Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) 2024

4. Convergence in labour market outcomes and related attitudes through a gender lens

Inclusive labour markets are an important aspect of upward social convergence in the EU. Nevertheless, some individual characteristics are associated with considerable differences in labour market outcomes that can challenge convergence within and between Member States. Past analysis shows gaps in labour market outcomes for women, people with lower education, a migrant background, or disabilities, and younger and older people. ⁽⁸⁸⁾ This section compares the evolution of outcomes for women and men, reflecting the fact that while women account for almost half of the EU workforce, considerable gender gaps persist in the labour market and vary substantially between Member States.

The EU is committed to achieving equal rights for women and men. That commitment is outlined in the European Pillar of Social Rights, its Action Plan (with the ambition to halve the gender employment gap by 2030), and the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025. The Strategy outlines several key objectives to achieve more equal labour market outcomes, including closing gender gaps in the labour market, achieving equal participation across different sectors of the economy, ⁽⁸⁹⁾ addressing the gender pay and pension gaps, closing the gender care gap, and challenging gender stereotypes. These objectives are important not only to ensure the fundamental rights of EU citizens, but to support long-term economic growth, address the ongoing decline in the working age population, and mitigate challenges linked to rising labour shortages, as highlighted in the recently adopted EU action plan on labour and skill shortages. ⁽⁹⁰⁾ For example, EU-level estimates from 2017 show that, by 2050, improvements in gender equality could generate an increase in GDP per capita of between 6.1% and 9.6%, and an increase in employment of 10.5 million. This is of a similar magnitude to more recent estimates of potential improvements in women’s labour force participation rates, which could increase the number of people in the labour force in the EU by up to 17 million, helping to address labour shortages. ⁽⁹¹⁾

4.1. Eliminating gender gaps in paid and unpaid work

The EU labour market has seen a steady reduction in gender inequalities since the 1990s, but the pace of change slowed down over the last decade. Focusing on key gender equality indicators from the Social Scoreboard, the gender employment gap for people aged 20-64 narrowed to 10.2 pp in 2023, at the same time as the employment rate of women topped 70% for the first time ever. However, the progress slowed down since 2012 (Chart 2.8)). This was accompanied by a gradual reduction in gender inequalities in pay, with the gender gap in hourly pay declining from 15.8% in 2010 to 12.7% in 2022. Overall, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)’s Gender Equality Index shows some progress within the domain of work over the last decade, albeit with considerable room for improvement. ⁽⁹²⁾

Despite recent improvements in gender equality in the labour market, convergence across Member States has improved only slightly since 2012, with sizeable disparities remaining. In 2023, the gender employment gap ranged from nearly 0 pp to almost 20 pp across the Member States. Similar variation was observed in the gender pay gap. Variation in the gender employment gap between countries decreased considerably between 2002 and 2012 but has since remained relatively stable (Chart 2.8). Cross-country differences in pay gaps declined slightly since 2010. Countries with large gender employment or pay gaps do not show robust patterns of catching-up with better performers over time. Evidence for broader convergence towards gender equality in the world of work is also limited, although EU countries converge towards more gender-equal states when certain additional outcomes are considered (notably representation of women and men in decision-making positions). ⁽⁹³⁾

Further progress towards equality will depend in part on addressing two long-standing challenges: gender segregation and gender differences in the career trajectories of parents. ⁽⁹⁴⁾ Evidence suggests that much of the observed gender gaps in employment and earnings emerge with parenthood and are closely linked to unequal division of unpaid work, limited access to formal childcare services for very young children (see Chapter 3), father’s low take-up of family leaves and, in some Member States, high taxation of second earners. ⁽⁹⁵⁾ Gender segregation of certain sectors of economic activity and occupations are among the key factors contributing to the gender pay gap (women tend to be overrepresented in jobs with lower salaries) ⁽⁹⁶⁾ and exacerbating labour shortages. ⁽⁹⁷⁾

Gender segregation of work by occupation and sector of economic activity has changed very little over time. ⁽⁹⁸⁾ Recent research showed limited change in existing aggregate measures of gender segregation over the last two decades in the EU. ⁽⁹⁹⁾ This can be illustrated by an analysis of the proportion of women and men employed in education, human health and social work activities, an indicator which the EIGE’s Gender Equality Index uses as a proxy for gender segregation of the EU labour market. Around 30% of all employed women in the EU worked in education, human health and social work activities in 2022, compared to only 8% of all men, resulting in a gender gap of about 22 pp (Chart 2.9). This gap increased since 2008, when it stood at about 19 pp. Over the same period, the variation in gender segregation in education and health activities across countries decreased (Chart 2.9). In other words, the EU Member States converged, but towards a somewhat more unequal outcome.

Involvement of women in unpaid care has dropped somewhat since 2007, but women remain considerably more engaged in unpaid care than men. In 2022, one in four men in the EU were involved daily in unpaid care, and around one in three in housework (Chart 2.10). For women, the corresponding shares were 34% and 63%, respectively. The proportion of men involved in unpaid care remained relatively stable since 2007. Female involvement in unpaid care dropped slightly (by about 6 pp), reflecting the increased availability of formal childcare (see Chapter 3). The share of women doing housework on a daily basis dropped by 16 pp over the same period (notably since 2016), while the involvement of men increased by 10 pp.

The evidence of convergence in gender gaps in unpaid work is mixed over time and varies considerably between Member States. In several countries, the share of women involved daily in unpaid care is at least 15 pp higher than men, while in others there is little difference. Although the magnitude of cross-country differences has remained similar since 2007 (Chart 2.10), some evidence points towards countries with larger gaps catching-up with those with smaller gaps. The gender gap in housework varies between 12 pp and 44 pp across countries. The gap has converged since 2016, but there is no evidence of catching-up by countries with the largest gaps.

Gender segregation in the labour market and unequal division of unpaid work are firmly rooted in persistent stereotypes about gender-specific skills and household roles. ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾ Challenging such stereotypes is crucial to promote gender equality in the labour market. This is a key objective of the gender equality policy outlined in the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025. ⁽¹⁰¹⁾ The remainder of this section explores trends and convergence in attitudes towards the involvement of women and men in paid and unpaid work based on data collected in the European Values Survey between 1990 and 2017 for the 20 Member States, for which data are consistently available over such a long-time span. ⁽¹⁰²⁾