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 - 2006
Date: 2006-02-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: development policy, employment policy, employment statistics, equal treatment, family, gender equality, labour market, working life

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.2.2006 
COM(2006)71 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 - 2006 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

4. 

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

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

Policy and legislative developments and state of play................................................. 3 

Gender gaps.................................................................................................................. 5 

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

Fully exploit the gender equality policy contribution to the European strategy 
for growth and employment ......................................................................................... 7 

Promote an effective reconciliation of work and private life....................................... 7 

Support gender equality with effective institutional mechanisms ............................... 8 

The external dimension of gender equality.................................................................. 9 

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

ANNEX.................................................................................................................................... 11 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This  yearly  report  presents  an  overview  of  the  main  developments  on  equality  between 
women  and  men  in  the  European  Union  in  2005.  It  also  outlines  challenges  and  policy 
orientations for the future. 

The  EU  reaffirmed  its  full  commitment  to  gender  equality  in  the  social  agenda1  for  2005-
2010, which complements and supports the renewed Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs2. 
The  new  set  of  integrated  guidelines3  that  supports  the  objectives  of  delivering  stronger, 
lasting  growth  and  creating  more  and  better  jobs  recognise  gender  equality  as  essential  in 
meeting  the  labour  market  challenges.  They  combine  specific  measures  on  women's 
employment and the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in all action taken. 

Gender policies contribute to employment and growth. Three quarters of the new jobs created 
in  the  last  five  years  in  the  EU  have  been  filled  by  women.  Yet  the  persistence  of  gender 
gaps  underlines  that  more  can  be  done  to  tap  into  the  productive  potential  of  women.  Poor 
work-life balance in particular, still drives workers out of the labour market and contributes to 
lower fertility rates. There is a real need to step up efforts to support effective and innovative 
means to help men and women reconcile work and their private responsibilities at all stages in 
their lives. 

Equality  between  women  and  men  should  not  be  limited  by  borders.  The  EU  strongly 
supported the Beijing Platform for Action (PfA) and reaffirmed its commitment to the full 
realisation  of  the  PfA  by  asking  for  its  effective  implementation4.  This  is  essential  to 
achieving  internationally  agreed  development  goals,  including  those  of  the  Millennium 
Declaration. This position was also supported by the EU at the high-level plenary meeting of 
the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14-16 September 2005 which addressed the 
review of the Millennium Declaration. 

2. 

MAIN DEVELOPMENTS 

2.1. 

Policy and legislative developments and state of play 

The  Commission  announced  a  Communication  on  future  developments  of  policies  for 
equality  between  women  and  men  in  the  European  Union  for  the  next  five  years,  to  be 
adopted in the first quarter of 2006. This "Roadmap for equality between women and men" 
will identify challenges and actions for the EU to achieve gender equality through its internal 
and  external  policies,  in  keeping  with  the  objectives  of  growth  and  jobs  creation.  The 
roadmap will highlight the commitment and specific contribution of the EU to the process. 

Legislation  has  been  key  to  making  progress  in  equality  between  women  and  men  over  the 
past decades. Further steps forward were taken in 2005 following the adoption of an amended 

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COM(2005) 33 final of 9.2.2005. 
COM(2005) 24 final of 2.2.2005. 
Council  Decision  2005/600/EC  of  12  July  2005  on  Guidelines  for  the  employment  policies  of  the 
Member States. 
Document 9242/05 of the Council of the European Union of 27.5.2005. 

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proposal for a Directive5 which simplifies and modernises existing Community legislation on 
equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment. Efforts are ongoing to ensure 
a swift adoption of the Directive in early 2006 on the basis of a common position negotiated 
between the Council and the European Parliament. 

The deadline for the transposition of the 2002 equal treatment Directive6 expired on 5 October 
2005. Setting up the equality bodies provided for in the Directive will undoubtedly contribute 
to  a  better  implementation  of  gender  equality  legislation.  Most  Member  States  have 
transposed the Directive into national law. Infringement proceedings will be initiated where 
the Directive has not been transposed or has not been correctly transposed. 

On  8  March  2005,  the  Commission  proposed  setting  up  a  European  Institute  for  Gender 
Equality7,  which  is  intended  to  become  an  important  tool  for  the  dissemination  of 
information, the exchange of good practices and the development of methodological tools for 
the promotion of gender mainstreaming. It will also raise the visibility of achievements and 
challenges in the area of gender equality. The proposal is being examined by the Council and 
the European Parliament. The European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion 
supportive of the proposal on 28 September 20058. 

In the frame of the European social dialogue social partners adopted a Framework of Actions 
for Gender Equality in March 2005, concentrating on four priorities: addressing gender roles, 
promoting women in decision-making, supporting work-life balance and tackling the gender 
pay gap. The annual report on progress made will be of the greatest importance. Initiatives to 
compile,  exchange  and  promote  good  practice  in  the  field  of  gender  equality  are  also  being 
undertaken by some sectoral social partners. 

The  increasing  importance  given  to  gender  equality  in  science  and  the  access  of  women  to 
leading  positions  was  underlined  by  the  Competitiveness  Council  Conclusions  of  18  April 
2005. Member States were invited to increase significantly the number of women in leading 
research  positions,  with  the  aim  of  reaching,  as  a  first  step,  the  goal  of  25%  in  the  public 
sector as an average in the EU. 

The need to take into account the gender perspective in immigration policies was addressed in 
the  common  agenda  for  the  integration  of  third  country  nationals9  adopted  by  the 
Commission.  It  underlined  in  particular  the  importance  of  fully  utilising  the  potential  of 
immigrant women on the labour market. The Commission has also been actively addressing 
the  problem  of  trafficking  in  human  beings,  of  which  women  continue  to  be  the  primary 
victims.  It  presented  an  integrated  approach  and  proposals  for  an  action  plan10  which 
underlined  the  importance  of  the  gender  perspective  in  prevention  strategies  and  in  the 
elimination  of  all  forms  of  exploitation,  including  sexual  exploitation  and  domestic  labour 
exploitation. 

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COM(2005) 380 final of 25.8.2005. 
Directive 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 amending 
Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of 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). 
COM(2005) 81 final of 8.3.2005. 
CESE 1066/2005 of 28.9.2005. 
COM(2005) 389 final of 1.9.2005. 
COM (2005) 514 final of 18.10.2005. 

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2005  marked  the  10th  anniversary  celebration  of  the  Beijing  Platform  for  Action,  which 
constituted  a  milestone  in  the  development  of  gender  mainstreaming  of  public  policies.  On 
this  occasion,  governments  worldwide  acknowledged  progress  made  so  far,  but  they  also 
stressed  the  remaining  challenges  and  obstacles.  Particular  areas  of  concern  are  women's 
access  to  education,  property,  work,  health  and  reproductive  services.  Maternal  mortality 
remains problematic and in some areas, in particular some African regions, women's situation 
has worsened. The EU commitment contributed strongly to successfully reaffirming the PfA. 
Further to a Commission proposal, the Council, the Parliament and the Commission adopted a 
Joint Statement on "The European Consensus on Development"11 in November 2005 which 
identified  gender  equality  as  one  of  the  five  key  principles  of  the  development  policy.  The 
new  EU  Strategy  for  Africa12  also  specifically  foresees  that  gender  equality  should  be  fully 
taken into account in all partnerships and in national development strategies. The Commission 
expects  to  adopt  a  communication  entitled  “A  European  Vision  on  Gender  Equality  in 
Development Cooperation” in the first half of 2006. 

2.2. 

Gender gaps 

The  favourable  trend  in  female  employment  has  led  to  a  narrowing  of  the  gender  gaps  in 
employment  and  unemployment.  Nevertheless,  major  imbalances  persist  while  the  high  pay 
gap shows no significant signs of narrowing. 

In recent years, progress towards reaching the Lisbon target for employment of 70% by 2010 
has  owed  much  to  the  uninterrupted  increase  in  the  entry  of  women  into  the  labour  market 
over  the  past  decade,  while  male  employment  rate  has  remained  relatively  stable  over  the 
same  period.  The  female  employment  rate  rose  to  55.7%  in  the  EU-25  in  2004,  up  0.7 
percentage  points  compared  to  2003,  placing  the  mid-term  target  of  57%  by  2005  within 
reach. As a result, the employment rate gap was further reduced to 15.2 points in 2004, down 
from  18.1  points  in  1999.  A  decrease  in  female  unemployment  combined  with  a  similar 
increase  in  male  unemployment  also  brought  the  unemployment  gap  down  to  2.1  points, 
almost a full point lower than in 1999. Among older workers, progress in the employment 
rate  was  also  stronger  among  women  than  men.  The  employment  rate  of  women  over  55 
increased by a full percentage point in 2004 to 31.7%, or 5.4 points above the level in 1999. 
This helped to reduce the employment rate gap for older workers, although the gap remained 
particularly high at 19.0 points in 2004. 

Against this favourable backdrop, it must be acknowledged that the main areas of growth for 
female  employment  continued  to  be  concentrated  in  activities  and  occupations  already 
predominantly feminine. This has reinforced segregation in the labour market. Indeed, both 
sectoral and occupational segregation13 continue to rise in the EU, respectively to 25.4% and 
18.1%.  More  than  four  in  ten  employed  women  work  in  public  administration,  education, 
health  or  social  activities,  compared  to  less  than  two  in  ten  men.  In  the  private  sector, 

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"Joint  Statement  by  the  Council  and  the  Representatives  of  the  Governments  of  the  Member  States 
meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on EU Development Policy: 
"The European Consensus", document 14820/05 of the Council of the European Union of 22.11.2005. 
COM(2005) 489 final of 12.10.2005. 
Gender segregation in sectors is calculated as the average national share of employment for women and 
men applied to each sector; differences are added up to produce the total amount of gender imbalance 
expressed  as  a  proportion  of  total  employment  (NACE  classification).  Gender  segregation  in 
occupations is calculated in a similar way as the addition of differences in the average national share of 
employment for women and men applied to each occupation (ISCO classification). 

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however,  business  services  remain  an  important  source  of  job  creation  both  for  women  and 
men, with an increase of employed persons in excess of 5% between 2000 and 2004. 

A further source of concern is the persistence of the gender gap in part-time work, which is 
done  by  32.6%  of  women  in  employment  against  only  7.4%  of  men.  Although  recourse  to 
part-time work may reflect personal preferences and may help people to (re-)enter and stay in 
the labour market, the high gender gap is also an evidence of differences of time use patterns 
between women and men and of the role of carer predominantly assumed by women and the 
greater  difficulties  they  face  in  trying  to  reconcile  work  and  private  life.  Participation  in 
employment and the amount of time worked by women is closely linked to the number and 
age of children; this is less the case for men. For women aged between 20 and 49, having a 
child pushes the employment rate down by as much as 14.3 points, while it drives up men's 
employment rate by 5.6 points. Similarly, the recourse to part-time work by women increases 
with  the  number  of  children,  which  is  not  the  case  for  men.  One-third  of  women  with  one 
child  and  half  of  women  with  three  or  more  children  work  on  part-time  basis,  while  the 
number of children has little effect on the proportion of men working part-time. 

Work-life  balance  tensions  combined  with  stereotypes  and  gender-biased  remuneration  and 
evaluation  systems  continue  to  affect  the  women's  career  and  perpetuate  the  vertical 
segregation  of  the  labour  market.  Within  enterprises,  women  account  for  only  32%  of 
managers14.  Only  10%  of  members  of  the  boards  and  3%  of  CEOs  of  the  larger  EU 
enterprises  are  women15.  In  education  and  research,  women  outnumber  men  as  graduates 
(59%),  yet  their  presence  decreases  consistently  as  they  progress  on  the  career  ladder,  from 
43% of PhDs down to only 15% of full professors16. 

The  pay  gap  between  women  and  men  remains  at  unacceptably  high  levels  and  shows  no 
significant signs of being closed. On average, women earn 15% less than men for every hour 
worked.  This  results  from  both  non  respect  of  equal  pay  legislation  and  from  a  number  of 
structural inequalities such as labour market segregation, differences in work patterns, access 
to education and training, biased evaluation and pay systems and stereotypes. 

The risk of social exclusion appears somewhat greater for women than for men at all stages 
of life, echoing their average lower participation in the labour market. The risk of poverty, in 
particular, is higher amongst older women and amongst lone parents with dependant children, 
a group predominantly composed of women. 

3. 

CHALLENGES AND POLICY ORIENTATIONS 

The  European  strategy  for  growth  and  employment  acknowledges  that  gender  equality  is 
essential for progress, yet the National Reform Programmes presented by the Member States 
this year showed reduced visibility and a loss of momentum of gender issues. Europe needs a 
reaffirmed  commitment  to  the  Community  approach,  combining  gender  mainstreaming  and 
specific positive actions, supported by effective institutional mechanisms. 

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Eurostat, Labour Force Survey, 2005. 
Database on women and men in decision-making positions, European Commission. 
"Women and Science: Excellence and Innovation", SEC(2005) 370 of 11.3.2005. 

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3.1. 

Fully  exploit  the  gender  equality  policy  contribution  to  the  European  strategy 
for growth and employment 

Gender  equality  policies  are  instrumental  to  growth  and  employment.  Removing  structural 
inequalities between women and men will help to release the employment potential of women 
while contributing to social cohesion and to the viability of the social protection system. The 
persistence  of  gender  gaps  are  the  sign  of  a  dysfunctional  labour  market  where  individual 
aspirations  and  qualifications  are  not  fully  supported  and  valued,  and  even  act  as  a 
disincentive to labour market participation.  

•  Member States and social partners should pursue action to reduce the employment rate gap 

between women and men, in particular among older workers. 

•  Scaling  down  the  pay  gap  and  attacking  its  underlying  causes  should  remain  a  priority. 
Action must combine all available instruments, including the effective implementation of 
existing  legislation,  and  should  actively  involve  social  partners.  Areas  to  address  include 
notably  sectoral  and  occupational  segregation,  access  to  education  and  training  for  all, 
transparent  evaluation  and  pay  systems,  raising  awareness  and  combating  stereotypes 
among stakeholders and reviewing classifications of professions. 

•  The  quality  of  jobs  and  a  good  work  environment  are  key  elements  in  attracting  and 
retaining  people  on  the  labour  market.  Member  States  and  social  partners  need  to  take 
concrete steps to support this, notably by promoting and disseminating work patterns that 
fully value the qualifications of the workers while ensuring employment security and social 
rights and benefits. 

•  Member States should proceed, where needed, with reforms of tax and benefits systems to 
create incentives and eliminate disincentives for lower earners within households or carers, 
both  of  whom  are  predominantly  women,  to  (re-)enter  and  remain  on  the  labour  market, 
rendering work financially attractive and ensuring their economic independence, also with 
regard to the accrual of pension rights. 

•  The European strategy for growth and employment needs the full support of the Structural 
Funds  in  the  field  of  gender  equality,  notably  by  the  effective  integration  of  a  gender 
perspective  in  the  national  strategic  reference  frameworks  and  programming  documents, 
and the sufficient funding of specific gender equality actions. 

3.2. 

Promote an effective reconciliation of work and private life 

A good work-life balance helps to reduce gender gaps and to improve the quality of the work 
environment while contributing to addressing the challenge of demographic changes. To be 
effective, it should be devised and promoted as a policy for both women and men at all stages 
of  their  life,  including  for  young  people  as  underlined  in  the  European  Youth  Pact17.  A 
renewed  commitment  is  needed  to  deliver  accessible,  affordable  and  good  quality  care 
facilities for children and other dependants. 

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COM(2005) 206 final of 30.5.2005. 

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•  Member States should step up their efforts to meet the Barcelona targets18 for childcare and 
support the development of care for older and disabled persons. Particular attention should 
be given to the fact that full-time working schedules of women and men require convenient 
opening  hours  and  flexibility.  Initiatives  by  enterprises  or  education  establishments  to 
develop care services should be encouraged. 

•  Reconciliation of work and private life should include the promotion and dissemination of 
innovative and adaptable work arrangements that facilitate work-life balance and take into 
account the different needs at different stages of life. 

•  Access  to  public  services,  including  administrations,  transport  services  and  employment 
services should be compatible with work schedules and should not hinder women and men 
with  responsibilities  for  children  or  other  dependant  persons  to  (re-)enter  or  stay  in  the 
labour market. 

•  Decisive action should be taken to fight sexist stereotypes and to encourage men to take up 
their responsibilities in the domestic and family sphere. This includes the development of 
incentives,  notably  financial,  that  support  a  better  balance  of  responsibilities  and  tasks 
between women and men and strengthen the role of men in care and parental leave. 

3.3. 

Support gender equality with effective institutional mechanisms 

Strong  governance  involving  all  parties  concerned  is  vital  to  achieving  gender  equality.  It 
requires a strong and clear commitment at the highest political level and must be backed up 
by adequate mechanisms, organisational arrangements, resources and sharing of experience 
between Member States. 

•  Partnership  and  dialogue  are  key  elements  of  governance.  It  is  essential  that  all  parties 
concerned  are  associated  at  all  stages  of  policy  making,  implementation  and  evaluation, 
notably gender equality ministries or departments, gender equality bodies, social partners 
and civil society. 

•  Member  States  should  strengthen  their  implementation  of  the  principle  of  gender 
mainstreaming  into  all  relevant  policy  areas  and  take  concrete  steps  to  develop  and 
disseminate methods and tools in support of this, such as gender audit and gender impact 
assessment. 

•  The integration of economic policy and employment guidelines in the new Lisbon strategy 
should encourage Member States to reinforce gender mainstreaming in all chapters of the 
National  Reform  Programmes,  particularly  in  areas  where  limited  progress  is  recorded, 
notably  in  economic  policies,  enterprise  policies  and  in  budgetary  policies  (gender 
budgeting). 

•  Member States should support the good functioning of the national machinery in support 
of  gender  equality,  including  the  equality  bodies  provided  for  in  Directive  2002/7319, 

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Providing  childcare  for  33%  of  children  aged  0  to  3  years  and  90%  of  children  from  3  years  to 
compulsory school age by 2010. 
Article 8a of Directive 2002/73/EC. 

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notably  ensuring  that  they  have  the  necessary  independence,  resources  and  capacities  to 
function effectively. 

•  Policy monitoring needs to be supported by the collection, compilation and dissemination 
of timely, reliable and comparable data disaggregated by sex. Further attention should be 
paid to avoid gender bias in statistical methodology and classifications. 

3.4. 

The external dimension of gender equality 

The EU has been at forefront of the gender equality policy from the outset. It has contributed 
to promoting gender equality beyond its borders. Europe should reaffirm its commitment to 
this approach and ensure that gender aspects are taken into account in its external relations. 

•  Member  States  should  take  concrete  steps  to  accelerate  the  full  and  effective 
implementation  of  the  Beijing  Declaration  and  Platform  for  Action  of  the  Fourth  World 
Conference on Women. They should monitor progress by regular reporting and assessing 
results and set time-bound targets. 

•  Developing countries should be supported by appropriate technical and financial assistance 
in  their  efforts  to  integrate  gender  mainstreaming  and  empowerment  of  women  within 
policies and programmes. 

•  Member States should take into account the gender perspective in partnerships with non-
EU  countries  and  in  development  strategies  including  poverty  reduction  strategies,  in 
accordance with the "European Consensus" on development policy. 

•  Acceding, candidate and potential candidate countries should continue to be supported in 
their  efforts  to  transpose,  implement  and  effectively  enforce  the  Community  acquis  in 
gender equality matters as well as to create the necessary institutions to enforce it. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Building on this report on equality between women and men and recognising the contribution 
that  gender  equality  can  make  to  the  renewed  agenda  for  growth  and  jobs,  the  European 
Council  is  invited  to  urge  the  Member  States  to  take  stock  of  progress  in  this  area  and  to 
reaffirm  their  commitment  to  mainstreaming  the  gender  dimension  in  all  policy  fields  in 
partnership with the social partners and civil society and to meeting the challenges evidenced 
above. In doing so, special attention should be paid: 

•  to reducing with a comprehensive approach the employment gap between women and men, 

particularly among older workers; 

•  to analysing and tackling the underlying causes of the gender pay gap; 

•  to  developing  a  comprehensive  approach  for  promoting  the  reconciliation  of  work  and 

private life, involving men as well as women; 

•  to  making  full  use  of  the  Structural  Funds  to  support  gender  equality,  ensuring  both  the 
funding of specific actions and the integration of a gender equality perspective at all stages 

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of  the  design,  implementation  and  evaluation  of  national  strategic  frameworks  and 
operational programmes; 

•  to  continuing  to  support  social  partners  in  their  development,  implementation  and 
monitoring  of  initiatives  in  the  field  of  equality  between  women  and  men,  notably  the 
Framework for Actions for Gender Equality; 

•  to fully implementing the Directive on equal treatment for men and women on the labour 

market20 and in particular the establishment of equality bodies; 

•  to  swift  adoption  of  the  proposal  for  a  Regulation  establishing  a  European  Institute  for 

Gender Equality in order to ensure its timely establishment and functioning; 

•  to  ensuring  the  adoption  of  the  proposal  for  a  Directive21  on  the  implementation  of  the 
principle  of  equal  opportunities  and  equal  treatment  of  men  and  women  in  matters  of 
employment and occupation (recast version); 

•  to building on the commitment to the full realisation of the Beijing Platform for Action and 

its effective implementation and monitoring. 

20 
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Directive 2002/73/EC. 
COM (2005) 380 final. 

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ANNEX  

The  following  figures  provide  a  statistical  overview  of  the  relative  position  of  women  and 
men  in  some  key  domains:  the  labour  market,  education,  presence  in  decision  making 
positions and health. All indicators presented below are the same as those used in the 2004 
and 2005 reports on equality between women and men in order to maintain continuity and to 
facilitate  monitoring  from  one  year  to  another.  This  year,  additional  data  is  provided  in 
relation to the theme of work-life balance. 

Employment rates 

Over the last few years, the gap between women's and men's employment rates has decreased 
from 18.1 to 15.2 percentage points (p.p.), mainly due to a stagnation of men's employment 
rate together with a growth of women's employment rate in most countries. However, the gap 
between women and men remains significant, although it varies considerably across countries, 
from less than 10 p.p. in Sweden, Finland and Denmark and the Baltic countries to more than 
20 p.p. in Cyprus, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Greece and Malta. Among older workers (55 to 
64  years),  the  gap  between  female  and  male  employment  rates  is  higher,  almost  20  p.p.  in 
2004. However, a comparison with 1999 figures shows a reduction of this gap due to a strong 
growth in the employment rate of women aged 55-64 (+ 5.4 p.p.). 

Unemployment rates 

In most countries, women are still more likely to be unemployed than men, but the gap has 
reduced from 3.0 p.p. in 1999 to 2.1 p.p. in 2004, due to the improvement of the situation of 
women in the labour market. This decrease in the gap has occurred in 15 countries out of 25, 
especially  in  the  countries  which  had  the  most  significant  gap  in  1999  (Greece,  Spain  and 
Italy but also Cyprus, Germany, Poland, France, the Czech republic and Belgium). 

Part-time work 

Despite the abovementioned convergence in the employment and unemployment rates, it must 
be recognised that women's participation in the labour market is still relatively low and part-
time work features strongly. In 2004, 32.6% of women worked part-time, while this was the 
case  for  only  7.4%  of  men.  However,  this  varied  greatly  between  countries:  less  than  one-
tenth  of  women  worked  part-time  in  Slovakia,  Hungary,  the  Czech  republic,  Lithuania  and 
Greece whilst in Luxembourg, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany the share of part-
time work among women reached 40% and was up to three quarters in the Netherlands. 

Reconciliation of professional and private life 

The lack of work-life  balance is often cited as a factor explaining the  persistence of gender 
gaps in the labour market. Indeed, women appear more affected by the tensions arising when 
trying to combine participation in the labour market with private responsibilities. Data show 
that  participation  in  the  labour  market  and  the  number  of  hours  worked  are  linked  to 
parenthood, but that the effect is negative for women whilst it is positive for men. In almost 
all European countries, women (aged 20-49) with children have lower employment rates than 
those  without.  For  the  EU-25,  the  employment  rate  falls  from  75.4%  in  the  case  of  women 
without  children  to  61.1%  for  women  with  children.  Moreover,  23.3  %  of  women  having 
children worked part-time while this is the case for only 15.9 % of women without children.  

EN 

11 

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Conversely,  employment  rates  of  men  with  children  are  higher  (91.2%)  than  among  men 
without children (85.6%) and the share of part-time workers becomes even lower. The same 
conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  the  average  number  of  hours  worked,  which  decreases  for 
women (aged 20-49) with children while it increases for men. 

Pay gap 

The gender pay gap is the reflection of a multitude of inequalities between women and men 
on  the  labour  market  and  may  show  significant  variation  across  countries,  sectors  and 
occupations.  In  2004,  the  estimated  pay  gap  between  women  and  men  in  the  EU  was  15%, 
one  point  below  its  level  in  1999.  Taking  into  account  methodological  issues,  17  Member 
States reported a slight decrease of the pay gap over that period while it remained unchanged 
in  three  others.  Five  countries  reported  an  increase  of  the  gender  pay  gap  since  1999: 
Belgium, Slovakia, Portugal, France and Germany. Note that country comparisons should be 
done with care due to the diversity of sources.  

Presence in decision-making positions 

Concerning  the  decision-making  positions,  the  role  of  women  remains  weak  and  positive 
developments  are  very  slow.  This  is  the  case  in  politics,  where  women  occupied  23%  of 
parliamentary seats in 2005 (with a full percentage point increase since 2003). The proportion 
exceeds one-third in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Belgium but is 
still below 15% in Greece, Ireland, Slovenia, Italy, Hungary and Malta. Nevertheless, during 
the period under review, women's share of parliamentary seats fell in only four countries and 
the long-term trend is well that of an improvement of women's representation in politics. 

In  the  economic  field,  it  appears  that,  in  2004,  women  represented  32%  of  managers  in 
Europe. However, women's share of top management positions in firms (i.e. membership of 
the daily executive bodies of top companies) was 10%. 

Education, training and research 

In  2004,  almost  8  women  aged  20-24  out  of  10  had  completed  at  least  upper  secondary 
education,  while  less  than  three  quarters  of  men  had  done  so.  With  regard  to  a  typical 
academic career, it appears that women are more numerous and more successful than men at 
first  degree  level  (59%  of  ISCED5a  graduates),  but  their  share  decreases  in  PhDs  (43%  of 
ISCED  6  graduates),  and  reaches  a  minimum  among  full  professors  (15%  of  Grade  A  full 
professors).  Furthermore,  study  fields  continue  to  be  segmented  with  a  low  presence  of 
women in engineering or science and technology and a high one in health, education or the 
humanities.  Concerning  life-long  learning,  more  women  than  men  participate  in  adult 
education  and  training  in  21  Member  States,  with  an  average  participation  rate  of  11.7% 
among women and 10% among men. 

Health and age at first child 

Healthy  life  expectancy  at  birth  is  the  number  of  years  that  a  person  is  expected  to  live 
without  limitations  in  functioning/disability.  In  2003,  women  were  in  a  better  position  than 
men with respect to this indicator. The average age of women at the birth of their first child 
ranges from 24.5 years in Baltic countries to 29 years in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and 
the  United  Kingdom.  It  has  increased  everywhere  between  1999  and  2003,  by  between  0.1 
years in Spain and up to 1.3 years in the Czech republic. 

EN 

12 

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%

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

%

85

80

75

70

65

60

55

50

45

40

35

30

Employment rates (women and men aged 15 - 64) in EU Member States- 2004

70.9

55.7

Women

Men

Lisbon target 
for  total 
employment 
rate in 2010

Lisbon target 
for women's 
employment 
rate in 2010

DK SE NL FI UK PT AT SI EE DE CY LV LT FR IE CZ EU-
25

BE SK HU LU ES PL EL

IT MT

Source:  Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Absolute gender gap in employment rates (women and men aged 15 - 64) in EU Member 
States - 1999 and 2004
(Difference between women's and men's employment rates) 

Left bar: 1999(1)   Right bar: 2004 

18.1

15.2

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

B E C Z

I E C Y L U I T E S E L MT

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.
(1) Exceptions to the reference year : MT and CY : 2000. EU-25 is estimated without missing countries. 

EN 

13 

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Employment rates (women and men aged 55 - 64) in EU Member States- 2004

Women

Men

Lisbon target 
for  55-64 
aged workers 
employment 
rate in 2010

50,7

31,7

SE DK FI EE UK PT LV LT FR IE NL DE EU-
25

CY CZ HU ES EL LU BE IT PL AT SI SK MT

Source:  Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Absolute gender gap in unemployment rates (women and men aged 15 years and over) in EU 
Member States - 1999 and 2004
 (Difference between women's and men's unemployment rates) 

Left bar: 1999(1)     Right bar: 2004

3.0

2.1

EE

IE

UK

SE

HU

FI

NL

DK

SI

LT

AT

LV

MT

PL

PT

BE

DE

FR EU-25 CY

SK

CZ

LU

IT

ES

EL

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: MT and CY: 2000.  EU-25 is estimated without missing countries.                                                                        

80

70

60

50

%

40

30

20

10

0

12

10

8

6

p
p

4

2

0

-2

-4

EN 

14 

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Share of part-time workers in total employment, in EU Member States - 2005

Women

Men

32,6

7,4

SK HU CZ LT EL EE SI

LV CY PL PT FI MT IE ES IT FR EU-
25

Source:  Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS), Spring results.
NB:  Exceptions to the reference year:  LU: 2004.
LU: annual average instead of spring result.

DK AT SE LU BE UK DE NL

Pay gap between women and men in unadjusted form in EU Member States - 1999 and 2004 
(Difference between men’s and women’s average gross hourly earnings as a percentage of men’s average gross hourly earnings)

1999 (1)

2004 (2)

16

15

80

70

60

50

%

40

30

20

10

0

30

25

20

%

15

10

5

0

IT

SI

IE

LT

LV

PL

EL

LU

PT

AT

CZ

FR

ES

BE

SE

DK

HU

MT

EU-
25
Source:  Eurostat. Administrative data are used for Luxembourg and the Labour Force Survey is used for France and Malta. All other sources are national surveys except as 
follows: 
2004 : Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) - EL, ES and IE  The results of this new EU survey are provisional and subject to further quality;
1999 : European Community Household Panel (ECHP) - BE, DE, IT, DK, IE, UK, EL, ES, PT, AT, 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)2000 for MT.  (2) 2001 for BE and IT; 2002 for SI; 2003 for AT, DK, FI and PT.
DK - A change of data source from 2002 is estimated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 4 percentage points.
DE - From 2002 national earnings surveys and the German Socio-Economic Panel have been used. This is estimated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 1 
percentage point.
ES - From 2002 data from tax returns and the labour force survey have been used. This is estimated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 3 percentage points.
FR - A change of data source in 2003 is estimated to have decreased the gender pay gap value by 1 percentage point.
FI - A change of data source from 2002 is estimated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 4 percentage points.
UK - A change of data source from 2002 is estimated to have increased the gender pay gap value by 2 percentage points.
AT, IE, EL : Change of data source : EU-SILC from 2003

UK

DE

EE

SK

NL

FI

CY

EN 

15 

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Members of single/lower houses of national parliaments in EU Member States - Distribution by sex 
2003 and 2005

Left bar: 2003        Right bar: 2005

women 

men

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

78

77

23

22

EU-
25

S E D K N L

F I

E S

B E

A T D E

P T

L T

L V

P L

L U U K

E E

S K C Y C Z

F R E L

I E

S I

I T

H U M T

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. 

Managers in EU Member States - Distribution by sex 1999 and 2004

Left bar: 1999(1)      Right bar: 2004(2)

women

men

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

69.9

68.1

31.9

30.1

L T

L V

E E

F R P T

I T

U K H U S K

S I

P L

EU-25

E S

S E

B E

I E C Z

F I

A T

D E

E L

L U N L

D K C Y M T

Source : Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS).
NB : Managers are persons classified in ISCO 12 and 13.
(1) Exception to the reference year: MT: 2000; (2) Exception to the reference year: AT: 2003
For IT : Change of data collection method. EU-25 is estimated without missing countries. 

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16 

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Members of the daily executive bodies in top 50 publicly quoted companies - 
Distribution by sex 2005

Women

Men

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

90

10

SE

FI

LV

SI

EE

CZ

UK

DE

HU

PL

DK EU-25

LT

EL

BE

CY

FR

PT

AT

NL

SK

IE

ES

MT

LU

IT

Source:  European Commission, Employment, Social affairs and Equal opportunities DG, Database on women and 
men in decision-making. NB: EU-25 is the average of national values.

Educational attainment (at least upper secondary school) of women and men aged 20 - 24, 
in EU Member States - 2005

women men

80

74,6

SI

SK

PL

LT

CZ

SE

CY

IE

EL

FI

AT

EE

LV

HU

BE

FR EU-25 NL

IT

DK

UK

DE

LU

ES

PT

MT

Source : Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (LFS), Spring results.
NB:  FI, IE, LU, MT and EU-25: Provisional value. Exceptions to the reference year: DE: 2004.
CY: students abroad are not covered.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

EN 

17 

   EN 

 
 
 
Full professors or equivalent (Grade A) in EU Member States - Distribution by sex 2003 (1) 

Women

Men

85

15

LV

FI

PT

PL

ES

EE

FR

IT

UK

SE EU-25  HU

SI

EL

LT

SK

DK

CZ

BE

DE

AT

NL

CY

MT

Source:  European Commission, Research DG, WiS database.
NB: (1) Exceptions to the reference year: AT, CY: 2002; FR, PT: 2001; EL: 2000. 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.
Definition of grade A: The single highest grade/post at which research is normally conducted within the institutional or corporate
system

Relative share of w omen and men in a typical academic career for EU-25 - 2003

54

46

59

41

54

46

57

43

58

42

Women

Men

85

68

32

15

100

90

80

70

60

%

50

40

30

20

10

0

%

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

ISCED 5A
Enrolments

ISCED 5A
Graduates

ISCED 6 
Enrolments

ISCED 6 
Graduates

Grade C

Grade B

Grade A

Source : European Commission, Eurostat, UOE data collection and DG Research, WiS database.
ISCED 5A: tertiary programmes to provide suf f icient qualif ications to enter into advanced research programmes & prof essions w ith high skills 
requirements; ISCED 6: Tertiary programmes w hich lead to an advanced research qualif ications (PhD).
ISCED 5A enrollments : Data unavailable f or FR. Exception to the ref erence year : LU: 1999 ; EL: 2002
ISCED 6 enrollments: Data unavailable f or FR, LU, DE and SI. Exception to the ref erence year : EL: 2002
A Grade: the single highest grade/post at w hich research is normally conducted w ith the institutional or corporate system. B Grade: researchers 
w orking in positions not as senior as top position but more senior than the new ly qualif ied PhD holders. Grade C: The f irst grade/post into w hich a 
new ly qualif ied PhD (ISCED 6) graduate w ould normally be recruited w ithin the institutional or corporate system.
Grade C, B, A :Exception to the ref erence year: AT, CY: 2002; FR, PT:2001; EL:2000; NL:FTE; SI: Data estimated; FR: Grade C unavailable; Data 
unavailable f or IE and LU.

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18 

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Life-long learning - Percentage of the population aged 25-64 participating in education and training 
over the four weeks prior to the survey, 2005

women

men

%

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

11,7

10

SE UK DK FI

SI NL AT ES EU-
25

LV BE LU IE

FR LT EE DE IT CZ CY PL SK HU MT PT EL

Source: Eurostat, Labour force Survey
NB: LU, MT and UK : Preliminary values.  Exceptions to the reference year : DE : 2004

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 2004

Hours

Left bar: 1998   right bar: 2004 

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

43

31

L T

S K

S I

H U

P T

F I

E E

C Y

L V

C Z

E L

P L

E S

F R

M T

B E

L U

I T

EU-
25

D E

A T

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, FI, IE, LT, MT, PL, SE and EU-25. Data for 2004 are not available for DK, IE, and SE. 

EN 

19 

   EN 

 
 
 
Average hours worked per week by women and men (aged 20-49) with or without children (aged 0-6) in EU Member States – 2004 

W omen

0 children

One or more children

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

EU-
25

EU-
25

BE CZ DE EE EL ES FR

IT CY LV

LT

LU HU MT NL AT PL PT

SI SK

FI UK

Men

BE CZ DE EE EL ES FR IT CY LV

LT

LU HU MT NL AT PL PT

SI

SK

FI UK

Source: Eurostat, European Labour Force Survey, 2004 

Data are not available for DK, IE and SE. 

EN 

20 

   EN 

 
 
 
Employment  rates  and  amount  of 
they have children under 12 - 2004  

time  worked  per  week 

for  women  and  men  aged  20-49,  depending  on  whether 

Left bar: without children under 12. Right bar: with children under 12. 

Women

>= 30 hours

< 30 hours

EU25

B E

C Z

D K

D E

E E

E L

E S

F R

I E

I T

C Y

L V

L T

L U

H U

M T

N L

A T

P L

P T

S I

S K

F I

S E

U K

Men

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

EU25

B E

C Z

D K

D E

E E

E L

E S

F R

I E

I T

C Y

L V

L T

L U

H U M T

N L

A T

P L

P T

S I

S K

F I

S E

U K  

Source: Eurostat, European Labour Force Survey, 2004 

DK, IE, CY, LU, MT, SK, SE: some data are not shown for reasons of availability or reliability. 

EN 

21 

   EN 

 
 
At-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers1 for women and men aged 16 years and over in EU 
Member states, 20032

Women

Men

15

13

%

25

20

15

10

5

0

CZ

LU

HU

NL

FR

SI

SE

BE

DK

FI

MT

AT

PL

LT

DE

LV

CY

UK

IT

SK

EE

ES

EL

PT

IE

EU-
25

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: MT: 2000; IT, PT and SE: 2004
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.

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

ES

CY

AT

BE

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: CZ, MT and PL: 2002. Data are not available for  EE, LU, LV, LT, SI and SK.

EN 

22 

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Average age of women at birth of first child - 1999 and 2003

1999 (1)

2003 (2)

Age

30

27,5

25

22,5

20

LT

EE

LV

SK

PL

CZ

HU

CY

AT

PT

SI

DK

EL

FI

FR

IE

SE

LU

DE

NL

ES

UK

BE

IT

Source:  Eurostat, Demography statistics.
NB:  Exceptions to the reference years:  
(1) DK and IT : 1996; BE: 1997. No data are available for MT.
(2) DK and FR: 2001; EE, EL, ES and UK : 2002. No data are available for BE, IT and MT.

EN 

23 

   EN