20.06.19
On the 31st of May 2019, the EU Delegation of Make Mothers Matter responded to the European Commission’s public consultation on the current EU strategic framework for gender equality (2016-19) and submitted a detailed annex with concrete measures to improve the situation.
The objective was to gather input from various stakeholders on the current situation of gender equality in the EU as well as the priorities for the next 5 years in order for the Commission to prepare the next strategy.
Despite efforts of the European Commission, the path towards gender equality is progressing at a slow pace. The EU legislation and adopted policies have had a limited impact with a persisting gender pay and pension gap. As an example, from 2005 to 2015, the average 2017 EU gender equality index shows it has only improved by 4.2 points.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned progress, there is still a topic that is being ignored by the policies of the Commission: the « care gap ». This gap is the result of an unequal repartition of the unpaid care activities between men and women in European households, particularly in the domain of child and long term care where women are expected to do most of the chores even though they may have a full-time job as well. The lack of recognition of the value of such activities and the absence of measures to adjust the sharing of them is a major obstacle to gender equality in the European Union.
Our response highlighted that gender equality must progress at a faster pace and therefore policies and legislation at EU and national level need to be adopted to the realities of the XXI century. MMM believes the Commission should adopt a new strategy with clear targets and indicators to accelerate progress rather than a strategic engagement. In order to achieve this, unpaid carework (caring of children, frail, disabled and household tasks) has to be recognized, reduced and redistributed.
As we can see in the EIGE gender equality index the domain of time has regressed in the last years and it represents a major barrier towards equality. In addition, while woman’s economic empowerment should be kept as a priority, equality in Health, including obstetric violence and environmental health, should be considered as well. Along with that, the need to promote education to tackle the gender stereotypes should take place.
Taking into account the results of the survey we conducted with 12,000 mothers in Europe on their priorities, observed best practices and other research results, MMM proposes to eliminate the discriminatory consequences of motherhood penalty by asking:
Please access the response to the consultation and the Annex to the response
29.07.24
UN New York - Our virtual HLPF side-event brought together experts to shed light on how the various global crises we face (in particular climate change and other environmental crises,
21.07.24
UN New York - Participating in the meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on care and support systems, MMM reaffirmed the principle of co-responsibility, which should underpin
04.03.25
The European Commission’s initiative on a new Gender Equality Roadmap post-2025, marks a significant step forward in addressing gender disparities across the European Union. Make Mothers Matter (MMM
09.07.25
Make Mothers Matter, along with 24 member organisations of the Alliance for Investing in Children, has sent a joint letter to Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission), Roberta Metsola (Presid
07.06.25
As part of European Mental Health Week, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) András Kulja and Zoltán Tarr (both EPP) hosted a two-day Mental Health Summit on Prevention and Recovery in Modern Society
07.06.25
Make Mothers Matter was delighted to celebrate and participate in the 40th Anniversary and International Conference of our member, the European Parents’ Association (EPA), hosted by the European Economic and
28.04.25
Make Mothers Matter in a joint statement of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, calls for a Europe that protects every child, by aligning EU’s policies and budget to eradicate child poverty.
07.04.25
With the new Road Map for Gender Equality, the EU acknowledges that gender equality remains a challenge across member states, with women still earning 12.7% less than men and facing greater employment gaps, par
19.03.25
At the latest EPSCO Council (Employment, Social Policy, Health, and Consumer Affairs), the Council of the European Union adopted groundbreaking Conclusions aimed at addressing work-life balance and promoting ge