summary fiche The European Social Fund: Women, Gender mainstreaming and Reconciliation of

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1 summary fiche The European Social Fund: Women, Gender mainstreaming and Reconciliation of work & private life

2 Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission may be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this publication. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to numbers or these calls may be billed. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server ( European Union, 2010 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER IMPORTANT NOTE The information in this brochure is taken from a broader study, produced by Bernard Brunhes International (BBI, under the contract Reporting on ESF interventions in the EU. The background report The European Social Fund: women, gender mainstreaming and reconciliation of work and private life was drafted by Dominique Danau in cooperation with Eva Havelkova and Georgios Voudouris. It is available in English at

3 Gender equality: a topic of key importance to the EU Equality between women and men is a fundamental right, a common value of the EU, and a necessary condition for the achievement of the EU objectives of growth, employment and social cohesion. Gender equality has been a key principle of the EU ever since the Treaty of Rome introduced the principle of equal pay for men and women in The various directives on gender equality adopted by the Union since the 1970s ensured, for example, equal treatment concerning access to work, equal pay and social security benefits, as well as guaranteed rights to parental leave. The EU played an important role in the promotion and implementation of gender mainstreaming, calling for the integration of a gender dimension in all policy areas, and at every level through the simultaneous mobilisation of different instruments. The EU s roadmap for equality between women and men sets out the priorities for the period It combines specific initiatives and the integration of equality between women and men into all EU policies and activities. In 2010, the European Commission will renew its commitment to promoting gender equality by adopting a gender equality strategy to follow up the current Roadmap for equality between women and men Despite the significant progress made over the last decades, inequalities still exist. According to the EUROSTAT figures for 2008, there is a long road ahead. The gender pay gap amounts to women earning on average 18% less than men for equal work or work of equal value. This can be traced back to a number of causes that are frequently interrelated: the undervaluing of women s work, labour market segregation, traditions and stereotypes and the struggle to balance work and private life. Twice as many women as men work in sectors with lower wages (like health and education), and a significantly lower percentage (11%) of the members of the highest decision-making bodies of the largest-quoted companies in the EU-27 are women, compared to men. Furthermore, the share of women working as part-time workers in the EU is 31% compared to 8% men and the employment rate in EU-27 in 2008 of women with children is 67%, while for men with children this amounts to 91%. 1

4 The European Social Fund in a nutshell The European Social Fund is devoted to promoting employment in the EU. It helps Member States make Europe s workforce and companies better equipped to face new and global challenges. It co-finances interventions supported by national public and private funds. The ESF strategy and budget is negotiated and decided between the EU Member States represented in the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission. On this basis, seven-year Operational Programmes (OPs) are planned by Member States and approved by the European Commission. Operational Programmes : total expenditure claimed (in million) per Member State by 2 September 2008 Member State Expenditure Member State Expenditure Austria 1,326 Latvia 115 Belgium 2,416 Lithuania 166 Cyprus 22 Luxembourg 47 Czech Republic 297 Malta 9 Denmark 779 Poland 1,776 Estonia 71 Portugal 7,145 Finland 2,365 Slovakia 241 France 12,204 Slovenia 60 Germany 20,930 Spain 17,388 Greece 4,783 Sweden 2,661 Hungary 288 The Netherlands 2,458 Ireland 1,778 United Kingdom 13,285 Italy 12,909 The above interventions and expenditure do not cover the EQUAL Community Initiative which was also funded by the ESF in

5 ESF Facts and Figures Most information in this brochure relates to the period. In 2000, the ESF was open to the then 15 EU Member States. Additional programmes started in 2004 to accommodate the priorities of 10 new Member States. A few figures to illustrate the size of the ESF interventions: Over 200 OPs together spent a total of 105 billion (until September 2008): just over half ( 54 billion) of this was paid for by the ESF, while the public and private sectors in the Member States invested the remaining 51 billion. More than 75 million people were involved in ESF activities. This corresponds to about 24% of the total population between 16 and 64 years in the EU. The ESF is committed to equal opportunities. Overall, the involvement in ESF-funded actions was balanced: 52% were women and 48% men. ESF helped young people prepare to find suitable work: 37% of all participants were between 16 and 25 years old. Supporting initiatives to keep people on the labour market is key to the ESF, in particular when workers are getting older: seven percent of ESF participants were over 55 years old. Overall, 54% of ESF participants were unemployed, 38% were employed and 8% were inactive, i.e. not readily available to get and stay in a job. Evaluations and monitoring data show that approximately half of the unemployed participants find employment within 12 months of completing an intervention. The range is 40 to 80% onwards Data available on 75% of the current programmes showed that at least 6 million people benefited from ESF supported interventions in 2007 and % of these participants belonged to vulnerable groups such as migrants, minorities, people with disabilities, Roma, etc. 3

6 Defining the borders of gender equality interventions of ESF The study which forms the basis for this brochure looks at gender equality from a double perspective, i.e. gender mainstreaming on the one hand as a strategy to achieve gender equality and specific interventions addressing women on the other to achieve the same goal. Within both approaches, reconciliation of work and private life is an important road to follow. It is a necessary condition to raise the employment rate of women and it is considered to be an essential element of the development of a society. Measures related to improving access to employment and increasing sustainable participation of women in employment to reduce gender-based segregation are another priority. The study which forms the basis for this brochure looks at gender equality as both an overall policy goal and a practical reality in terms of ESF achievements. To understand how ESF supported equality, the interventions were analysed from two perspectives: gender mainstreaming and the specific measures addressing women in other contexts/fields. What the two approaches have in common is the attention given to reconciliation of work and private life, which is a prerequisite to raise the employment rate of women and is an essential element of the development of a society. ESF interventions and investments in gender equality Since improving access to and active participation of women in the labour market was one of the five key policy areas of the ESF in the period and because equal opportunities for men and women was a horizontal priority for all actions undertaken by the ESF during the same programming period, all co-funded programmes include to some extent actions or indicators on gender equality. Their level of definition and description is amongst others linked to the state of affairs at national or regional level with regard to gender equality and gender mainstreaming. Between 2000 and 2006 a total of 9.3 billion was invested in measures promoting gender equality, including interventions on reconciliation of work and private life. On average ESF contributed 48% of the total expenditure related to gender equality in the 25 Member States. Almost 25% of the total ESF contribution to gender related measures was claimed by Germany (representing 11% of the total ESF expenditure of this Member State). The ESF expenditure related to gender compared to the total ESF expenditure for all measures is in the period the highest in Malta (71%) and Belgium (61%). 4

7 ALLOCATION OF TOTAL EXPENDITURE ON GENDER RELATED MEASURES ACROSS ESF , NATIONAL AND PRIVATE FUNDING SOURCES 7% 48% 45% ESF expenditure National expenditure Private expenditure Data compiled by BBI on the basis of the EC Structural Fund Database (SFC), situation on 2 September 2008 For the period 2.4 billion, representing 3% of the total ESF budget, is allocated to the priority theme on improving access to employment and increasing sustainable participation and progress of women in employment to reduce gender-based segregation in the labour market and to reconcile work and private life. However, as in the previous period, interventions on gender equality are not solely funded under the corresponding priority theme, but also under other relevant priority themes, such as combating discrimination in accessing and progressing in the labour market and promoting acceptance of diversity at the workplace or reduction in gender-based segregation of subjects in education and training, and therefore this 3% might be an underestimation. Furthermore, in the new programming period gender mainstreaming is to a larger extent implemented according to the definition of the concept, i.e. mainstream gender equality across all actions and programme priorities, which does not always make it easy to identify interventions on gender equality and their corresponding budgets. Overlaps can be identified in relation to ESF interventions on gender equality; interventions can at the same time address women and reconciliation of work and private life. Furthermore, gender mainstreaming is not only conceived as a strategy, but is also operationalised at the level of measures, e.g. by building and testing methodologies and tools to support actions for gender equality (Italy). 5

8 ESF support to gender equality at a glance Between 2000 and 2006 a total of 9.3 billion was invested in measures promoting gender equality, of which 4.5 billion was ESF funding (representing 8% of the total ESF contribution to all measures in all Member States). In the period 22 Member States claimed expenditure for measures aiming at gender equality. Members States that have no expenditure on gender related measures have addressed gender equality at the OP level (like e.g. Denmark). 75% of the ESF expenditure was used for measures addressing women, 26% was spent on reconciliation measures, and 20% on gender mainstreaming interventions. (These percentages do not total 100% because of the overlaps between measures.) 4.6 million people benefited from ESF interventions on gender equality. 74% of the participants were women, though the distribution by gender varied significantly across Member States. The majority of participants (52%) have primary education; 32% are 25 years or younger and 18% are 50 years or older. More than 111,000 organisations benefited from ESF interventions on gender equality. For the period 2.4 billion, representing 3% of the total ESF budget, is allocated to the priority theme on improving access to employment and increasing sustainable participation and progress of women in employment to reduce gender-based segregation in the labour market and to reconcile work and private life. 25 Member States have budgeted for gender equality interventions in the period. In Denmark and Sweden gender equality is considered a priority across the whole OP, without a specific dedicated budget. In 2007 and 2008 at least 3 million participants entered ESF funded interventions related to gender equality. Women are in the majority (55%). 41% of the participants is unemployed and 30% is inactive. 6

9 Specific interventions on gender mainstreaming Besides the strategic approach to gender mainstreaming, some Member States developed specific measures in this area. Belgium has a very high number of measures developed in relation to gender mainstreaming. In Flanders for example, a monitoring system was installed for the follow-up of gender mainstreaming. In the period 0.9 billion of ESF funding was invested in gender mainstreaming measures by 13 Member States. In the new programming period 17 Member States have interventions in relation to gender mainstreaming. Actions to support gender equality by specifically targeting women 19 Member States developed interventions specifically targeting women in , representing 3.4 billion of ESF funding. The main aims of interventions targeting women are: (i) to facilitate the access of women to the labour market, and/or (ii) to improve the participation of women in the labour market as an employee or as an entrepreneur. In order to achieve these objectives, different kinds of interventions were implemented: Measures aiming at the (re)integration of women into the labour market; Promoting horizontal or vertical desegregation of the labour market; Promoting female entrepreneurship and/or take-over of businesses by women. Furthermore, in the framework of these measures, interventions targeting women and addressing mainstreaming at the same time were also developed: Information and raising awareness on gender issues in the labour market, like studies, round tables and workshops; Development of personnel management instruments, like gender neutral function classifications; Setting up structures and guiding measures to achieve gender equality. In the new programming period 23 Member States have interventions specifically targeting women, which are similar to the kind and nature of interventions in

10 ESF supports horizontal and vertical desegregation of the labour market One of the causes of the gender pay gap, which usually has a significant impact on lifetime earnings of women, is labour market segregation. In the case of horizontal segregation certain sectors or professions are dominated by men or women; in the case of vertical segregation women are often unable to access management or senior positions. Through ESF there were interventions funded that helped the Member States tackle these problems. In most cases this was done through training and coaching, whereby training for women in non-traditional occupations (like IT) or non-traditional sectors (like the rural sector) was set up and delivered. Some interventions addressed gender underrepresentation, rather than the issue of female under-representation in specific occupations. Horizontal and vertical labour market desegregation in Austria and Germany An example of the promotion of horizontal desegregation is an Austrian measure (Objective 3) that supported women in the labour market. Specific attention was given to the IT field, despite the IT crisis since 2000, which had resulted in the decrease of employment opportunities in this sector. Nevertheless, in total almost 56,000 women were trained and counselled under this measure in the period In Thüringen, (Objective 1 - Germany) career training programmes were set up to overcome vertical desegregation. About 11,400 companies benefited from ESF funding in this domain as well as more than 38,000 participants of whom more than 32,000 women. ESF stimulates labour market (re)integration and female entrepreneurship The ESF provides female entrepreneurs with specialised training and support. About 4 million participants benefited from measures aiming at (re)integration into the labour market. Moreover, more than 800,000 women participated in measures related to the boost for entrepreneurship. Almost half of these participants are situated in Spain and France. In Spain, 150,000 participants and 5,500 SMEs benefited from measures encouraging female business activities. About 220,000 women in France benefited from an intervention on developing entrepreneurship and supporting the creation of activities by and for women. 8

11 Supporting reconciliation of work and private life In the period there were measures implemented in 18 Member States on supporting the reconciliation of work and private life, representing a total of 1.2 billion of ESF funding. These interventions related to: Providing care services for children and dependants and supporting measures for day-care. Sensitization and information supply on reconciliation matters. Stimulating flexible forms of work and employment. In the new programming period 16 Member States planned interventions on reconciliation. The gender dimension in the ESF interventions in the Netherlands This insight is about the implementation of a global ESF grant scheme for projects allowing experiments with new combinations of work and care. The central question dealt with how society can be arranged so as to aid people in combining work and private life. Four fields of attention were identified: education, child care and leisure; traffic, transport and spatial planning; work/family life balance and personal services. Between 1999 and 2003, 140 experiments were funded on the combination of work and private life. 70,000 participants were involved and 4,000 organisations and 400 products were delivered (from training material to websites and promotional materials). The Social and Cultural Planning Office of the Netherlands was involved in the evaluation of these experiments and concluded that the majority of the projects had been successful. A follow-up programme was implemented in the period with another 177 projects, co-funded by ESF Objective 3. Four fields of attention were identified: Flexible working time and personnel policy attuned to the life cycle. Local initiatives in relation to time management: better tuning in relation to opening hours at local level. Entrepreneurship and personal service provision. Implementation trajectories: targeted dissemination of results and products. Also here evaluation results revealed that the majority of these projects achieved their goals. 9

12 ESF supports the provision of care services Most of the measures on reconciliation developed activities on the provision of care services for children and dependants aiming at the facilitation of employment and/or participation in education and training programmes. These interventions endeavoured affordable, accessible and high quality care services for children and other dependants in larger settlements and smaller regional centres. Childcare provisions in Ireland In Ireland half of the measures on gender aim to improve the quality of childcare provision in disadvantaged areas by assisting community based projects to fund salary costs of qualified childcare workers. In the framework of these measures, achievements translated not only in terms of participants, but also in the number of local childcare networks established (20 partnerships were established in the Southern and Eastern Region and 17 in the Border, Midland and Western Region), and in the number of national non-statutory childcare organisations supported (7 were established in Southern and Eastern Region and 7 in the Border, Midland and Western Region). Awareness raising and information supply on reconciliation of work and private life Under ESF there are awareness raising activities developed and information delivered in relation to reconciliation. At the same time these activities are also conditions to develop policy in this area. Various interventions were developed by different Member States in this domain. In addition to awareness raising activities on the issue of work and private life balance as such, they comprised setting up information services related to this topic. 10

13 Slovakia Human Resources Development - gender equality interventions One of the measures aimed to remove the obstacles to equality between men and women on the labour market with specific attention to reconciliation of work and family lives. Different interventions were implemented, e.g. information services in the area of childcare services and services for persons dependent on the care of employed persons, promoting employers to introduce flexible forms of work and forms of family oriented employment and creating new job opportunities for women. In total 5,500 participants were reported, as well as 1,500 employers. ESF encourages the implementation of flexible forms of work organisation Flexible working arrangements are one of the core components of the EU s strategy to support work and family life balance. This is also reflected in interventions funded through ESF in the period, such as in Luxembourg and Flanders. Moreover, in the new programming period interventions are being developed to stimulate flexible forms of work organisation in, for example, Germany, Malta, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Flexible forms of employment in Flanders In Flanders the V&AMP project was launched in 2000 (Women and Labour Market Participation), whereby the main aim was to experiment with flexible forms of employment in companies in Limburg. This project was developed under ESF as an intervention on reconciliation of work and private life. Various actions were set up in 17 companies, and in 8 companies there were good practices gathered. 11

14 European Social Fund : Investing in people In the current programming period , the ESF has a budget of 76 billion to co-finance 117 Operational Programmes in all 27 Member States. National public and private funds amount to a further 41 billion. The interventions supported are in the fields of: (i) adaptability of workers and enterprises; (ii) access to employment and inclusion in the labour market; (iii) social inclusion of disadvantaged people; (iv) reform in education and training systems; (v) good governance, partnership and the involvement of social partners. The map shows that ESF supports activities across all 27 Member States under two Objectives. Additional priorities in the so-called Convergence regions are: (i) lifelong learning and research and innovation; (ii) capacity building of public administrations and services. Operational Programmes : total budget, i.e. including national co-financing, (in million) per Member State Member State Budget Member State Budget Austria 1,184 Latvia 657 Belgium 2,320 Lithuania 1,210 Bulgaria 1,395 Luxembourg 50 Cyprus 150 Malta 132 Czech Republic 4,436 Poland 11,420 Denmark 510 Portugal 9,210 Estonia 462 Romania 4,335 Finland 1,420 Slovakia 1,764 France 10,275 Slovenia 889 Germany 15,666 Spain 11,426 Greece 5,726 Sweden 1,383 Hungary 4,270 The Netherlands 1,705 Ireland 1,360 United Kingdom 8,598 Italy 15,321 12

15 ESF Investing in your future The level of ESF funding differs from one region to another depending on their relative wealth. EU regions are divided into four categories, based on their regional GDP per head compared to the EU average (EU with 27 or 15 Member States). Convergence regions: with a GDP per head of less than 75% of the EU-27 average Phasing-out regions: with a GDP per head of more than 75% of the EU-27 average but less than 75% of the EU-15 average Phasing-in regions: with a GDP per head of less than 75% of the EU-15 average (in the period ) but more than 75% of the EU-15 average (in the period ) Competitiveness and employment regions: applies to all other EU regions Position as of January 2007 EuroGeographics Association for the administrative bounderies

16 What ESF does for you ESF: active labour market policies and public employment services ESF: adaptability of enterprises and continuing training of workers ESF: developing human potential in research and innovation ESF and labour mobility ESF: education and lifelong learning ESF: women, gender mainstreaming and reconciliation of work and private life ESF and Roma ESF: sustainable development and eco technologies ESF: migrants and minorities ESF: urban areas and local employment ESF and older workers ESF and health ESF and entrepreneurship ESF and young people ESF and disabled ESF and institutional capacity ESF and social inclusion ESF and equality mainstreaming ESF and social partners ESF support to building partnerships ESF and culture Check the latest on these publications at