Description

The study found that despite progress towards gender equality in the EU, gender gaps persist in the labour market and distribution of care responsibilities. Women remain the main carers for children and the dependent elderly and are more likely than men to be involved in both paid and unpaid work. Women’s working lives are more likely to be affected by the care needs of dependants. This is evident in their higher take-up of parental leave and part-time working, and higher inactivity rates.

The results of the study showed the need to strengthen efforts towards a more effective monitoring system, particularly in relation to data collection and data dissemination. The limited availability of harmonised, comparable or sex-disaggregated data hinders reporting on Beijing Platform for Action progress.