CREATING AN INCLUSIVE AND GENDER EQUAL LABOUR MARKET
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2.1 WORK-LIFE BALANCE FOR BOTH WOMEN AND MEN The EU employment rate for men is approximately 78% (surpassing the Europe 2020 goal of 75%). However, for women it is still only around 67%.17 Even though women’s labour market participation has increased over the last decades,18 the gender employment gap has stagnated in the past few years.19 Although more young women than men complete tertiary education, the employment rate of female graduates is lower than for their male peers.20 Women are also more likely to be part-time workers and are more likely to opt out of the labour force because of unpaid family and care responsibilities.21 Almost one third of women with care responsibilities are either in part-time work or inactive because of the lack of affordable care services for children and other dependents.22 85% of single parents are women,23 for whom work-life balance is especially difficult. While some progress has been made in improving the uptake of parental leave among fathers, it is still mostly mothers who take time off work to raise their family,24 which affects their economic prospects negatively. In some EU Member States, male breadwinner models for taxation and social benefits disincentivise women in heterosexual relationships from participating in the labour market on an equal footing with men.25
Source: Eurostat 2020
