The EU is only halfway towards achieving gender equality and progress has been slow, with only marginal improvement over the last decade. MEPs are pushing for a string of actions to finally close the gender gap. 

economic policy

rights of the individual

Gender equality

employment (4406)

Closing Europe's gender gap

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/11395259/N01-PUB-170206INT-EN.srt

many look forward to enjoying the fruits of years of hard work.

But if you're a female pensioner in Europe, 

you could fall short of your financial needs in old age.

Women get 40% less pension than their male counterparts.

This is only one of many areas where inequality between men and women stubbornly exists.

We should take gender issues very seriously, 

it has not been the case in the last years, I believe,

because due to the crisis, the agenda for gender equality has been downgraded.

On average, more women in the EU complete tertiary education than men, 

In the boardroom of big publicly listed companies,

The higher up the corporate structure, the lower the figure. 

While almost two-thirds of women are employed, 

almost half of whom do so because of family and care-related reasons. 

The EU Parliament wants to speed up progress in closing the gap.

We need to move forward the agenda for the maternity and paternity leave. 

We want binding instruments against gender violence. 

We need gender equality back at the top of the political agenda at EU level.

 it would take Europe 70 years before equal pay is achieved, 

40 years before housework is equally shared, 

and 20 years before gender balance in politics is achieved.