Patterns of recent employment growth in the EU: implications for gender equality

Despite progress during the last generation, gender gaps in the labour market are closing only gradually, if at all. At EU level the gap remains at over 17% and has not declined in recent years. Variations in national gender pay gaps around this average figure do not reveal any obvious pattern in terms of economic growth or development; the grouping of countries with the lowest gender pay gaps includes both ‘old’ and new Member States with very different rates of employment growth and economic growth. This short background paper, tries to draw out the implications of recent employment growth for gender equality in the European Union.