Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

Women in the European Union continue to earn less than men, with the average gender pay gap in the EU standing at around 13%, for the third year in a row. This means that for every €1 earned by a man, a woman earns €0.87. This gender pay gap equates to a difference of around one and a half months of salary per year. Given this loss of income, European Equal Pay Day – which falls on 15 November this year – marks the day when women in the EU will symbolically start “working for free” for the rest of the year. It is a symbolic day dedicated to raising awareness of the gender pay gap. Ahead of this day, Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values ​​and Transparency, Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, and Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality, issued the following statement:

“On European Equal Pay Day 2024, we reaffirm our commitment to building a Europe where women and girls can thrive and where their contributions to the labour market are fully valued. Guided by the EU Gender Equality Strategy, we have made significant strides towards closing gender gaps. In fact, in the past five years, women’s employment rates have increased by 2.9% and the gender pay gap has fallen by 1.5 percentage points.

However, significant barriers remain in terms of care options and structures available to balance professional and personal commitments. With 90% of the formal care workforce made up of women and 7.7 million women out of work due to inadequate care services, the Commission urges Member States to invest in high-quality, affordable and accessible care, as outlined in the European Care Strategy. Increasing support in this sector will not boost women’s participation in the labour market Not only that, but it will also strengthen Europe’s economic resilience.

Our labour market remains gender-segregated, with women largely represented in low-paid sectors such as caregiving, where part-time roles often dominate. This is not just a matter of choice, but a result of societal pressures and inequalities. Career breaks and reduced working hours, particularly after maternity, continue to put women’s financial situation at risk in the long term. Since the beginning of this mandate, we have addressed these entrenched inequalities in employment, care, pay and pensions.

We now call on Member States to ensure full implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive, which would enhance pay transparency for jobseekers, give employees the right to pay information, require gender pay gap reporting and introduce common wage assessments. Through the EU Minimum Wage Directive, we support gender equality by seeking to reduce the gender pay gap and lift women out of poverty, as women disproportionately earn the minimum wage in Europe. As President von der Leyen announced, next year the Commission will present a women’s rights roadmap, setting out a long-term vision for the full realisation of women’s rights and the EU’s core gender equality principles. This also underscores our commitment to mainstreaming gender mainstreaming in all policies.

EU initiatives on equal pay
The Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, published in March 2020, set out policy objectives and actions to move towards a gender-equal Europe. During this mandate, the Commission has made significant progress on gender equality policies, including the adoption of several landmark pieces of legislation to empower and protect women.
In December 2022, the Directive on gender balance on company boards entered into force. The deadline for transposition of the Directive is 28 December 2024. By this date, the Directive must be fully implemented in national legislation and notified to the Commission.
In June 2023, the Directive on pay transparency measures entered into force. The rules provide for transparency and effective implementation of the principle of equal pay for women and men, as well as improved access to justice for victims of wage discrimination.

In October 2022, the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages was adopted to promote a minimum wage sufficient to allow workers in the Union to live in dignity wherever they work. Member States are required to incorporate these new rules into their national law by 15 November.

In September 2022, the Commission presented the European Care Strategy to ensure high-quality, affordable and accessible care services across the EU. The strategy is accompanied by two recommendations to Member States on the revision of the Barcelona targets on early childhood education and care, and access to high-quality and affordable long-term care.

By August 2022, Member States were to transpose the Work-Life Balance Directive, to address the underrepresentation of women in the labour market and the unequal sharing of care responsibilities between men and women by improving the work-life balance of working parents and carers.
In June 2024, the Commission published the Pension Adequacy Report 2024, which analyses how disparities in wages, care periods and part-time work during working life translate into a gender pension gap, with women’s pensions still 25% lower than men’s. Throughout 2023, the European Commission launched a communication campaign to challenge gender stereotypes. The #EndGenderStereotypes campaign targeted young people mostly on social media, but also through influencers and media outreach. The campaign addressed gender stereotypes in different areas of life, such as career choices, sharing care responsibilities