Barcelona objectives: The development of childcare facilities for young children in Europe
Member States will need to step up their efforts to improve childcare provisions if the EU is to reach its 75% employment rate target by 2020, said the European Commission in a report released in June. The report assesses the progress made by Member States to achieve the Barcelona targets agreed by European leaders in 2002, which state that childcare should be provided for 90% of children between the age of 3 and the mandatory school age, and for 33% of children under the age of 3. The report finds that just 8 countries have met the targets agreed for both age groups with regards to the availability and accessibility of childcare services.

Figures for 2010 show that most EU countries have missed their own targets for childcare provision: only 8 met the targets for both age categories (0-3 years; 3 years to mandatory school age): Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Only 10 Member States reached the first age target (0-3 years) and 11 the second age target (3 years to mandatory school age). Meanwhile, data released for 2011 show a fall in the provision of childcare for older children, meaning some countries that reached the target in 2010 now fall behind the threshold of 90% (for example Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland).

Policies to improve life and work balance, in particular availability of childcare services, are key to promoting women's access to the labour market, since having more women in employment is essential for reaching the EU’s employment targets. On the 29 May, the Commission proposed country-specific recommendations to Member States under the European Semester for 2013. Recommendations have been addressed to 11 Member States on female employment and on childcare availability and quality.

The Gender Gap in Pensions and Europe 2020 employment targets in Europe
Also in June the Commission published the first expert study on the gender gap in pensions in the EU. This study shows that the effects of lower employment rates amongst women extend into their retirement age: women receive average pensions which are 39% lower compared to those of men. Gender gaps in pensions are the result of three labour market trends: the fact that women are less likely to be in employment than men, they work fewer hours or years, and on average receive lower wages.

A new indicator for gender equality, the Gender Pension Gap, helps to assess the magnitude of gender inequality in the course of people’s lives. The situation across the EU is very diverse: 17 countries have pension gaps of 30% or more. The two widest gender pension gaps are found in Luxembourg (47%) and Germany (44%). At the other extreme, Estonia has the lowest gender pension gap (4%), followed by Slovakia (8%).

Marriage and motherhood are found to increase the gaps in gender pension. The gaps are narrower for single women, though they still remain large (17%). Data also shows a clear ‘motherhood penalty’: having children leads to pension disadvantages for women in nearly all Member States. In most cases, the ‘children penalty’ increases with the number of children.