Pandemic worsens work-life balance of European women

European women’s work-life balance has worsened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) study has found.

The EIGE’s Gender Equality Index 2022, which focuses on care, found that the pandemic increased informal and unpaid care at home, particularly pressuring women.

Women in the survey were more likely to face interruptions while teleworking than men, the report said. On average 20% of teleworking mothers were unable to work for an hour without being interrupted by children, compared with 15% of teleworking fathers.

The disruption of childcare provision also hit women’s income. They were more likely to cut back on working hours, miss work, take unpaid time off, or quit the workforce altogether.

“While the full extent of the social and economic impact is still unfolding, before and throughout the pandemic women were more likely to be unemployed or to work fewer hours than they wished,” said the report published on Wednesday.

The index, which measures gender equality progress in the EU, rose slightly to 68.6 points out of 100, 5.5 points higher than in 2010.

Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands were the top performers, while Greece, Romania and Hungary ranked at the bottom.

Women in positions of authority have largely driven this modest growth, though they remain underrepresented in politics, making up just over a third of members of regional and local/municipal legislatures and 33% of members of national parliaments, EIGE said.

There is a persisting gender gap among key decisionmakers in major corporations and financial institutions in the EU, with women accounting for 8% of CEOs, 21% of executives, and 34% of nonexecutives in the first half of 2022, EIGE said.

Reuters