
labour  market  and  to  create  policies  to  further  promote  women's  employment  in  all  age 
brackets  but  in  particular  in  the  older  ages,  and  to  fully  utilise  the  female  employment 
potential  among  immigrants.  The  challenge  is  also  to  close  the  gender  pay  gap  and  to 
facilitate reconciliation of work and family life for both women and men. 

3.1. 

Strengthening the position of women in the labour market 

Strengthening the position of women in the labour market, guaranteeing a sustainable social 
protection  system,  and  creating  an  inclusive  society  remains  fundamental  in  order  to  reach 
the Lisbon goals. 

–  Member States need to address the large gap in employment rates between older women 
and  older  men  by  adequate  measures  with  a  view  to  reaching  the  target  of  50  % 
employment rate for older workers by 2010. 

–  Member States and Social Partners should address the persistence of the high level of the 

gender pay gap and of gender segregation in the labour market.  

14 
15 

Employment in Europe, EC, 2003. 
Employment in Europe, EC, 2004. 

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–  Member States should ensure equal opportunities on the labour market for women and men 
with care responsibilities, by providing the right combination of instruments which would 
allow them to work full time if they wish and also to return to full time jobs after a period 
of part-time. 

–  Member  States  should  pursue  their  efforts  to  modernise  social  protection  systems 
presented  in  their  2002  national  reports  on  pension  schemes.  Pension  systems  and  other 
social  benefits  should  be  adapted  to  a  context  where  women  are  employed  to  the  same 
extent as men and aspire to the same career opportunities as men and where men can share 
equally domestic tasks and care responsibilities. 

–  Member  States  should  remove  financial  and  non  financial  disincentives  to  women's 
participation in the labour market, as well as the ones that cause long career breaks with 
negative consequences on the level and entitlement to pensions. These include, notably the 
individualisation of taxation and benefit systems and the promotion of affordable childcare 
facilities.  

–  Member States should ensure that measures and activities financed by the Structural Funds 
and  the  European  Social  Fund  in  particular,  aim  at  combating  gender  stereotypes  in 
education and in the labour market and contribute to reducing the gender pay gap.  

3.2. 

Increasing care facilities for children and other dependants 

The  emergence  of  the  ageing  society  calls  for  an  adaptation  of  social  policies  that  is 
financially  and  socially  sustainable.  The  provision  of  adequate  care  facilities  remains  the 
fundamental  instrument  for  allowing  women  to  enter  and  remain  in  the  labour  market 
throughout their lives. 

–  Member States need to boost the provision of affordable, accessible childcare facilities of 

good quality, in particular for children aged 0-3, in line with the Barcelona targets. 

–  In  the  context  of  the  ageing  population,  urgent  actions  and  commitments  are  needed  at 
member state level to guarantee a suitable level of care provision for dependants other than 
children, in order to avoid the withdrawal of workers, in particular women, from the labour 
market. 

–  Member States should fully use the potential  of a financial contribution, provided by the 
Structural  Funds,  in  particular  by  the  ESF  and  ERDF,  to  increase  the  provision  of  care 
facilities.  

3.3. 

Addressing men in achieving gender equality 

The promotion of equality between women and men implies changes  for men  as well as for 
women. Therefore it is essential that both men and women actively participate in creating new 
strategies for achieving gender equality. 

–  The  Social  Partners  play  a  crucial  role  in  promoting  flexible  work  arrangements  with  a 
view to facilitate reconciliation of professional and private life for both men and women. 
Special  attention  should  be  paid  to  actions  directed  towards  men  in  order  to  promote  a 
change of workplace culture in support of gender equality. 

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–  Member States should promote adequate parental leave schemes, shared by both parents. It 
is  particularly  important  to  facilitate  men's  possibilities  to  take  up  leave  by  developing 
financial and other incentives. 

–  Member  States  and  the  Social  Partners  should  initiate  awareness  raising  activities  to 

encourage men to share responsibilities for care of children and other dependants. 

3.4. 

Integrating the gender perspective into immigration and integration policies 

Effective and responsible integration of immigrants in the labour market and in society is one 
of the key factors for success in reaching the Lisbon targets. The gender perspective is to a 
large extent lacking in integration policies, which hampers the possibilities to fully utilise the 
potential of immigrant women in the labour market. 

–  When  transposing  the  Directive16  on  the  right  to  family  reunification,  Member  States 
should ensure that restrictions in access to the labour market are kept to a minimum and do 
not hamper the integration of immigrant women.  

–  The  different  situations  and  conditions  of  immigrant  women  and  men  needs  to  be 

addressed in the further development of integration policies. 

–  Special  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  double  discrimination  of  sexism  and  racism  that 

immigrant women often face, in particular in the labour market. 

–  In order to achieve successful integration of immigrants, in particular immigrant women, in 
economic and social life cultural practices and expectations concerning the role of women 
and men, not only in the receiving countries but also in the home nation, must be taken into 
account.  

–  It  is  important  to  use  the  full  potential  of  Community  Funding  for  promoting  the  gender 
perspective  in  immigration  and  integration  policies,  in  particular  through  the  European 
action programmes in the field of education, employment, combating social exclusion and 
discrimination,  the  EQUAL  initiative,  the  European  Refugee  Fund  and  the  newly 
established INTI-preparatory actions. 

3.5.  Monitoring developments towards gender equality 

The10th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2005 provides an opportunity for 
the EU to reaffirm the commitments made in the Declaration and the Platform for Action of 
the  Fourth  World  Conference  on  Women  in  Beijing  1995  and  to  report  on  achievements  in 
relation to gender equality since 199517. The assessment is based on a set of core indicators 
developed partly in the framework of the annual reviews of the Beijing Platform for Action in 
the  Council  and  partly  by  the  Commission.  This  set  of  core  indicators  is  also  the  basis  for 
annual monitoring of development presented in the annex to this report. 

16 

17 

Council  Directive  2003/86/EC  of  22  September  2003  on  the  right  to  family  reunification  (OJ  L  251, 
3.10.2003, p. 12). 
Beijing + 10 – Progress made within the European Union, Luxemburg's presidency report, 2005.  

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The Commission's forthcoming proposal18 on the creation of a European Institute for Gender 
Equality, will enhance possibilities to monitor achievements. 

Reinforced  efforts  are  needed  by  Member  States,  the  Commission  and  the  Council  of 
Ministers: 

–  to  further  develop  gender  statistics  and  indicators  in  policy  fields  where  such  data  are 

lacking;  

–  to pay specific attention to improving the provision of data on immigration and integration 

broken down by sex;  

–  to ensure the integration of a gender perspective in policy analyses inter alias by using data 

broken down by sex. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS  

The  European  Council,  building  on  this  report  on  Equality  between  women  and  men,  is 
invited  to  urge  Member  States  to  pursue  efforts  to  integrate  the  gender  dimension  into  all 
policy fields with a view to achieving gender equality. Special attention should be paid: 

–  to strengthening national machineries for gender equality; 

–  to  ensuring  correct  and  rapid  implementation  of  the  Directive19  on  the  principle  of  equal 
treatment  for  men  and  women  as  regards  access  to  employment,  vocational  training  and 
promotion, and working conditions, which will have to be transposed by October 2005; 

–  to continuing co-operation with social partners in order to avoid gender segregation in the 
labour market and to reduce the gender pay gap, in particular as regards immigrant women; 

–  to  increasing  women's  labour  market  participation,  which  will  not  only  strengthen  the 
financial sustainability of pension systems, but also allow women to become economically 
independent and earn better pensions of their own;  

–  to promoting employment for immigrant women and recognising their important role in the 

integration process; 

–  to  guaranteeing  and  respecting  the  fundamental  rights  of  immigrant  women  and  to 
strengthening  efforts  to  prevent  and  combat  the  specific  violence  to  which  women  are 
victims; 

–  to carefully examining how well pension systems meet the needs of both women and men 
and reporting the results in the next round of national strategy reports on pensions in July 
2005;  

18 
19 

The Commission intends to adopt the proposal during spring 2005. 
Directive 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 amending 
Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access 
to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions (OJ L 269,5.10.2002, p.15). 

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–  to  increasing  the  provision  of  care  facilities  for  children  and  other  dependants  and  to 
reinforcing  strategies  for  reconciling  work  and  private  life,  involving  men  to  the  same 
extent as women; 

–  to  using  the  full  extent  of  resources  available  through  the  Structural  Funds,  and  in 
particular  the  ESF,  for  the  promotion  of  equality  between  women  and  men  and  ensuring 
that  gender  equality  is  fully  integrated  in  the  next  Operational  Programmes  of  the 
Structural Funds and is promoted during the various stages of implementation; 

–  to  further  developing  the  set  of  core  indicators  for  monitoring  progress  towards  equality 
between  women  and  men,  including  the  implementation  of  the  Beijing  Platform  for 
Action; to this effect regularly collecting adequate, coherent comparable statistics broken 
down by sex. 

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ANNEX  

The  statistical  annex  gives  a  simple,  though  comprehensive,  overview  of  the  situation  of 
women and men, its evolution over time, and remaining gender gaps in the European Union.  

Given  the  importance  of  a  broad  approach  to  gender  equality,  indicators  have  been  chosen 
according to two main criteria: their relevance in covering aspects of the lives of women and 
men,  and  the  availability  of  comparable,  and  reliable  data.  Some  indicators  have  been 
developed  in  the  framework  of  the  annual  review  of  the  Beijing  Platform  for  Action  in  the 
Council and others by the Commission for monitoring progress in different policy areas, such 
as  employment,  social  inclusion,  education  and  research.  The  proposed  data  provide 
information  on  the  following  dimensions:  paid  work,  income  and  pay,  decision-making 
power, knowledge and time. Data on healthy life years at birth and the average age of women 
at birth of first child is also included. 

Paid work 

Paid  work  is  a  precondition  of  economic  independence  during  the  active  ages  as  well  as  a 
basis for pension in older ages. It is measured by the employment and unemployment rates, 
and the share of part-time work. At present (2003), there is an employment gender gap of 15.8 
% in the EU, while the unemployment gender gap (2004) is equal to 1.7 %. Women form the 
majority of those working part-time. The share of women employees working part-time was 
30.5 % in the EU in 2004. The corresponding figure for men was 6.6 %. 

Income and pay 

In 2003, in the European Union the estimated gender pay gap was 15%. The risk of poverty 
was higher for women compared to men in 17 of the Member States. 

Decision-making 

Balanced participation in decision-making is looked at in the political and economic fields. 23 
% of parliamentary seats in the EU are currently occupied by women. Some Member States 
experienced a substantial increase of the number of women in the parliament since 2003 while 
others saw a slight decrease. The percentage of women in managerial positions in the EU has 
increased by 1 percentage point since 2002, to reach 31 % in 2003. Very few women (all MS 
except  4  do  not  reach  15  %  women)  are  members  of  the  daily  executive  boards  in  top  50 
companies. 

Knowledge 

The development towards a knowledge based society makes high demands on the educational 
level  of  the  labour  force.  Women  present  higher  educational  attainment  than  men:  the  gap 
between  women  and  men  aged  20-24  attaining  secondary  educational  level  is  5  percentage 
points  in  the  EU  2004.  Traditional  patterns  remain  in  the  research  field  where  men 
represented 86% of academic staff who are full professors (or equivalent) in the EU in 2002. 
More  women  than  men  participate  in  adult  education  and  training  (life-long  learning)  in  21 
Member States. 

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Working Time 

The gap between average hours worked by women and men with children shows that women 
with children work 11 hours per week less than men with children in the EU in 2003. 

Healthy life years 

Women  are  expected  to  live  longer  in  absence  of  limitations  in  functioning/disability  than 
men in most Member States (except in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, UK, the Netherlands and 
Finland. 

The average age of women at birth of first child 

The  average  age  of  women  at  birth  of  first  child  has  increased  by  at  least  0.5  years  in  14 
Member States during the last few years.  

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Absolute gender gap in employment rates (women and men aged 15 - 64) in EU Member 
States - 1998 and 2003
(Difference between women's and men's employment rates) 

Left bar: 1998   Right bar: 2003 

15.8

19.6

S E F I

L T L V E E D K S I P L S K D E F R H U U K P T A T N L B E

C Z C Y I E L U I T E S E L M T

EU-
25

Source:  Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS).
NB:  Top value of a bar is men's employment rate and bottom value is women's employment rate.
Data are not available 1998 for CY, MT. EU-25 is estimated without missing countries. 

Absolute gender gap in unemployment rates (women and men aged 15 years and over) in EU 
Member States - 1998 and 2004
 (Difference between women's and men's unemployment rates) 

Left bar: 1998     Right bar: 2004(1)

EE

IE

UK

SE

DE

FI

HU

DK

NL

LT

SI

LV

AT

MT EU-25 BE

PL

PT

LU

FR

SK

CY

CZ

IT

ES

EL

2.8

1.7

Source:  Eurostat.
NB:  A positive gap indicates higher unemployment rates for women in comparison with men, while the opposite is true for a negative gap.
(1) Exceptions to the reference year: EL and IT: 2003. Data are not available 1998 for CY, MT, SK. EU-25 is estimated without missing countries.                          

%

85

80

75

70

65

60

55

50

45

40

35

30

12

10

8

6

%

4

2

0

-2

-4

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Share of part-time employees among women and men employees, in EU Member States - 2004

Women

Men

80

70

60

50

%

40

30

20

10

0

30.4

6.6

SK HU EL CZ LT EE SI CY PL LV PT IT MT FI ES FR LU EU-
25

Source:  Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS), Spring results.
NB:  Exceptions to the reference year: DE, EL, IT, LU and EU-25: 2003.
LU: annual average instead of spring result.

IE DK SE DE BE AT UK NL

Pay gap between women and men in unadjusted form in EU Member States - 1998 and 2003 
(Difference between men’s and women’s average gross hourly earnings as a percentage of men’s average gross hourly earnings)

1998 (1)

2003 (2)

30

25

20

%

15

10

5

0

17

15

MT

IT

SI

PT

GR

PL

BE

FR

IE

HU EU-
25

LU

LV

SE

LT

AT

DK

ES

NL

CZ

FI

UK

DE

SK

EE

CY

Source:  Eurostat. Administrative data are used for LU. All other sources are national surveys except as follows:
2003: Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SIC) for EL, IE and AT. The results for the first year of this new EU survey are provisional and subject to further quality 
assessment. They should therefore be interpreted with caution.
2002 :European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for EL
2001 and before:  European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for BE, DE, IT, DK, IE, UK, EL, ES, PT, AT and FI.
NB:  EU-25 estimates are population-weighted averages of the latest available national values adjusted where possible, to take into account a change in the data source. 
Exceptions to the reference years: (1) 1999 for PLand SK; 2000 for MT.  (2) 2001 for BE and IT; 2002 for SI and FI.
DK - A change of data source from 2002 is estmated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 4 percentagepoints.
DE - From 2002 national earnings surveys and the German Socio-Economic Panel have been used. This is estmated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 1 
percentagepoint.
ES - From 2002 data from tax returns and the labour force survey have been used. This is estmated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 3 percentagepoints.
FI - A change of data source from 2002 is estmated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 4 percentagepoints.
UK - A change of data source from 2002 is estmated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 2 percentagepoints.

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
 
At-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers1 for women and men aged 16 years and over in EU 
Member states, 20022

Women

Men

%

25

20

15

10

5

0

CZ

HU

NL

SI

DE

LU

FI

AT

BE

MT

FR

LV

PL

LT

CY

EE

UK

ES

IT

PT

SK

EL

IE

Source:  Eurostat, National sources. 
NB:  1) At-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers - The share of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold, which is 60% of 
the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers). Gender breakdown is based on assumption of equal sharing of resources within household.
2) Exceptions to the reference year: CY: 1997; MT: 2000; BE, DE, EL,ES, FR, IE, IT, LU, NL and PT: 2001; CZ and SK: 2003. 
BE, DE, EL,ES, FR, IE, IT, LU, NL and PT have used a different methodology for the calculation of the At-risk-of-poverty and results are not comparable with other 
contries. However comparisons between women and men within MS are still valid and it is not likely that the ranking of the countries would differ much by using the 
same methodology as the rest.
Data are not available for  DK and SE.

Members of single/lower houses of national parliaments in EU Member States - sex distribution 2003 
and 2004

Left bar: 2003     Right bar: 2004

women

women 

men

men

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

77

75

25

23

S E

F I

N L D K A T E S B E D E

L U

L  T

P L

P T U K

L V S K C Z

E E S I

F R E L

I E

I T C Y H U M T

EU-25

Source:  European Commission, Employment, Social affairs and Equal opportunities DG, Database on Women and Men in Decisionmaking
NB: The indicator has been developed within the framework of the follow-up of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Council of Ministers.
Data for 2003 are not available for CZ, LV, Pl and  MT. EU-25 is the average of national values estimated without missing countries. 

EN 

15 

   EN 

 
 
Managers in EU Member States - Sex distribution 1998 and 2003

Left bar: 1998        Right bar: 2003(1)

women
women

men
men

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

69

70

31

30

L T

L V

F R H U S I

S K

P L

E E

P T

U K

EU-25

S E

E S

I E

B E

F I

D E C Z

A T

D K

L U

E L

N L

I T M T

C Y

Source : Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS).
NB : Managers are persons classified in ISCO 12 and 13.
(1) Exception to the reference year: NL: 2002. Data are not available 1998 for CY and MT.  EU-25 is estimated without missing countries. 

Members of the daily executive bodies in top 50 publicly quoted companies - 
Sex distribution 2004

Women

Men

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

90

10

EU-
25

ES

EL

SE

FI

UK

DK MT

EE

IE

LV

CZ

NL

FR

SK

BE

CY

HU

AT

DE

IT

PT

SI

LU

LT

PL

Source:  European Commission, Employment, Social affairs and Equal opportunities DG, Database Women and men in Decisionmaking.
NB:  EU-25 is the average of national values estimated without missing countries.

EN 

16 

   EN 

 
 
Educational attainment (at least upper secondary school) of women and men aged 20 - 24, 
in EU Member States - 2004

women men

79.1

73.8

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

SI

EE

PL

SK

CZ

LT

IE

FI

SE

EL

BE

AT

HU

CY

LV

Source : Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS), Spring results.
NB:  DE, EL, IE, IT and EU-25: Provisional value. Exceptions to the reference year: LU and 
NL: 2003.
CY: students abroad are not covered.

FR EU-
25

DK

NL

UK

DE

IT

ES

LU

PT MT

Full professors or equivalent (Grade A) in EU Member States - Sex distribution 20021

Women

Men

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

86

14

LV

PT

FI

PL

EE

ES

BE

FR

IT

UK EU-25 SE

HU

LT

SI

EL

DK

SK

CZ

NL

DE

CY

AT

MT

Source:  European Commission, Research DG, WiS database.
NB: (1) Exceptions to the reference year: CY, DK, FR, IL, IT, NO, PT: 2001; EL: 2000; AT: 1998. Data are not available: IE, LU.
NL: FTE as exception to HC; SI: Data are estimated.
Data are not comparable between countries due to differences in coverage & definitions.

EN 

17 

   EN 

 
 
Life-long learning - Percentage of the population aged 25-64 participating in education and 
training over the four weeks prior to the survey, 2004

Percent

women

men

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

10.2

8.6

SE DK FI UK SI NL AT LV EU-
25

CY BE IE FR LT EE CZ PL LU ES DE HU IT SK PT MT EL

Gaps between average hours worked per week by men and women (aged 20 - 49) with children (aged 0 - 6 
years) in EU Member States - 1998 and 2003

Hours

Left bar: 1998   right bar: 2003 

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

43

32

S K

S I

L T

E E

H U

P T

F I

C Y

L V

E S

E L

C Z

P L

F R

M T

I T

B E

A T

L U

EU-
25

D E

N L

U K

Source:  Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS), Spring results
NB:  Top value of a bar is men's average hours worked and bottom value is women's average hours worked
       Data for 1998 are not available for DK, CY, IE, MT, SE and FI. Data for 2003 are not available for DK, IE, and SE. 

EN 

18 

   EN 

 
 
Healthy life years at birth; the number of years that a person is expected to live in absence of 
limitations in functioning/disability, 2003

Women

Men

years
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

IT

CY

AT

BE

ES

PL

EL

MT

IE

DE

FR

CZ

SE

PT

DK

UK

NL

HU

FI

Source:  Eurostat
NB : Estimations are applied for mortality data and prevalence of disability was extrapolated on data of previous years: 1995-2001; for DE and UK: 
1997-2001
Exceptions to the reference year: BE, MT and PL: 2002. Data are not available for  EE, LU, LV, LT, SI and SK.

Average age of women at birth of first child - 1998 and 2002 

1998 (1) :

2002 (2) :

Age

32.5

30.0

27.5

25.0

22.5

20.0

17.5

15.0

12.5

10.0

7.5

5.0

2.5

0.0

LT

EE

SK

LV

PL

CZ

HU

CY

AT

PT

SI

FI

DK

FR

IE

SE

DE

NL

LU

ES

UK

BE

EL

IT

Source:  Eurostat, Demography statistics.
NB:  Exceptions to the reference years:  
(1) 2001 for DK, DE, FR, IE; 2000 for ES and UK; No data are available for BE, EL, IT and MT.
(2) 1997 for BE; 1996 for DK, FR and IT; No data are available for MT.

EN 

19 

   EN