Executive summary

• Author: Sansonetti, Silvia; Davern, Eamonn
• Pages: 9-10

Study Report on PES approaches to the promotion of gender equality

9

2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report explores the current position in regard to gender equality as a field of

intervention in European Public Employment Services (PES). Information was obtained

from individual PES through their completion of a survey questionnaire distributed through

the EU PES Network and to which 25 PES Network members responded.

Addressing gender discrimination in the labour market has been a priority of European

employment policy since the foundation of the European Economic Community. The EU

PES Network Decision establishing the PES Network noted its central contribution to the

achievement of a 75% employment rate for women and men as stated in the Europe 2020

strategy. The current PES Network Strategy Paper has reiterated PES commitment to this

agenda.

ESF has been an especially important vehicle enabling activities to promote labour market

gender equality. This has been a prominent feature since at least the 2000-2007

programming period. This has been further advanced during the 2014-2020 period,

particularly through the thematic objective to promote sustainable and quality employment

and support labour mobility.

At the time of writing (November 2020) the European economy is in the midst of very

significant disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst the longer-term consequences

remain a subject of considerable debate it is already clear from the immediate impact that

policy interventions are urgently needed to mitigate the risk of adverse labour market

consequences falling disproportionately on women.

It is also recognised that the crisis can present opportunities to enhance gender equality,

and for these to be realised national policies will need to be efficiently implemented, and

PES are key actors in facilitating this.

The first PES responses to the pandemic have focussed on measures to prevent

unemployment, address the needs of jobseekers, and consider how to adjust to structural,

post-crisis labour market changes. It is imperative that these positive responses are

reinforced through the inclusion of gender equality outcomes as explicit objectives.

In their questionnaire responses, most PES recognised that women face multiple

challenges from labour market segregation hindering their successful labour market

participation and leading to a greater propensity to be employed in precarious, part-time,

and low paid work. Inadequate support for caring responsibilities disproportionately falling

to women, limited access to skills development opportunities, and disincentives from the

design of tax policies all contribute to reenforcing gender discrimination.

Most PES state that their day to day activities promote gender mainstreaming through

policies to promote women’s employability, including in non-traditional sectors, fostering

work life balance, and supporting women in vulnerable situations.

PES are in a particularly good position to adopt strategies furthering several objectives of

the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, namely eliminating violence and stereotypes,

thriving in a gender-neutral economy, and adopting gender mainstreaming. An

intersectional perspective in EU policies is consequently of especial relevance to PES.

Notwithstanding their perspectives on support for gender equality through their ongoing

service delivery, with 60% considering this in their strategic planning, less than half (40%)

of PES, or their supervising authorities, have a distinct gender equality strategy. This is

possibly reflected in the extent to which the detail of PES delivery reflects gender equality.

Whilst 76% of PES regularly collect data disaggregated by gender and almost all have a

stated position of ensuring gender equality in their policies and procedures very few PES

currently have specific gender-sensitive procedures in regard to customer contact, and

very few ever deliver gender awareness courses.