Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on recent trends in female employment.

In recent years, more and more women have joined the labour market in Europe, but the coronavirus crisis is taking a heavier toll on female employment than the 2008 economic and financial crisis.

So what is the EU doing to protect female employment and what are the challenges ahead?

Stay with us.

Let's start with some facts and figures.

From 2005 to 2019, that's before the coronavirus tsunami, female employment in Europe grew more than twice

as fast as male employment. Behind this trend, there are several factors, from changing attitudes

in countries with a traditionally low participation of women in the labour market, to demographic changes

and educational choices. However, and despite the narrowing employment gap, the European labour market

still counts more men than women, especially in traditionally male-dominated sectors such as IT,

manufacturing or construction. They're low presence in sectors that were hard hit during the economic

financial crisis in 2008, together with other factors such as more flexible working arrangement,

cushioned the effects of the crisis on female employment. But this time, it's a different story.

Yes, it is. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic lockdowns that followed all over

Europe has hit female employment harder than it has hit male employment. The question is, why?

Well, one of the main reasons is that, with the exception of healthcare,

where 85% of frontline workers are women,

men tend to work in sectors considered as essential economic activities,

such as transportation, security or agriculture,

sectors which were protected during the crisis in order

to avoid major disruptions.

Contrary to this, women's work often involves contact with customers and clients, making

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