2023-06-21 19:53:48
ABZ*AUSTRIA Managing Director Manuela Vollmann on Austria’s dramatic deterioration in the Gender Equality Report.
Vienna (OTS) – The World Economic Forum (WEF) reports a dramatic deterioration in Austria in its annual global ranking of equality[1] between men and women. Austria slips to 47th place out of 146 countries. This is a deterioration of 26 places compared to 2022. The WEF attributes this, among other things, to the reduced proportion of female ministers in the government.
“In the federal government, the proportion of women fell from 46.7 percent in 2021 to 35.7 percent in 2022, according to the Institute for Parliamentarism and Democracy Issues[2] only five out of 14 government members are women; in the year before, however, there were still seven out of 15. In 2021, almost half of the government was made up of women, in 2022 it will only be a little over a third, that is really dramatic,” says Manuela Vollmann, ABZ*AUSTRIA Managing Director, with concern. “It will not work without a mandatory quota for women – in politics and business – without a legal right to high-quality and affordable childcare and above all without mandatory paternity leave.”
Although the WEF has identified slight improvements in gender equality in the areas of business, health and education, there is still a lot to be done for Austria. Vollmann points to Iceland as the leader, which has taken first place for the 14th year in a row: “If an Icelandic father does not go on parental leave, his months of parental leave expire. ‘Choose it or lose it’ is the motto. The result: 90 percent of Icelandic fathers are or were on parental leave.”
The rate works
The proportion of women on the supervisory boards of listed companies has increased significantly since the quota was introduced, from 22.4 percent in January 2018 to 35 percent in January 2023.[3] “You can clearly see that the rate is working. We need more women in decision-making positions, not only in politics, but also in business, in companies,” recommends Vollmann.
30/30 parental leave model
The birth of a child is still the sticking point in a woman’s life. This is where their future career is usually decided: Studies show that income and career opportunities drop dramatically followingwards.[4] Raising children and doing family work are central social tasks that should be shared in partnership. The younger male generation is also ready to live an active fatherhood. A new supplementary parental leave model would make it possible to abandon traditional role attributions and support new desired family roles. “The 30/30 parental leave model supports the family work of both parents following the birth of a child. Young families are relieved in that both parents are entitled to a reduction in their working hours to 30 hours a week and financial support through partial state wage compensation. We encourage budgetary support for this model. It offers time and financial relief for young parents in a central, often difficult phase of life and creates the same professional and career opportunities for young parents. It thus supports equal opportunities for men and women in the labor market, the reduction of the gender pay gap, the motherhood pay gap and subsequently also the pension gap. Poverty in old age is female,” says Vollmann.
Gender Pay Gap
In an EU comparison, Austria is still one of the countries with the largest gender-specific pay gap and, at 18.8 percent, is well above the EU average of 12.7 percent.[5] “We also need an active labor market policy with high-quality programs to get young women into jobs of the future in the environmental and technical sectors. We need diversity in technology and development. Progress cannot only be made by men for men. Women and people of different origins must also be allowed to participate in and shape digitization. What is particularly shocking is that the gap between the sexes has narrowed only minimally in the past year. According to calculations by the WEF, the gap between women and men will only close globally in 131 years, in Europe at least in 67 years – that’s still taking far too long,” says Vollmann.
[1] https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2023
[4] & https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000140265282/lohneinbussen-von-muettern-der-verdienstverlust-liegt-bei-50-prozent
Questions & contact:
Further inquiries: DI (FH) Ulrike Biberschick, Corporate Communications ABZ*AUSTRIA – Competent for Women and Business, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 154, 1110 Vienna, Tel.++43 689 050 64 07, ulrike.biberschick@abz-austria.at
1687377301
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