Equality in Europe is on its way… (But do you want to wait another half-century?)
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, I’ll be 206 by the time economic gender equality is achieved worldwide — and I’m only 36 now.
But living in Brussels, the capital of Europe, I can count myself lucky. Although this small country is not the best European performer (Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden are the usual suspects up there grabbing the top spots), it has already closed 75% of the gender gap.
Another plus of living in the European Union is that the economic gender gap is actually narrowing faster than the global rate of change.
Source: Global Gender Gap Index 2016, World Economic Forum
This means that, if nothing changes policy-wise, full gender equality could ‘already’ be achieved when I’m around eighty. By then, my two daughters, who are currently in preschool and primary school, will be in their fifties.
That may sound like a long time, but in North America, for instance, the gap is actually getting bigger and it’s predicted that, if nothing changes, it will take centuries to overcome it.
Why are things better in Europe?
First of all, equality between women and men is one of the European Union’s intrinsic values. It goes back to 1957 already — when the principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the EU’s founding Treaty — the Treaty of Rome. Over the past decades, the EU has been a driving force for equal education, fairer labour markets and female empowerment.
Secondly, the European Union is actually trying to do more. It is not content with being among the fairest and most equal societies in the world.
It is aware that significant gender gaps persist across the board, driven by persistent and deeply-ingrained gender stereotyping that perpetuates inequalities.
Source: European Commission
Women’s career choices, for example, remain strongly determined by gender stereotypes from early on: at the age of 15, boys are more likely to envisage a career as IT professionals, scientists or engineers, whereas girls see themselves as doctors, veterinarians or nurses.
In the same vein, women are still the ones expected to take more time off work to care for their families, and their heavier family and household responsibilities affect the kinds of work they choose or can access.
Can a stronger EU help to close the gender gap sooner?
The EU has already done a lot for gender equality, be it by enshrining basic principles such as equal pay; by legislating on equal treatment, on parental leave or on breastfeeding at work; by ensuring gender considerations are mainstreamed into all its policies; by promoting the exchange of good practice among Member States; or by funding projects run by national ministries and gender equality bodies, as well as by grass-roots organisations, civil society networks and social partners.
But there is overall consensus that more can be done to narrow the gap: Firstly, by ensuring that all Member States effectively implement EU gender equality legislation at national level, and secondly by taking a step further.
Specifically, more support for early childcare and education would go a long way towards relieving families — and women in particular — of the dual burden they currently face, while helping to address the pay gap in the process. Initiatives — such as extended parental leave and access to more flexible working arrangements — would also help. Accountable commitments and renewed resolve is needed to combat (even unconscious) gender stereotypes that persist among men and women, and particularly in some socio-economic groups, and to completely change mind-sets from birth until adulthood, in every aspect of work and life.
And yet, the question is still being asked: Do we — as European citizens, women and men alike — want more Europe or less Europe?
Last month, the European Commission produced a Reflection Paper on the ‘Social Dimension of Europe’, where it lays out three options:
· Option 1: ‘Less Europe’ — i.e. we scrap equality legislation, we remove minimum standards on maternity, paternity and parental leave, and we stop EU funding for projects on gender equality.
· Option 2: ‘Those who want to do more can’: Which basically means that, if I’m lucky, Belgium will join a coalition of the willing to do more together with a select group of EU countries, to further Europe’s social dimension and strengthen gender equality. If I’m not, I could find myself in the ‘less Europe’ scenario.
· Option 3: ‘Doing more together’: In this scenario, all Member States realise that they are ultimately striving for the same goal: to create fairer societies based on equal opportunities. Gender, birthplace, family background and wealth should not determine the level of access to education, services or opportunities. They also acknowledge that tackling these challenges together will make them stronger and that the EU has the tools to help them.
Of course, there will never be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that can be applied across Europe, but there are common challenges and there is a shared need to act. As a pioneer for gender equality, the EU is surely the right forum for addressing these issues.
