Urbact - Gender Equal Cities

4B. LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION

28 Swiss Confederation (2018), 'Swiss Charter for equal pay in the public sector'; available at: https://www.ebg. admin.ch/ebg/en/home/topics/work/equal-pay/public-sector-commitment/charter-equal-pay-public-sector.html

29 Eurostat (2021), 'People outside the labour force', available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/ index.php?title=People_outside_the_labour_force

30 Eurostat (2021), idem. 31 EPSU; CESI; CSEE - ETUCE; and CEMR (2021), 'Gender-based violence is also a workplace matter: time for EU

action', available at: https://www.epsu.org/sites/default/files/article/files/It%209.a%20App%20Joint%20 Statement%20TPV%20Project%20partners%2025%20Nov-final%20draft_0.pdf

32 EPSU; CESI; CEMR; and HOSPEEM (2021), 'Multi-sectoral project on the role of social partners in preventing third- party violence and harassment at work', available at: https://www.epsu.org/article/multi-sectoral-project-role- social-partners-preventing-third-party-violence-and-harassment

33 EPSU; CESI; CSEE - ETUCE; CEMR; EFEE; TUNED; EUPAE; CoESS; Euro Commerce; and UAI europa (2020), 'Joint Statement on the 10th anniversary of the Multi-sectoral guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work', available at: https://www.epsu.org/article/joint-statement-10th-anniversary-multi-sectoral- guidelines-tackle-third-party-violence-and

34 EIGE (2015), Gender gap in pensions in the EU , available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/ index.php?title=Migrant_integration_statistics_%E2%80%93_labour_market_indicators

Equal access to economic resources is a prerequisite for cities economic growth, prosperity and competitiveness, and individuals independence. In all EU countries, men are overrepresented in the labour market whilst women have higher rates of unemployment. This disparity is often the result of women being tasked with unpaid work which forces them into part-time, low-paid or precarious labour including informal roles or zero-hour contracts28. In 2020, the overall employment rate of women aged 20-64 was only 66.4% compared to men s 77.2%.

Furthermore, unemployment is on the rise as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Eurostat reported that the share of people outside the labour force in the EU increased in 2020 for the first time in nearly two decades; again, for women, the rate is much higher than men, 32.5% compared to 21.8%29. In fact, in Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, more than 50% of women aged 25-54 with at least one young child were outside the labour force in 202030. Women also face challenges regarding experiences of violence and harassment at work and at home that affect their labour market participation. According to UN data, 70% of women subject to domestic abuse say it has affected their work performance or their safety at work and many end up losing their job31. Yet, workplaces can serve an important preventative and protective function to break the cycle of violence by providing a safe environment where support is provided, and women have the ability to gain economic independence. In tackling violence and harassment at work, several European partners, including CEMR, have launched a new project32 to assess national implementations of guidelines to tackle and prevent third-party violence and harassment related to work33. The lower rate of employment and earnings of women has a knock-on effect on poverty of older women in the form of the pension pay gap34. In most countries, care work is not taken into account when calculating pensions. Certain groups of women are particularly vulnerable, including those with low education and skills levels, lone parents, migrant women, women of colour, and those with disabilities.