A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, First Edition
Women make up 52.7% (2001) of the population of the European Union (EU). They have a longer life expectancy than men: girls born in 2001 can expect to live for 81.4 years, compared with 75.3 years for men. Western European women are under-represented in political and economic institutions. There are currently two female elected heads of state in Western Europe (in Ireland and Finland), but no female Prime Ministers or finance ministers.
The average representation of women in national parliaments in the EU is 25.4%, ranging from 45.3% in Sweden and 36.9% in Denmark to 11.5% in Italy and 9.2% in Malta. At EU level, 30.33% of the members of the European Parliament that was elected in 2004 are women, and seven of the 25 European commissioners nominated for the 2004 term are women.
In European economies the employment rates for women and men in 2002 were 55.6% and 78.2% respectively. The rate of unemployment in 2003 was higher among women than men—9.9% and 8.2% respectively. The EU has set targets to increase the participation of women in the labour market to 60% by 2010, and to increase the provision of child-care for children between three years of age and school age to 90% by 2010. It has no targets to reduce the gender pay gap, which stands at an average of 16% in the EU, or to increase the proportion of female managers in EU firms—30% in 2004.
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