European Trade Union Committee for Education

Following the request of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU to provide a research background for Council Conclusions on enhancing the skills of women and men in the EU labour market, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) released a new report ‘Gender, skills and precarious work in the EU’. The report presents the labour market challenges faced by European women and men with low qualifications and explores the potential for upscaling skills and improvement of identification and validation of skills.

EIGE’s report highlights that women with low levels of qualifications tend to be out of the labour market or working in precarious jobs more often than men with the same level of qualifications. According to the report, half of low-qualified women aged 15-64 in the EU are unemployed compared to 27% of low-qualified men. Those employed experience a significant gender difference in pay: one in five women and one in ten men belongs to the lowest wage group. Moreover, EIGE researchers found that having a non-EU migrant background often reinforces these disadvantages.

The report suggests that the employability and career prospects of women and men with low level of qualifications can be improved by upskilling: both through supportive learning environments at work place and through provision of training opportunities for those out of the labour market. EIGE also points at the importance of the well-developed system of identification and validation of skills acquired in non-formal education, as well as the recognition of non-EU qualifications.

ETUCE welcomes EIGE’s conclusions and reaffirms that investment in education, lifelong and adult learning, skills and training are crucial to create more equal social environment and better living conditions for women and men and to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Europe.

To read the full report, please click here.