Activities of Louis MICHEL related to 2015/2228(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Poverty: a gender perspective (A8-0153/2016 - Maria Arena) NL
Amendments (13)
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that closing the gender pay gap requires increased transparency in pay systems, gender-neutral job classification, a reversal of the onus of proof when it comes to challenging gender discrimination in the workplace, and desegregation of the workforce;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas single-parent families, especially families headed by single mothers, are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion; whereas according to Eurostat, women accounted for 56.6% of single-parent households in the Union in 2014; whereas poverty has a strong impact on children and there is a riskthe personal development and education of children; whereas there is a strong probability of transmission of poverty over several generations;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas women oftmore often than men take the responsibility for the care of elderly or ill family members as well as for children, resulting in their lower and put their careers on hold more regularly, which prevents them making pension plans, forging a career and fully participationg in the labour market, which consequentlthereby diminishesing their overall income; whereas the establishment of high-quality childcare services and facilities at affordable prices reduces the risk of impoverishment; whereas few Member States have achieved or surpassed the Barcelona objectives;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that, among other factors, the lack of affordable childcare, the need to preserve a balance between work and private life, stereotypical education and segregation on the employment market contributes to the gender employment gap, the pay gap and related pension gap, and the disproportionate number of women who are in precarious work and in or at risk of poverty; urges the Member States to ensure access to childcare by, for example, increasing expenditure on the provision of childcare services and/or subsidies to households, incentivising employer contributions to childcare costs, and making better use of EU funds; calls on the Member States to encourage girls and women to opt for non-stereotypical education and training;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the pension entitlements gap averages 40%; whereas this pension gap represents an obstacle to women’s economic independence and is one of the reasons why women find themselves falling below the poverty line as they grow older;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the stereotypes widely conveyed by society contribute to the feminisation of poverty; whereas these stereotypes are developed during childhood and are reflected in the choice of training and education and on into the labour market; whereas women are still too often confined to ‘women-friendly’ tasks and remain under-represented in certain areas such as mathematics, science, engineering, and so on, and in positions of responsibility and in enterprise; whereas these stereotypes lead to discrimination in terms of recrimination;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas there are shortcomings in the characterisation of the concept of ‘household’ in terms both of data collection and of taxation; whereas parameters other than the ‘household’ are rarely used when considering income inequalities; whereas this concept of ‘household’ does not allow the policy- making process to take into account the situation of women in terms of income or fiscal obligations; whereas the taxation system in force influences women’s access to the labour market and their economic independence;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the lack of affordable high- quality care, whether for children or for the sick or elderly, contributes to the gender employment gap, the pay gap and the related pension gap; emphasises that equal access to childcare and free, high-quality education is central to securing equal opportunities and breaking poverty cycles as this helps women acquire the qualifications that serve to secure employment; advocates the flexibility that will enable women to achieve balance between their working and family lives;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to undertake a comprehensive and global legislative action to modernise in a coherent way the types of leave, namely maternity, paternity, parental and carers’ leave, so as to enable a fairer distribution of family responsibilities and boost women’s participation in the labour market;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement policies to promote the employment of women and the integration into the labour market of socially marginalised groups of women, in the light of the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy, with an emphasis on life- long learning, the development of affordable and high-quality public care services, flexible working time arrangements and measures to combat the segregation of men and women by occupation and sector, including in the world of enterprise and in positions of responsibility;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Invites the Commission to carry out an impact assessment on minimum income schemes in the EU and to consider further steps that would take into account the economic and social circumstances of each Member State as well as an assessment of whether the schemes enable households to meet basic personal needs; and to consider introducing a social package that would guarantee European values in a globalised world; invites the Commission to evaluate on this basis the manner of, and the means for providing an adequate minimum income above the poverty threshold of 60 % of national median income in all Member States in line with national practices and traditions while respecting their individual characteristics in order to support social convergence across the EU;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls for studies to be conducted that provide fresh statistics in this field and for these to be used to create an enlarged, comprehensive and reliable database;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls for the Commission’s recommendations to be applied and for work to be conducted in cooperation with the Commission;