This policy brief highlights the key benefits of implementing gender-neutral job evaluation and classification for employers and provides additional insights for workers and social partners, who can likewise apply these methods in their collective agreements. The policy brief also introduces the step-by-step toolkit on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification, developed by EIGE and the European Commission to support the implementation...
This toolkit helps organisations across the EU carry out gender-neutral job evaluation and classification. It is the update of the EU guidelines on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification. It sets out practical steps to ensure jobs are assessed using objective, gender-neutral criteria. These criteria – known as ‘factors’ – include skills, responsibility, effort and working conditions. Designed for all employers...
Gender-neutral job evaluation and classification is a helpful tool for employers to uphold the principle of equal pay for the same work or work of equal value between women and men. In cooperation with the European Commission, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has developed a practical toolkit with clear steps, templates and examples to help organisations (and others)...
This technical report details the methodology of the second wave of the Survey on Gender Gaps in Unpaid Care, Individual and Social Activities (the CARE Survey). It builds on the first wave conducted in 2022. The CARE Survey aims to address gender inequalities in care, enhancing the Gender Equality Index’s ability to monitor changes over of time more effectively and...
The second wave of EIGE’s EU-wide survey on gender gaps in unpaid care and individual and social activities (CARE Survey) provides updated and comparable data on how women and men across the EU organise and experience unpaid care, housework, the use of informal and formal care services, and their leisure time. Conducted in 2024 across all 27 EU Member States...
The Gender Equality Index is a composite indicator that was developed to measure the relative position of women and men across the EU. It enables comparisons between EU Member States and tracks progress in gender equality over time. The Index was first released in 2013, followed by reviews in 2017 and 2025. As policy priorities shift, societies evolve and data...
Despite progress across Europe, full gender equality remains at least 50 years away, according to EIGE’s 2025 Gender Equality Index which introduces new indicators and a renewed pace of change. The revised Index for 2025 opens a new chapter, setting a new baseline for gender equality that is no longer comparable with the previous Index scores. With a refreshed structure...
The future is an ever-present consideration for those engaged in advancing gender equality, with a constant focus on striving towards gender-equal futures. Foresight aims to systematically engage with possible and desirable futures to orient today’s actions and decisions towards improving long-term outcomes. By identifying and anticipating change with the help of foresight, we can equip ourselves with options to proactively...
The EU is navigating profound global and internal challenges that require coordinated, forward-thinking solutions. Gender equality emerges as a critical enabler of EU success in addressing these challenges and achieving its objectives in uncertain times. The Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), established at the fourth UN World Conference on Women in 1995, remains more relevant than ever. It serves as...
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) monitors the gender balance among key decision-makers biannually for the largest listed companies in the EU and annually for central banks and European financial institutions. Regular monitoring is crucial for assessing progress in achieving new legislative targets. This brief provides an overview of the 2024 status and current trends related to gender balance...
Ursula von der Leyen made a ‘union of equality’, based on the principle of equality for all and equality in all its senses, a cornerstone of her mandate. Binding measures since 2019 have made significant strides in supporting the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work, gender-balanced company boards, work–life balance, binding standards for equality bodies and combating violence...
Climate change is one of the greatest environmental and development challenges facing the world today, and it has critical impacts on human rights and inequalities, including gender equality. To overcome these challenges, in 2019 the EU launched the European Green Deal (EGD) strategy, which sets out targets of no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and economic growth decoupled...
