The economic knock-on effects from greater gender equality at the workplace are considerable: closing the gap in employment rates between men and women could provide a GDP increase in Europe between 15% and 45%. That is the finding of a study being debated at a meeting of EU ministers responsible for equal opportunities and for finance. The meeting, entitled ‘Does gender equality boost economic growth?’, will take place on the margins of an EU Presidency conference, on 15 and 16 October in Stockholm.

The conference will examine the political initiatives needed to improve women’s situation in the workplace, particularly in times of economic crisis and in the context of the reflection on the new Lisbon strategy post-2010.

A meeting of ministers for employment and for gender equality from the current and upcoming Presidencies (France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Spain, Belgium and Hungary) also takes place, on 16 October.

On this occasion, the European Commission event was an analysis note1 on the economic aspects of male-female equality , which shows that over the last decade significant progress has been made in female participation in the jobs market. Going from 52% in 1998 to 59,1% in 2008, the employment rate for women is bordering on the Lisbon target for 2010. Despite this, major gaps remain compared to the male employment rates when measured quantitatively (13,7 points) or qualitatively.