Measuring Gender Equality in
the European Union:
The Gender Equality Index
Laura de Bonfils, Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė, Anne Laure
Humbert, Anna Rita Manca, Ligia Nobrega, Jolanta Reingarde,
Irene Rioboo
& more…
2
‘equal share of assets and equal
dignity and integrity between
women and men’
3
Gender gaps adjusted for
levels of achievement
… why another index ?
A synthetic indicator obtained when individual
indicators are compiled into a single
measure, on the basis of a multidimensional
concept
6
10 guiding principles
•Step 1. Developing a conceptual framework
•Step 2. Selecting indicators
•Step 3. Multivariate analysis
•Step 4. Imputation of missing data
•Step 5. Normalisation of data
•Step 6. Weighting and aggregation
•Step 7. Robustness and sensitivity
•Step 8. Links to other indicators
•Step 9. Back to the details
•Step 10. Presentation and dissemination
9
Selecting variables
Focus on individual and outcomes variables
Reliable, comparable and harmonised data
for the 27 EU Member States.
Conceptual
framework
Measurement
framework
11
VS
60
50
Weights
40
30
3 636 indices
Aggregation
Imputation
20
10
Country 1
Country 2 ...... Country 27
14
The Gender Equality Index
Inequality
1
Equality
100
Quality Assessment
45%
40%
35%
Distribution of differences
between ranks
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-14 -12 -10
-8
-6
-4
-2
Rank difference interval
[-2, 2]
[ -1, 1 ]
[0]
0
2
4
6
8
Percentage of cases
86%
71%
42%
10
12
14
1 index
6 domain
indices
12 sub-domain
indices
27 variables
Women remain less likely to
participate in the labour market
Large gender segregation in the
labour market remains prevalent
The gendered nature of quality of
work needs to be measured
Participation
Segregation and
quality of work
FTE employment
Duration of working life
Sectoral segregation
Flexibility of working time
Health and safety
Training at work
69.9
76.6
58%
40%
UK, 2010
The FTE employment
rate is higher for men
than women
throughout all Member
States
Men’s FTE
participation in the UK
is slightly higher than
the EU average (56%)
while women’s FTE
participation is slightly
lower (41%)
Women receive lower earnings
and income than men in the EU
Women are at a disadvantage in
terms of their economic situation
Individual rather than household
level indicators could measure
gender differences in a more
sensitive way
Financial resources
Earnings
Income
Economic situation
Not at-risk-of-poverty
Income distribution
68.9
74.3
25
25%
Men consistently earn
more than women in
all Member States
EU-27 average 20%
UK, 2010
The UK gap is the
third highest in the
EU after Austria and
Estonia
Women outnumber men as
university graduates in the EU
Gender segregation in educational
fields remains high
Participation in lifelong learning is
low and is more feminised where
participation is higher
Education attainment
and segregation
Participation in tertiary
education
Segregation
Lifelong learning
Participation in formal
or non-formal
education and training
68.8
48.9
31%
30%
Reversal in trends in
educational
attainment since 2008
EU-27 average 22% for
women compared with
21% for men
UK, 2010
UK second highest
level of achievement
after Ireland,
combined with a low
gender gap
Feminine segregation
patterns in teaching,
health and humanities
field of education.
53%
EU-27 average 44% for
women compared with
22% for men
29%
UK, 2010
The gap is persistent
also in UK
Women remain disproportionately
responsible for caring activities
The unequal division of time extends
to other activities
Addressing the division of time can
provide an opportunity towards
transformative change
Care activities
Social activities
Childcare activities
Domestic activities
Sport, culture and leisure
activities
Volunteering and
charitable activities
38.8
43.2
82%
40%
Many more women
than men spent, on
average, one or more
hours a day on
housework and
cooking
EU-27 average is 77%
of women compared
with 24% of men
UK, 2010
There are also
important differences
in the UK, but the gap
is narrower
Low levels of gender equality in
political decision-making
The lowest gender equality score can
be found in economic decisionmaking
Key actions should be taken to
consider gender balance in decisionmaking
Political
Economic
Ministerial
Parliamentary
Regional assemblies
Members of boards
Members of Central Bank
35.2
38.0
13%
87%
UK, 2010
Men are greatly
over-represented as
board members
throughout all
Member States
The situation of the
UK is approximately
the same as the EU27 average
Low gender gaps exist in access to
health structures
The old adage that ‘women get sicker
and men die younger’ remains
largely true
Status
Self perceived health
Life expectancy
Healthy life years
Access
Unmet medical needs
Unmet dental needs
90.1
95.4
Women outlive men
across all Member
States
83
79
UK, 2010
In the EU-27, women
are expected to live up
to 82.9 years
compared with 77
years for men
The gap in the UK
reflects approximately
the situation in EU-27
Disparities between
women and men among
different groups matter as
these may be linked to
different levels of gender
equality
Not in education, employment nor training
NEETs
Number of Member States
by NEETs rate
11
13
6
4.3-10.8 %
10.9 -14.9 %
15-22 %
Average Work score in the
Gender Equality Index
4.3-10.8 %
72
10.9-14.9 %
65
15-22 %
62
The biggest gap of all
Nothing to see here !
69.0
68.9
90.1
38.8
48.9
38.0
54.0
60.4
 Results at the country level
 Policy initiatives to promote gender
equality
 Key socio-economic indicators
http://eige.europa.eu/content/gender-equality-index
How can we move forward
when half of us are being
held back?
The Index Team
Cristina Alvarez Pascual – Research Assistant
Cristina.Alvarez@eige.europa.eu
Laura de Bonfils – Research Assistant
Laura.debonfils@eige.europa.eu
Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė – Research Assistant
Viginta.IvaskaiteTamosiune@eige.europa.eu
Anne Laure Humbert – Gender Expert
Anne.Humbert@eige.europa.eu
Anna Rita Manca – Statistics Officer
Anna.Manca@eige.europa.eu
Ligia Nobrega – Gender Expert
Ligia.Nobrega@eige.europa.eu
Jolanta Reingarde – Senior Researcher
Jolanta.Reingarde@eige.europa.eu
Irene Rioboo – Seconded National Expert
Irene.Rioboo@eige.europa.eu