Still in second division?

Low wages for jobs of equal value; working hours that disregard family and household responsibilities; difficulties in accessing top managerial positions. These are only some of the basic differences – if not discriminations – between male and female employment. On the Occasion of Woman’s Day 2009 the Commission launched a specific public-awareness campaign.Equal pay for jobs of equal value. “Gender wage inequality has various causes and requires multi-level solutions. Initiatives ought to be undertaken in all directions along with the commitment of the interested parties, from the employers, to trade unions to national authorities”, declared Vladimir Spidla, EU Commissioner for Equal Opportunities in the presentation of the public-awareness campaign aimed at closing the gender wage gap in the Community. “Women in Europe – he declared – earn on average 17.4% less than men”. “It’s important to raise public-awareness over wage disparity”, “address its causes and the ways enabling its solution”, according to the basic principle “of equal pay for jobs of equal value”. The initiative (information, events, and advisory booklet are available at http://ec.europa.eu/equalpay) was included in the programme for March 8 and will continue across the 27 Member States. Enhancing all talents. “In the current economic situation, gender equality is more important than ever. Only if we bring together the potential talents of everyone can we address the ongoing crisis”. The principle of equal pay for jobs of equal value is sanctioned in the Founding Treaty of the European Community (1957), constituting one of its pillars. It was subsequently the object of a specific EEC directive of 1975 that forbid “all forms of discrimination between men and women in all areas of remuneration”. According to the Commission, national and European legislation eliminated all the most evident inequalities, but many problems linger on. “For instance, often female employment is ascribed minor value as compared to male employment”. A blatant case: “in the same supermarket, women cashiers usually earn less than stockmen”. Wages and pensions. Data contained in the 2009 Gender Equality Report, presented a few days ago in Brussels with the launch of the related campaign, highlights discrimination as relates to wages, working hours, assignment of managerial positions along with negative trends in the area of social security. “Although female employment has increased over recent years, women are mostly in part-time jobs compared to men (32% compared to 7.7%) while more women than men are in low-wage employment (over 40% of women work in healthcare services, education and public administration, twice as much as men). Moreover, the gender wage gap “entails lower income for women, with the risk of lower pensions and poverty at retirement age”. Few women in politics. According to a survey carried out for the Commission, “women are underrepresented in decision-making positions in the areas of the economy and European politics”. “In large companies, 90% of the boards of directors are men”. To provide a larger picture of the situation -even though not strictly linked to the main theme -, the report presented by Commissioner Spidla highlights that women MPs, that amounted to 16% in 1997, still represented only 24% of all MPs in 2008; while figures for MEPs are slightly higher (31% of women). In the national governments of the 27 Member States, and with just few exceptions, “the ratio of male and female ministers is 4 to 1 on average or 3 to 1 at the most. One third of EU Commission members are women, while all the governors of all EU Member States’ central banks are male.Eurobarometer survey. The new campaign “is aimed at rising awareness over this gender inequality and the ways to address it”, by presenting best practices, by disseminating information material in companies, trade unions and among workers. The specific website, press-reports and posters, are designed to raise public-awareness over the issue. On the eve of March 8 the EU Parliament and Commission released the findings of a Eurobarometer survey on women’s condition that confirmed these problems while highlighting gender wage gap and the need to promote family-work balance for women. Commission vice-President Margot Wallstrom, remarked: “Most women we interviewed declared that politics is a man’s world and that a greater female contribution would make a positive difference”.