Press Statement from Frances Fitzgerald MEP
Friday 10th July 2020
Frances Fitzgerald, MEP for Dublin and full Member of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, has today (Friday) called for the continuous gender impact assessment of COVID-19 recovery funds throughout the lifetime of the funding allocations. MEP Fitzgerald wrote to the Presidents of the EU institutions as well as the Taoiseach and Tánaiste earlier this week on this topic.
“In both the July Stimulus package that the government will present in the coming weeks, but also in the Next Generation EU package that will be discussed by the European Council next week, consideration of the impact of the fund allocations on gender is essential if we are to have a fair recovery that works for all.”
“Ensuring gender sensitivity in the funds and that they work for both men and women is not just a moral imperative, but also an economic one. The current gender employment gap is costing Europe €370 billion per year. If we are to be economically efficient, ensuring women’s participation in the economy makes sense, as this investment will help to close the gender pay gap, the gender pension gap and the gender care gap that build up over time.”
“Tragically, provisional figures show us that more men than women are dying from COVID-19. However, the differential impact of the pandemic on women has been significant, including increased vulnerability to domestic violence, increased care and domestic responsibilities and job losses in female dominated sectors including leisure and tourism. In addition women have been providing childcare while also trying to work from home, whereas in reality, working from home cannot and should not be a substitute for childcare.”
“Therefore, it is crucial that the allocation of funds be underpinned by a continuous and robust gender impact assessment, informed by sex-disaggregated data. In addition, consideration as to hidden barriers to women’s speedy return to work must be taken account of.”
“These massive amounts of money also give us the opportunity to change our society for the better. To do so, we must consider how these recovery funds can support care infrastructure, thereby bolstering our future societal resilience, and how to diversify into areas such as digital, IT, AI and STEM and in doing so, promote women in these fields” concluded MEP Fitzgerald.
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