PES Manifesto

More support to families!

Published Friday, May 30, 2008 at 10:05
by jose reis santos (485 views and 1 comments)

I would like to share with you some of the ideas that Manuela Augusto, leader of the Socialist Women Department of the Portuguese Socialist Party, presented during a conference in Faro on the “New Social Europe” theme (check the videos here: part 1 and part 2). She kindly accepted my invitation to write a few lines on the issue which you can read here:

Contributions for the manifesto2009

Bring together personal and professional life affects both men and women. Nevertheless, women are strongly penalized, sometimes even more than men.

This situation results in a higher female unemployment rate, carer progress difficulties and lower incomes, just to mention a few examples.

Let’s look, for instance, at one of the EU reports dating back of 2007. Women account for only 24% of the total number of deputies in the 27 national parliaments. At national government level, 76% of all the ministerial posts are occupied by men and no woman is leading a national central bank.

Too many challenges are lying between us and the project we want to build up. Therefore, we need new strategies, new policies and new solutions. To keep it short, we need to take decisions.

Our proposals:

• We have to adopt new and creative measures to support families. How? With the development of policies that allow people to become old in a dignified and active framework.

• We propose a reinforcement of fiscal benefits to families with more than one child and the concession of state-aid to three months long pregnant women.

• The reinforcement of social equipments, such as kindergartens, must continue. Labour legislation should foresee a wider involvement of fathers in the family life.

• Both men and women should have the right to maternity/paternity leaves.

If we still believe EU is chasing the “New Social Europe”, one in which citizens are at the core of concepts like sustainable and responsible development, then these issues must be considered as top priorities for all the 27 national’s governments.

Maria Manuela Augusto

(President of the Portuguese National Department of Socialist Women)

Tags: blogger of the week, equality, women