Germany adopted a plan on Wednesday to promote gender equality in the world of work, a first for this country where social progress for women has stagnated for several years.
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The national strategy sets targets for all public prosecutions, notably by reducing the gender pay gap and better representation of women in business and politics, said Family Minister Franziska Giffey.
" First (gender) equality strategy in history "
" This is the first (gender) equality strategy in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany which has been coordinated and approved by all ministries, " she said, calling the plan a " milestone "
The plan emphasizes work-life balance, building on the fact that women are more likely to work part-time or not at all because of family commitments. He advocates increasing the number of women in leadership positions, including in the public service, and better representation in politics.
This week, Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU conservative party has already shown interest in the issue: party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has announced that new binding quotas will allow women to hold at least 50% of the positions local political leadership would be in place by 2025.
Germany below the European average
The government is also working on a strategy to increase the number of women on boards, so that a 30% quota will now apply to 600 companies instead of the current 105, said Franziska Giffey.
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Although it has been headed by a woman for almost 15 years, Germany is below the European average for gender equality in the world of work, according to a 2019 index from the European Institute for the equality between men and women. Women earn on average 20% less than men and occupy only about 15% of the positions on boards of directors.
In politics, the representation of women in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, is currently at its lowest level in 20 years, and more than 90% of mayors are men, detailed Franziska Giffey. Historically, West Germany has always lagged behind on the issue of gender equality in relation to the Communist East.
In the west, women still had to obtain permission from their husbands to work until 1977. Shortly before reunification, just over half of women in West Germany were employed, compared to 91% of women to the East.
