Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-12-Speech-1-225-000"
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"en.20110912.28.1-225-000"2
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"Madam President, I should like to begin by thanking the MEPs, and in particular Ms Bauer, for drafting this report.
Equal economic independence for women and men is one of the priority areas of our Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015. We will achieve the objective of a 75% employment rate for women and men only if we adopt national policies aimed specifically at increasing women’s participation in the labour market and reducing the disparities between women and men, particularly among women over 50.
The Commission fully appreciates that women approaching retirement age find themselves in an unusual situation, since they may help their adult children to bring up their family, or they may care for their elderly parents. A better work-life balance is crucial if we want to see an increase in the number of women in work and an extension of their pension rights.
The Commission recognises the major role that paternal leave and care leave, alongside the other available instruments, play in the achievement of these objectives. It has therefore commissioned some studies to evaluate the costs and benefits of these two types of leave. The results are due at the end of the year. On the basis of these two studies, the Commission will decide what action to take in respect of these measures.
The report rightly emphasises that women over 75 are more exposed to the risk of poverty than men in the same age bracket. Poverty among women may certainly be the result of insufficient pension cover, but more often than not it is also due to the shortness of their careers.
It is therefore vital that women’s careers are just as long as those of men. Setting the same retirement age for women and men is one way of achieving this. Measures need to be taken, within the scope of the pension system, to compensate for career breaks. Current legislation guarantees that women will accrue pension rights during their maternity leave.
Our White Paper on pensions is still being drafted, and the Commission will be considering the options for improving pension provisions for women. Next year we will examine, together with the Member States, the fitness for purpose of the pension system, and we will publish a report on this subject at the same time as the report on ageing. This report will focus on the situation of retired women who suffer from poverty and social exclusion.
Over the next few months we will continue to work closely with the parties concerned in drafting the White Paper, and we are counting on your active involvement, which will enable us to base the measures that we will be proposing on the best possible evidence and the best possible contributions.
The European Union is faced with a significantly ageing population due to the low birth rate, the increase in life expectancy and the forthcoming retirement of the baby-boom generation. The European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations will be an important opportunity to demolish the argument that an ageing population is a social and economic burden, and to show how much of an asset women and men of this age group are."@en1
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