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Gender employment gap, 2022
(i.imgur.com)
Large difference in employment rates between men and women!
If you compare the employment rates in EU regions, you will notice that the female employment rates still lag behind the male rates in most of the regions.
The EU has set a policy target in this area of halving the gender employment gap from 11.7% in 2019 to 5.8% by 2030.
The green regions shown here are those that have already attained the target.
Source: Eurostat
How does it measure equality though? Like, what does being a housewife have to do with equality? Are you assuming that the majority of housewives in Europe actually want to be something else?
The majority of nurses are women for example. But is this because men are being discriminated against, or that men simply don't study nursing as often as women? Coming to equality arguments via a single statistic paints wrong pictures.
When you are a housewife you do not earn your own money and are depandend on your husband. That is also true for pensions, which often are paid out to the person, who actually did earn money. So if the relationship is in trouble, housewifes have a much harder time leaving their husbands then women who work. That means the relationship is naturally unequal with the husbands being in the stronger position.
Basicly you have to reason for that. One is outside forces. If men have an easier time finding jobs, then you have this situation. On the other hand it is how traditional a country is and well that only has indirect consequences on gender equality.
But I still find it fair to say that men do love their children, actually want to spend time with them and are perfectly capable of doing housework. No reason to presume husbands should be less willing to stay at home then women all other things being equal.
Is that true? In developed countries parents who are the primary caregivers of children do not only get 50% of the assets in a divorce, but they also obtain alimony and financial support for their children, all paid for by the other parent. Even when both parents are working, the majority of judges give child custody to the mother.
In addition to that, there are women's shelters to cater specifically to women. Can you find even a single men-only shelter in your town, or a governmental agency that caters specifically to men in similar situations?
In other words, on average it is less difficult for a mother to divorce than for a father.