EU Women Earn 20% Less Than Men, 35% Of Women Older Than 65 Live In Poverty - EP

In the hearing "How poverty affects women in the EU," experts showed women make 20% less than men, ending up with lower pensions. Furthermore, 35% of women older than 65 live in poverty, compared to 16% of men.

The presentation said there are four times as many women working part-time, or hired for a definite period, or who work without a contract. Women also have a generally lower chance of finding work.

"If we truly want to reach the goals of the EU 2020 Strategy and wish for fair treatment for EU citizens - and women make up 52% of the EU's population - we must move from statements to action, and the European Commission must provide more solid institutional assistance," said the hearing's organizer, Romanian social democrat MEP Rovana Plumb, a member of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

Plumb said one in five European women lives in poverty and warned about the need for quick, concerted action to change this serious state of affairs.

"2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, and poverty can be considered along gender lines: one in five women lives in poverty in the EU, as well as one in seven men," said the Romanian MEP.

She pointed out that women living in Eastern Europe, especially in rural areas, are more affected by poverty than those who live in the West.

Tuesday's hearing, attended by MEPs, civil society actors, social experts, was a first step towards developing an EP report, which concentrates experience on poverty affecting women in Europe and the solutions necessary to limit poverty.

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