On International Women’s Day, Eurofound has released a special episode of its podcast, Eurofound Talks, to discuss gender equality in Europe. The episode focuses on the challenges faced by women and men in balancing work and personal life, and how gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work, as well as gender segregation on the labour market, continue to impede progress towards gender equality in Europe.

Gender equality is a core value of the European Union and Eurofound’s research systematically adopts a gender mainstreaming approach, with data disaggregated by gender wherever possible. Recent research has highlighted persistent gender segregation in sectors, occupations and workplaces, with only one in five workers in a gender-balanced workplace.

The podcast episode features Eurofound Working Life researchers Jorge Cabrita and Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė, who discuss how women do eight full-time weeks more work than men per year when paid and unpaid work is combined. They also explore the broader implications of this for society and the policy action that can be taken to improve gender equality in Europe.

The researchers also examine how indicators of work-life balance and work-life conflict differ for women and men, and the issue of unwanted sexual attention, which women are over three times more likely to suffer from than men in the workplace.

Eurofound’s research aims to support policy-makers in developing evidence-based policies that address gender inequalities and promote gender equality in Europe.