1. 9 February 2018 Hana Velecka, EMPL C3
EESC Public hearing Women with disabilities in the EU: situation and way forward
Panel 2: The way forward: policy developments and recommendations
9 February 2018
Hana Velecka, EMPL C3

2. People with and without disabilities
Employment gap between people without and with disabilities percentage points (pps) (73.1% versus 47.4%) Unemployment gap pps Activity gap pps Early school leaving gap (age 18-24) pps Tertiary education gap (age group 30-34) pps Poverty or social exclusion gap pps (in 2016) Data from EU-SILC 2015, 2016
5 novembre 2014
Name, surname – EMPL C1

3. Women versus men with disabilities
Employment gap pps
Almost no unemployment gap between women and men with disabilities pps
Activity gap pps
Early school leaving gap (age 18-29) pps
Tertiary education gap pps (women 31.7%, men 22.6% in the age group 30-39)
Poverty or social exclusion gap between men and women with disabilities pps (in 2016)
EU-SILC 2015, 2016

4. Employment rate of persons with disabilities by gender and Member State (age 20-64), 2015
Graph made by ANED

5. Persons with disabilities - % of early school leavers by gender, Age 18-29, mean 2014-2015
Graph made by ANED

6. Percent of persons with disabilities who have completed a tertiary or equivalent education by gender . Age 30-39,
Graph made by ANED

7. European Semester 2017: Disability in Country Reports 2017
27 Country Reports (all MS except Greece)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 8 MSs
EMPLOYMENT: 13 MSs
SOCIAL PROTECTION: 10 MSs
EDUCATION: 2 MSs

8. Country reports 2017 – Disability – Employment, Education
Low participation of persons with disabilities in labour market:
CZ, DK, EE, IE, CY, HU, LV, LT, LU, RO, MT, NL, UK
Low Tertiary Education attainment and a high number of early school leavers: MT, RO

9. Country reports 2017 –Disability- Social protection
High risk of poverty or social exclusion for persons with disabilities: BE, BG, CY, LV, LT, MT, PL, RO, UK Improved situation in the area of social protection for persons with disabilities: SK

10. The Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED)
detailed statistics from EU-SILC, national monitoring and thematic reports
online tool Dotcom to monitor national and EU instruments in the field of disability law and standards
specific gender reports in future?

11. Exchange of information
High Level Group on Disability (Member States, civil society, the Council of Europe) – discussions on women - 18 May 2017 (campaign on violence), and on 15 December 2016 (in general on women with disabilities, and on the Strategic Engagement for gender equality)
Peer reviews on employment and social inclusion issues - Employment Committee, Social Protection Committee

12. European Disability Strategy 2010-2020
The Strategy contains 8 specific areas for action:
Accessibility of goods and services
Participation as equal citizens in Europe
Equality and combating discrimination
Employment in the open labour market
Inclusive education and training
Social protection to combat poverty and social exclusion
Equal access to health services and related facilities
EU external action including EU enlargement, neighbourhood policy, political cooperation, multilateral action, and international development programmes

13. Progress report 2017 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1137
Analysis of the responses to the public consultation on the review of the European Disability Strategy , June 2016

16. Academy of European Law (ERA)
ERA organises trainings for legal and policy practitioners on legal matters related to UNCRPD
Partners – the European Disability Forum and the European Foundation Centre
In six seminars covering UNCRPD and its legal status in general, several specific topics, articles of the Convention, case studies
Seminar in Prague in October women with disabilities were specifically covered as well 

17. European Pillar on Social Rights
The Pillar was proposed by the Commission and jointly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission in the Social Summit in Gothenburg on 17 November
The Pillar contains twenty rights and principles, which will guide us in the years ahead.
4 principles highly relevant for women with disabilities:

18. Principle 2. Gender equality
Equality of treatment and opportunities between women and men must be ensured and fostered in all areas, including regarding participation in the labour market, terms and conditions of employment and career progression.
Women and men have the right to equal pay for work of equal value.

19. Principle 3. Equal opportunities
Regardless of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, everyone has the right to equal treatment and opportunities regarding employment, social protection, education, and access to goods and services available to the public. Equal opportunities of under-represented groups shall be fostered.

20. Principle 9. Work-life balance
Parents and people with caring responsibilities have the right to suitable leave, flexible working arrangements and access to care services. Women and men shall have equal access to special leaves of absence in order to fulfil their caring responsibilities and be encouraged to use them in a balanced way.

21. Principle 17. Inclusion of people with disabilities
People with disabilities have the right to income support that ensures living in dignity, services that enable them to participate in the labour market and in society, and a work environment adapted to their needs.

22. Pillar actions
Work-life balance initiative – proposal for a Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers
paternity and parental leaves for fathers
carers' leave – 5 days + possibility to request flexible working arrangements
needs of parents having a disability and parents with children with a disability
”Member States shall assess the need for the conditions of access and detailed arrangements for the application of parental leave to be adapted to the needs of adoptive parents, parents having a disability and parents with children with a disability or long-term illness.” (Article 5 of the proposal of the Directive)

23. Call for proposals VP/2018/005 on Innovative Work-Life balance Strategies to facilitate reconciliation of professional and caring responsibilities (EaSI)
allocation of euro (for 5-7 projects)
for public bodies, the deadline is 18 April 2018
The objectives of this call are:
to develop, test and/or implement innovative work-life balance strategies in the workplace
to develop sustainable multi-level partnership;
to foster knowledge and experience-sharing between different Member States and/or companies, etc.

24. Non-discrimination in employment
Monitoring of the Directive 2000/78 prohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
Preparation of the awareness-raising campaign on EU anti-discrimination policy in employment focusing also on race and gender (covered by different Directives)
Financed by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (REC)

25. European Structural and Investment Funds
ESIF allocations: social inclusion (almost 45 billion euro), employment (almost 41 billion euro) and education (almost 35 billion euro) The number of participants supported in : • Number of women supported by European Social Fund and Youth Employment Initiative: 4,040,264 (51.5% of all participants supported) • Number of women with disabilities supported by ESF and YEI: 276,769 (43.5% of all people with disabilities supported)

26. Thematic objective 8 on employment:
(i) Access to employment for job-seekers and inactive people, including the long-term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility;
Budget: EUR 11.6 billion
Project selection rate end 2016: 39%
(iv) Equality between men and women in all areas, including in access to employment, career progression, reconciliation of work and private life and promotion of equal pay for equal work;
Budget: EUR 1.6 billion
Project selection rate end 2016: 35%

27. Thematic objective 9 on social inclusion:
(i) Active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation, and improving employability;
Budget: EUR 13.4 billion
Project selection rate end 2016: 36%
(ii) Combating all forms of discrimination and promoting equal opportunities;
Budget: EUR million
Project selection rate end 2016: not available

28. Future Disability strategy
Independent external evaluation of the European Disability Strategy – in Online public consultation – 2019 Smaller targeted consultations with civil society and Annual Convention for Inclusive Growth

29. Thank you for your attention!