WUNRN
European Parliament - FEMM
Committee on Women's Rights &
Gender Equality
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/homeCom/allAnnouncement.do?language=EN&body=FEMM
Committee considering Report Draft
and Amendments for subsequent vote.
REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF WOMEN
REACHING RETIREMENT AGE IN THE EU
Draft Report: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/femm/pr/866/866021/866021en.pdf
Amendments Proposed:
Excerpts from Draft Report:
*Women comprise no less than 50% of
the population in any EU country, and therefore are a significant sector of the
work force.
*Europe has the highest proportion
of older women in the world. As Europe's populations become increasingly old,
it is a huge challenge to ensure sustainable pensions because of low birth
rates, a shrinking workforce, and a growing number of healthy and
long-lived pensioners.
*Older women face at least a twofold
discrimination in the labour market based on gender and age, combined with
their greater vulnerability caused by women-specific work trajectories.
*The employment rate of women
between ages 55-64, was 37.8% in 2009, compared to 54.8% for men of the same
age. The unemployment rate is higher for women than men in 21 Member States of
the EU.....Women's unemployment is more likely to be hidden as
"inactivity" if they are married or have children.
*The incidence of part-time work is
4 times higher among women than men, while older female workers show the
highest part-time employment at 37% compared with 12% of older men.
*The gender pay gap is much higher
at older age than at the beginning of the working career.
*Even though the majority of EU
Member States recognise that older women are at a disadvantage in terms of
labour inclusion, measures taken for older workers in recent years are, in
general, either not explicitly gender mainstreamed or largely ignore the
different situations of older men and women.
Older women represent an important
contribution to society as care givers and often work as volunteers. However,
the caring role by older people/women is not sufficiently appreciated.
*Women are often and increasingly
over-represented among the isolated elderly, as a consequence of rising divorce
rates, and shorter life expectancy of men. Widows and lone elderly women in
general are at a higher risk of poverty, isolation, and social exclusion.
*Most health policies and programmes
are gender-blind. They do not explicitly target older women but rather aim at
the social inclusion of more generic "vulnerable groups." Multiple
discrimination affects older women who are not only discriminated on the basis
of their age, gender, and health status, but if belonging to vulnerable groups,
and also on other counts. Moreover, the current economic crisis has significant
consequences on older women who are already suffering discrimination for
matters of health or disability, and on their access to basic services,
especially health care and long-term care services, due to current or future
budget cuts.
*It is crucial to integrate a gender
and age dimension into all active ageing strategies at all governance levels.