Gender and disability gaps in the EU labour market remain deep

According to Eurostat data published on 27 May 2025 as part of EU Diversity Month, significant employment disparities related to gender, disability and background persist across the European Union in 2024. This data underlines how far the EU still has to go to realise the principles of equality and inclusion.

The EU average employment rate for men aged 20 to 64 was 80.8 per cent, compared to 70.8 per cent for women. This translates into a gender employment gap of 10 percentage points. Although this is 0.2 points lower than in 2023 and 1.1 points lower than in 2014, progress remains slow.

The employment gap among migrants was particularly pronounced. Among foreigners aged 25 to 54, men had an employment rate of 83.1 per cent, while women had an employment rate of only 65 per cent. Thus, the difference between the sexes reached 18.1 percentage points, and the gap between foreign and local women was another 15.7 points. This means that migrant women face a double barrier - both gender and migration barriers.

However, the gap between people with and without disabilities was the largest, at 24 percentage points. These data show that despite numerous initiatives, people with disabilities still face systemic barriers to employment.

All this is happening against the background of a general decline in unemployment in the EU, which makes the problem of unequal access to the labour market even more obvious. While the economy provides opportunities, not everyone has equal access to them.

Eurostat emphasises that these data are not just statistics, but indicators of social justice and inclusion. They are designed not only to capture inequalities, but also to guide policies to address them. EU Diversity Month is a reminder of the need for proactive action to support vulnerable groups in the labour market.