Doc. 10431
25 January 2005

What solutions to Europe’s unemployment?

Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

Opinion¹

Rapporteur for opinion: Mr Giuseppe Gaburro, Italy, Group of the European People’s Party

I.       Conclusions of the Committee:

The Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men fully supports the draft resolution presented by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development. The Committee wishes, however, to propose two amendments to the draft resolution in order to better reflect and address the gender dimension of the problem and the family one.

II.       Proposed amendments to the draft resolution contained in Doc. 10359 tabled by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development:

Amendment A:

Insert the following new paragraph after paragraph 11:

“The Assembly considers that the gender dimension of unemployment must also be addressed. While the situation varies considerably from country to country, in general, unemployment is higher amongst women than amongst men (9.7% for women in OECD Europe in 2003 compared to 8.6% for men). In addition, many unemployed women do not even show up in the unemployment statistics as they are what the ILO calls “discouraged workers”: workers who do not actively seek work although they do want to work because they feel that no work is available to them, they face discrimination or structural, social or cultural barriers. Women also tend to have much lower labour force participation rates than men in Europe which not only threatens the economic independence of women and contributes to higher female poverty rates (especially in old age), but also hinders economic growth and diminishes tax income in European countries. It is thus vital that all Council of Europe member states fight female unemployment by ensuring equal access to the labour market for women and men, promoting higher labour force participation rates amongst women, making the workplace attractive to “discouraged” women workers, and ending discrimination against women in the workforce and the workplace.”

Amendment B:

Insert the second following new paragraph after paragraph 11:

“In today's society women’s labour is strongly linked to family choices and in many European countries also to the fertility rate. Generally, in those states which lack childcare facilities or other measures to facilitate family life - including assistance to elderly people - women are forced to choose between their professional career and maternity. It is therefore necessary that the Council of Europe member states put policies into place to help reconcile domestic work and employment outside the home. It is essential to focus attention on the family as the fundamental, natural cell of society with its role of transmission of values, of education and of defusing some social tensions. Maternity has to stay a normal event in a young woman’s life and should be supported as a choice that does not force women to renounce access to the labour market.”

III.       Explanatory memorandum by the Rapporteur for opinion, Mr Gaburro

1.        Unemployment is not a gender-neutral phenomenon. Although the situation varies considerably from country to country, in general, unemployment is higher amongst women than amongst men – the Rapporteur of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, Mr Högmark, cites the OECD figures of 9.7% for women in OECD Europe in 2003 compared to 8.6% for men. In reality, the female unemployment rate for women in Europe may be far higher than these figures suggest, as many women are what the ILO calls “discouraged workers”: workers who do not actively seek work although they do want to work, because they feel that no work is available to them, they face discrimination or structural, social or cultural barriers. In other words, many unemployed women do not even show up in unemployment statistics².

2.        This presumption is bolstered by the fact that labour force participation rates amongst women in Europe are generally far lower than those of men – the OECD figures cited by Mr Högmark are at 56% for women and 77% for men. Some women may make a genuine choice to leave the labour force – especially when they have to take on care responsibilities for children or the elderly – but many more women are forced out of the labour market by a lack of care facilities and incompatible working hours³. In addition, many more women work part-time than men (with all the disadvantages in terms of lower remuneration, benefits and pension rights this entails)⁴. Women also account for most of the work carried out in the informal sector and most unpaid work at home.

3.        Women’s lower labour force participation and higher unemployment contribute to the economic inequality which forms the basis for a broader inequality between women and men. For the affected women, they translate into economic dependence and poverty (especially in old age), but the effects are felt throughout our economies as economic growth falters and tax income diminishes. It is thus vital – not only for the affected women - that all Council of Europe member states recognise the gender dimension of unemployment and effectively fight female unemployment in particular.

4.        The solution to Europe’s female unemployment does not necessarily lie in offering more part-time jobs to women, although many women would doubtlessly welcome more flexible working hours, childcare facilities, and other measures designed to better reconcile professional and private life. The fact is that one of the main reasons why women find it so much harder than men to access and stay in the labour market is discrimination. In many European countries, women are as highly educated as men (sometimes higher), but gender stereotypes and preconceptions of women’s roles and abilities, commitment and leadership style are formidable hurdles to their employment. Many employers avoid hiring women when unemployment is high, because enough men are available for employment, it is more socially acceptable to hire a male “breadwinner”, and employers fear the (in fact, negligible) cost and hassle of potential motherhood. This “gender penalty” also shows up in wages (the wage gap is sadly alive and kicking in most of our member states), but much more clearly in employment. This is because discrimination is easier to detect and fight once a person is hired. When a person is turned down for a job, it is much more difficult to prove discrimination, as they are rarely told why.

5.        The solution to female unemployment must thus pass via the breaking down of gender stereotypes. Women workers should not be relegated to “taking care of the sick and the elderly”, as Mr Högmark proposes in paragraph 93 of his explanatory memorandum, on the contrary: equal access to the labour market for women and men must be ensured. Governments have a duty both to women and themselves to promote higher labour force participation rates amongst women by making the workplace attractive to “discouraged” women workers. Discrimination against women in the workforce and the workplace must end – this would be a formidable weapon in the fight against Europe’s unemployment.

6.        Last but not least, in today's society women’s labour is strongly linked to family choices and in many European countries also to the fertility rate. Generally, in those states which lack childcare facilities or other measures to facilitate family life - including assistance to elderly people - women are forced to choose between their professional career and maternity. It is therefore necessary that the Council of Europe member states put policies into place to help reconcile domestic work and employment outside the home. It is essential to focus attention on the family as the fundamental, natural cell of society with its role of transmission of values, of education and of defusing some social tensions. Maternity has to stay a normal event in a young woman’s life, and should be supported as a choice that does not force women to renounce access to the labour market. It is important to stress in this context that the choice of whether or not to work is not always an individual one: often, it is the family or the couple who will decide together who should go to work and who should stay at home – at least temporarily or part-time – in order to shoulder domestic and family responsibilities.

* * *

Reporting committee: Committee on Economic Affairs and Development

Committee seized for opinion: Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

Reference to Committee: Doc 9975, reference N° 3035 of 23 November 2004

Opinion unanimously adopted by the Committee on 25 January 2005

Secretaries of the Committee: Mrs Kleinsorge, Mrs Affholder, Ms Devaux

¹ See Doc. 10359 tabled by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development.

² A recent UNIFEM study on “Women and Employment in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS” shows that women’s unemployment rate exceeds that of men in six of the countries studied: Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania and Belarus. The study also emphasizes that even in those countries where, statistically, women have a few percentage point advantage in unemployment rates (such as Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania), more women may be unemployed than men. This is because the gendered meaning of unemployment and the gender-specific process of (self)-classification into unemployment must be considered when interpreting the numbers. When asked about their employment status, it is more acceptable for women than for men to define themselves as “homemakers”, even though they may want to work. “This is especially true in the context of a political backlash”, says the report, “where women’s roles in the family is emphasized over the need for their participation in paid work.” UNIFEM, The Story behind the Numbers: Women and Employment in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, 2004, p. 6.

³ The Rapporteur of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men on the upcoming report “Discrimination against women in the workforce and the workplace”, Mrs Čurdova, cites a recent French study which found that only 13% of economically inactive mothers had stayed home out of choice.

⁴ Some examples from Mrs Čurdova to illustrate my point: In the Netherlands, the percentage of women working part-time as a proportion of total female employment is 57.1%, compared to men’s 13%. In Switzerland, the rates are 45.8% for women and 8.4% for men, and in Norway: 42.4% to 9.7%.