Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-01-Speech-3-187"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060201.18.3-187"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission’s report on equality between men and women in the EU sets out the progress that has been made on gender equality, but concludes that much remains to be done if we are to end all forms of discrimination and if women are to enjoy a level playing field with men in both public and private life. To this end, there needs to be reconciliation between family life and work life, enhancement of the status of women in the labour market, more facilities for looking after children and other dependents and gender mainstreaming in the areas of immigration and integration.
There are two major challenges at the root of any gender equality policy. One is to close the gender pay gap, and the other is to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family life for both men and women. It is unacceptable that women are the last to have access to jobs and the first to be made redundant, even though they are efficient and dedicated workers. The gap between men and women in employment stands at 15.8%, whilst the percentage of women in part-time work stands at 30.4%, compared to 6.6% for men. The employment rate among women with small children is 13.6% below the figure for women without children, whereas men with small children enjoy employment rates 10% higher than men without children.
Women do the lion’s share of work in the home and therefore have less time for paid work. In couples with children up to the age of six, men do less than 40% of domestic chores and are responsible for 25% to 35% of childcare. The provision of suitable childcare facilities remains a key instrument in enabling women to enter the labour market and to stay there. There is a lack of women in all areas of work, especially in those areas traditionally considered male. It has been proven that women are good managers, and their creative and innovative abilities in urban planning and construction are widely acknowledged. As one successful female Italian architect once said, it is because men do not wear high heels, or walk with prams, that they do not design properly proportioned walkways or concern themselves with architectural obstacles.
Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to take this opportunity to share some concerns that are worthy of further reflection. It is the responsibility of politicians to be able to read the signs so that they can stop the situation from becoming any worse. Mention was just made, as it was in the latest report, of domestic violence, and I should like to draw attention to youth violence and to the fact that it is on the rise. The images of the recent events in France seen around the world raised the question of what leads hundreds of young people to use violence to draw attention to their problems. Families, political decision-makers and societies as a whole must talk to one another to ascertain where they went wrong and why. This problem is not confined to France. There is a high level of violence among young people everywhere, and this is a very serious problem. What leads young people between 13 and 17 years of age to attack and even kill defenceless individuals as a form of entertainment? The facts that have come to light are shocking. A group of youths robbed beggars and immigrants simply for kicks and recorded everything on their mobile telephones in order to show off to their school friends afterwards. Another group threw petrol over a homeless woman and set fire to her. The woman died of her burns. We cannot turn a blind eye to such cruelty. It is not sufficient simply to condemn; what is needed is action, so that we do not come to feel a sense of regret later, and say, as the father of one of these youths said, I feel a failure as a father.
The principal cause, according to the experts, is the absence of parents. There are thousands of young people in the EU who have been consigned to the television, the Internet and the street since they were children. Parents spend over 12 hours outside the home, leaving the children unattended and at the mercy of all manner of negative influences, leading to academic failure, children leaving school early, indolence, drugs and exclusion. The second cause is idleness. With nothing to do, no school or no job, young people become irresponsible. Add to this a permissive culture in which people have few or no duties and all the rights they want; there is no discipline, no demands are made and no value is placed on work or merit.
I should like the Commission, the Council and Parliament to look into this problem and to take appropriate measures while there is still time. I hope that the Commission’s next report is able to talk about more progress in the area of equality. I should like to express my gratitude to those Members and the secretariat of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality for their help in drawing up this report."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples