Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-12-Speech-1-217-000"
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"en.20110912.28.1-217-000"2
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Madam President, have you noticed that we almost never see presenters over the age of 50 on our television screens? And if we do, it is more than likely to be a man. Have you ever noticed that there are far fewer women in their 50s than men in the workplace? The statistics show that 55% of men in their 50s are engaged in the labour market, compared with only 37% of women of the same age. Statistics on this age group are thin on the ground, and most of the available data you will find if you look on the Internet, for example, are American or Australian. European data are harder to find. Meanwhile, governments and parliaments are taking steps to increase the retirement age – I just heard today about British government plans relating to this. If you analyse the evidence, however, it shows that people are leaving the world of work much earlier.
One of the goals set out in the Europe 2020 strategy is to raise employment levels for both men and women to 75%. This begs the question: what can we do, and what must we do to prevent people from leaving the labour market prematurely? Of course, to be able to answer this question we also need to know the reasons why people are leaving early. There may be many reasons why women leave the world of work earlier than men. Let us look at a few examples. In many career paths, women face discrimination. Indeed, the discrimination they face is often not straightforward, but complex. The absence of older women from our TV screens can be put down to age-related discrimination, or ‘ageism’. And this of course is not the only field where ageism is blatantly in evidence.
Often it is social necessity that drives women out of the labour market, or it may be a voluntary response to a situation in which a family member needs looking after. Other reasons include illnesses, some of which could be avoided given adequate preventive health care. Think, for example, of breast cancer or osteoporosis. The working environment, conditions in the workplace, occupational health and safety, all of these of course fall into the same category. Designating 2012 as the European Year of Active Ageing opens the way for action aimed at improving this situation. The consequences of the current situation of women over 50 are undeniably serious: the gender pay gap is widest at this time in women’s working lives; the discrepancy between men’s and women’s pay is at its peak in this age group.
This, along with more frequent career interruptions, a higher incidence of part-time work and slower career progression all result in much lower average pensions for women. The number of older women at risk of poverty is therefore disproportionately high. The aim of this report is clear: to set out steps to improve this situation – not only to tackle discrimination, although this too is a real problem. Indeed, when questioned, a majority responded that age-related discrimination is very real, based on their own experience. The report sets out other lessons too: prevention costs less than tackling the consequences, and this is equally true in the labour market.
One of the most important conclusions is that the long-awaited white paper on pension reform must take account of the issues that are specific to women’s lives. Any period or periods spent raising children or caring for family members should not mean a loss of social security entitlements. Both of these care-giving activities are likely to become increasingly important in society with time and demographic changes. Unless we create appropriate employment opportunities and social conditions more generally, we stand no chance of fulfilling the Europe 2020 strategy targets relating to employment or combating poverty."@en1
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