Gender balance: five areas for improvement

Each year the European parliament draws attention to a specific topic related to women´s situation on the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March. This year we decided to highlight the issue of economic empowerment. Check out our infographic to see where more work is needed.

Women still earn less than men. In 2014 the gender pay gap was 16,7%. This is the equivalent of working for free for about two months a year or for one hour and 20 minutes a day.

This is not the only unpaid work that women do. They devote almost one fifth of their free time to caregiving and household, compared to men who devote less than tenth of their free time to this. In addition women are underrepresented in politics, managerial positions and in areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Find out more

• (open in a new tab) Eurostat gender statistics
• (open in a new tab) European Institute for Gender Equality
• (open in a new tab) UN Women