GENDER INDICATORS International Conference on Reconciliation: “Tips to top reconciliation: work it out, home it in: por una conciliación compartida”

One of the Lisbon European Council target is to increase female participation in the labour market and to reduce gender gaps in employment, unemployment and pay.

Work is a source of income, professional satisfaction and social contact. However, work is not always easy to combine with family life and other private activities. Reconciling both demands is an important issue for many citizens in the European Union.

When looking at the gender breakdown for combined working hours in Europe, results indicate that there is a marked difference between women and men in terms of unpaid working hours.

In fact, although an increasing number of women have careers, what is socially expected of them inside the home often remains much the same. Frequently referred to as women’s “double shift”, these demands tend to limit period of free time women have and to perpetuate gender stereotypes.

EMPLOYMENT RATES ( employed persons aged ) COUNTRYTOTALMENWOMEN EU ES IT NL PL RO SE UK

Even if female employment rates in People countries increased in all but Romania (strong increases were registered in Spain and Italy) it is still lower than men. Both sexes continue to encounter difficulties in reconciling their professional and private lives.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES (unemployed persons aged ) COUNTRYTOTALMENWOMEN EU ES IT NL PL RO SE UK

Although gender disparities in unemployment continue to decrease, discrepancies continue to remain noticeable. In fact, in the overall EU-27, the female unemployment rate reached 8,3% whereas that of men reached 6.6%. Only in the United Kingdom (4.0%) female unemployment rates were the lowest.

PART TIME RATES COUNTRYTOTALMENWOMEN EU ES IT NL PL RO SE UK

The rate of part-time employment among women is considerably higher than the corresponding rate for men, revealing the predominantly female nature of part-time work in Europe.

FIXED-TERM WORKING CONTRACTS COUNTRYTOTALMENWOMEN EU ES IT NL PL RO SE UK

In contrast to permanent work, employment under fixed-term contracts have an end date. The incidence of fixed term employment generally affect women more than men, who suffer more labour precarity.

COMPOSITE INDICATOR OF PAID WORKING HOURS COUNTRYMENWOMEN EU ES 4236 IT 4236 NL 3931 PL 4540 RO 4644 SE 3931 UK 4129

This table reveals that men work longer hours in paid employment, women actually work more hours than men when paid and unpaid working hours are combined, as we can see in the next table.

COMPOSITE INDICATOR OF UNPAID WORKING HOURS COUNTRYMENWOMEN EU ES 5267 IT 5267 NL 5561 PL 5770 RO 6078 SE 5561 UK 5561

The time spent in unpaid work, even if it is not remunerated by the market, is clearly as important in societal and economic terms as paid work. The unpaid work is time spent on househol duties and caring for children and adults.

When looking at the table of “unpaid working hours” by country, results indicate that there is a marked difference between women and men. Women in Romania appear to be carrying the highest burden (78 hours each week) to 61 hours of UK, NL and Sweden.

HOURS SPENT CARING FOR ADULTS PER WEEK COUNTRYMENWOMEN ES 0.52 IT 0.52 NL PL RO 12 SE UK

HOURS SPENT CARING FOR CHILDREN PER WEEK COUNTRYMENWOMEN ES IT NL PL RO SE UK

Childcare is by and large assumed by women in all countries. Caring for children and other dependents is very often the primary motivation in the women decision to stop working for family reasons.

As we can see in both tables of caring for “adults” and “children”, there are significant differences in the gender distribution of the number of hours spent by women and men for caring. Thus in the Netherlands, the amount of time spent on caring is better shared between women and men than in the Southern European countries.

The Council encourages Member States to define strategies aiming to promote balanced participation of women and men in family and working life, that take account of the following aspects:

examine the scope for granting working men a right to paternity leave, maintaining their rights relating to employment, and rights likely to allow them to provide major support for family life;

reinforce measures to encourage balanced sharing between working men and women of the care to be provided for children, elderly, disabled or other dependent persons;

reinforce measures to encourage the development of support services for families, especially the improvement of child-care structures; grant, where appropriate, specific protection to single-parent families;

 develop incentives and support measures for non-governmental organizations committed to promoting equal opportunities;  devise, launch and promote information and awareness campaigns to develop more progressive outlooks among both the general public and specific target groups;

 encourage businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, to introduce and develop management practices that take account of their workers’ family life.