Mothers should not be penalised

The National Council of Women calls on all MEPs to vote in favour of the health and safety directive extending the length of maternity and paternity leave when the issue comes up before the European Parliament on March 24 and 25, after a vote failed to be taken last December.

Late in February, MEPs on the Women's Rights Committee backed extending minimum paid maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks, including a minimum of two weeks paid leave for fathers, which, if not used, will be lost.

A report to be submitted by MEP Edite Estrela once again aims to combine maternity and paternity leave in order to promote the sharing of family responsibilities within the directive. A number of member states have already legislated in favour of similar conditions.

Extending maternity leave to working mothers who have just given birth means they can breastfeed in a decent and healthy environment - at home - for at least 20 weeks. This is four weeks short of the 24 weeks that the Social Platform, the EWL, WHO and Unicef are recommending, based on the benefits for children to be exclusively breastfed during their first six months of life, as a health-prevention measure for both mother and child.

Rather than stereotyping motherhood as a disease or a burden on society and penalising women for being mothers, we should in practice express our gratitude to mothers for giving birth, nurturing our babies and ensuring their physical and emotional well being. Encouraging mothers and fathers to have more and healthier children means that our society is really committed to addressing demographic change, knowing that our families have been reduced to an average of 1.5 children per family. It means we are taking practical measures to address the deterioration of our pensions system for our teenage sons and daughters, the future pensioners.

The government and social partners need to seek an agreement on the sharing of payment of maternity and paternity leave, including through NI contributions, financial incentives for companies and sharing good practices of other member states (view European Gender Equality Law Review 2009 No 2).

In its message on International Women's Day, the National Council of Women further reiterates that women should not bear the brunt of the impact of the recession, which is already leaving its mark on women working part-time or in precarious conditions. We need to ensure that progress achieved so far in the area of gender equality is sustained and developed during and post the economic and financial downturn.

This is an even greater challenge in the prevailing economic downturn because many women and men might find themselves in a weaker position in the labour market, which presents a greater risk of poverty, especially for women and men who belong to already vulnerable groups.

The National Council of Women also calls on the government to address all types of violence in the home. Providing shelters is not enough. We reiterate the need to reduce the hidden pain and hardship through an inter-ministerial action plan of early detection, with specific funding, to better understand gender-based violence against women and its link to issues relating to gender inequality.

Besides being the year dedicated to combating poverty and social exclusion, 2010 represents an important step for the future of gender policies because it marks the preparation for the future Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men post-2010. The timing for the preparation of the gender equality future strategy coincides with the preparation for the EU 2020 strategy that should incorporate strengthening gender equality targets.

The National Council of Women also calls on the EU Commission to carry out a study on women's contribution to household incomes during the recession period. Many of them are the sole or main breadwinners while others provide an essential contribution to the family economy.

It is also important to assess and collect information on women's entrepreneurial achievements during the financial crisis identifying innovative strategies and measures implemented.

The author is president of the National Council of Women.