A new report on gender equality has been published

Luxembourg’s Parliamentary Committee on Family Affairs discussed, for the first time, the report by the Observatory for Gender Equality, which was drawn up on the initiative of the LSAP. The data presented show both some progress and persistent imbalances in the social sphere. In particular, the statistics indicate a 10 per cent increase in the number of police interventions in cases of domestic violence compared with last year. Of these, 58 per cent of the victims were women and 42 per cent were men. Furthermore, five murders were recorded during the reporting period, with three men and two women among the victims.

Although two-thirds of those surveyed report an improvement in their family’s well-being when they share parental leave, unpaid leave for looking after children and the home remains unevenly distributed. Yuriko Backes, Minister for Gender Equality emphasised that this trend is directly linked to the significant gender pension gap, which in Luxembourg exceeds the European Union average. As women are more likely to switch to part-time work to care for their families, this leads, in the long term, to a disproportionate reduction in their pension payments.

In this regard, a recent proposal by the Minister for Labour, Marc Spautz, has raised serious concerns amongst MPs. The initiative proposes that parents of children under the age of 13 should be able to reduce their working week by up to four hours with their employer’s consent. However, these additional hours off will not be paid. Claire Delcourt, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Family Affairs and an LSAP MP expressed the view that such a measure would once again hit the financial well-being of women, who are more likely to make use of this right and, as a result, lose part of their future pension.

For his part, ADR MP Dan Hardy stated that the state should compensate for these four hours. According to him, such a subsidy would prevent financial hardship for elderly parents and serve as a tangible demonstration of support for the family as an institution. Yuriko Backes herself has so far refrained from publicly commenting on the initiative, noting that she intends to discuss the matter personally with the Minister for Labour before the government announces its official position.