Europe for women

Published: 9 March 2009 y., Monday

Moteris
Women across the EU earn on average 17.4% less than men, according to new EU statistics, released as part of a commission campaign to narrow the pay gap between the sexes.

The report blames the disparity on traditions, stereotypes and problems in balancing work and private lives. The number of European women in the workforce is rising and 59% of all new university graduates are female. But they hold fewer positions of responsibility than do men and are concentrated in less lucrative professions.

“The economic slowdown is likely to affect women more than men, because women are more often in precarious jobs,” the report said.

The equal pay campaign aims to raise awareness of the pay gap and how it can be tackled. Launched on 3 March ahead of international women’s day, it runs up to August and will include an information kit for employers and trade unions, a website, posters and advertisements.

With its greying population, the EU needs women to expand the labour pool, especially in information technology. Europe’s IT sector is expecting a shortfall of 300,000 qualified engineers by next year, and fewer than one in five computer scientists in Europe is female.

This month five prominent IT companies - Alcatel-Lucent, IMEC, Orange-France, Microsoft and Motorola - signed an agreement to make tech jobs more attractive to women. The deal was negotiated by the EU, part of the commission's drive to attract more so-called “cyberellas” to the industry. Telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding is urging other companies to follow their example.

In connection with international women’s day, the EU also sponsors a children’s drawing contest on the theme of equality between men and women. The winning drawings distributed in a booklet for schools.

With the European Parliament elections taking place in June this year, commissioner Margot Wallström has launched an online debate on women in politics.

 

Šaltinis: ec.europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Summer blues

One in three Europeans is “very concerned” about losing their job, and even more are worried their spouse or children will find themselves out of work in the months ahead. more »

Snake halts Indian state assembly

There was plenty of action at the last meeting of the Orissa state assembly in India. more »

Beach lovers head to Paris centre

On Monday, the banks of the River Seine were transformed with sand and deck chairs for the opening of this year's Paris Plage. more »

Lithuania’s Bathing Waters Cleanest in the EU

In the 2008 bathing water season Lithuania is the only EU member 100 % complying with the mandatory as well as stricter coastal bathing waters’ safety requirements and standards. more »

Shanghai prepares for solar eclipse

People around the country gathered in China's financial capital on Tuesday ahead of the eclipse that is due to start at 8:23 am local time on Wednesday. more »

Minister V. Ušackas: Chemical weapons dumped at sea pose a threat to entire international community

Lithuania’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that it was especially important for Lithuania to solve the issue of clearing the Baltic Sea from the remaining dumped chemical weapons. more »

Lost UK hiker found in Australia

British backpacker Jamie Neal had been missing for 12 days in the bush. Now he arrived at a hospital in Katoomba near Australia's Blue Mountains. more »

Commission proposes visa free travel for citizens from the Western Balkans

The European Commission's long standing commitment to visa free travel for the people of the Western Balkans was confirmed today with the adoption of a proposal for granting visa free travel to the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. more »

Olympic dream funded by a brothel

Logan Campbell from New Zealand has set up a brothel because he has an Olympic dream. more »

Koreans protest dog-eating

About 20 protesters gathered in downtown Seoul in South Korea to demand the government abolish the tradition of eating dog meat. more »