Source: cyprus-mail.com
Cyprus’ gender equality commissioner Josie Christodoulou has called for investment in care services to be treated as an economic and competitiveness issue, as well as a question of equality, during a high-level EU conference in Dublin.
Christodoulou took part this week in The EU’s Equality Advantage: How equality powers competitiveness, innovation and social cohesion, organised by the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU and Ireland’s Department of Children, Disability and Equality.
The conference looked at a question that is becoming harder for Europe to ignore, whether better equality policies can also help improve productivity, labour participation and economic performance.
Christodoulou spoke on a panel on the care economy and competitiveness, where much of the discussion focused on who carries the burden of care, and what that means for the labour market.
That covers both paid and unpaid care, from childcare and support for older people to services for people with disabilities, health care and social care.
For women in particular, the consequences can be substantial.
Figures presented by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), which also took part in the conference, show that 36 per cent of women spend more than 35 hours a week caring for children, compared with 18 per cent of men.
Meanwhile, 12 per cent of women with caring responsibilities have left employment because of them, compared with fewer than 5 per cent of men.
The economic cost is also considerable. EIGE cited Eurofound estimates putting the cost of the gender employment gap to the EU economy at around €390 billion in foregone output in 2023.
Its own research goes further, estimating that closing gender gaps could increase EU GDP per capita by up to 10 per cent by 2050, create around 10.5 million additional jobs and generate more than €3 trillion in economic gains. That is why care has moved well beyond the realm of social policy.
For Christodoulou, better access to affordable, quality care can make it easier for more women to remain in work, while also giving employers access to a larger pool of workers.
She pointed to a number of measures already being introduced in Cyprus, including the gradual extension of compulsory pre-primary education from the age of four, optional all-day schools and the extension of parental leave until a child reaches the age of 15.
Cyprus is also creating or expanding multipurpose centres and care facilities, as well as 24-hour adult care centres and services for older people.
But Christodoulou also turned to what happens inside the home.
She stressed that caring responsibilities need to be shared more fairly between women and men, and that men need to be more involved in the discussion if care is to stop being treated largely as a woman’s responsibility.
In her view, that cultural change is just as important as new services, both for gender equality and for the economy.
The business case is one EIGE is also making strongly.
Its figures show that every euro of public spending on social infrastructure could generate as much as €2 in cumulative GDP gains over five years, while attracting around €1.30 in additional private investment.
The conference also examined how AI and digital transformation are changing jobs and workplaces, and whether new technologies can help reduce existing inequalities rather than deepen them, according to Eurofound.
On the sidelines of the event, Christodoulou also met Irish Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley.