Make Mothers Matter EU Delegation
MMM EU
Make Mothers Matter (MMM) is the only global NGO created in 1947 representing and defending mothers.
ID: 68995403035-84
Lobbying Activity
Response to Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness
8 Nov 2025
For Make Mothers Matter (MMM), persistent gender norms and the lack of adequate family-friendly policies continue to make it difficult for parents particularly mothers to balance caregiving and professional responsibilities. Although an increasing number of fathers take advantage of paternity or parental leave, women still shoulder most unpaid care and domestic tasks. This imbalance leads to the motherhood penalty, whereby mothers face structural disadvantages in employment, earnings, and career advancement compared with fathers or women without children. As a result, many mothers face greater obstacles when re-entering the labour market after childbirth. Meanwhile, mens working hours generally remain unchanged despite family duties. This persistent gender care gap hampers womens participation in the labour market and limits their economic independence, reinforcing wider inequalities such as the gender pay gap and womens greater exposure to poverty. Formal early childhood education and care services, as well as other support services provided by the welfare state, are essential for helping parents balance work, family, and personal life. However, when possible, grandparents biological or not can also play an important supportive role for parents with young children, particularly mothers seeking to re-enter the labour market. It is important, though, that such involvement remains voluntary and complementary, not a substitute for the care responsibilities or parental leave that should be equally taken by fathers. Additionally, this intergenerational support gives older people a sense of purpose and belonging. It helps combat loneliness and depression, values their experience and knowledge, and strengthens social bonds. Altogether, these connections foster social cohesion and community solidarity rebuilding, in modern form, the village of mutual support and care that so many families long for.
Read full responseResponse to EU Anti-Poverty Strategy
22 Oct 2025
Make Mothers Matter welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commission's first comprehensive Anti-Poverty Strategy and calls for bold, inclusive action to ensure it benefits those who need it most especially mothers. Our contribution highlights the structural inequalities faced by mothers across the European Union, examining the barriers that prevent them from fully participating in social and economic life. It also provides concrete recommendations to strengthen support systems in health, education, and social protection. Despite progress in gender equality, mothers across Europe continue to face systemic disadvantages rooted in the unequal distribution of unpaid care work and persistent labour market discrimination. Parenthood often limits womens opportunities for full employment, career advancement, and economic independence - with long-term consequences for income security and pensions. Across Europe, millions of women and families experience poverty and social exclusion, with single mothers, caregivers, and other vulnerable women among the most affected. These economic pressures reverberate through families and communities, deepening cycles of disadvantage. An effective EU Anti-Poverty Strategy must be rights-based and intersectional, addressing the multiple dimensions of poverty and the specific challenges mothers face. It should also recognise the social and economic value of unpaid care work and the wide-range of skills mothers develop - from time management and leadership to empathy and resilience - which strengthen both society and the economy. Most importantly, the strategy must prevent and reduce poverty at every stage of life, ensuring that no mother or child is left behind and that mothers essential contributions are properly recognised and valued. MMM calls for: Active labour market support for mothers re-entering employment or starting businesses. Adequate social protection for mothers and caregivers Fair pensions and care credits to prevent old-age poverty among women Recognition of parenthood skills adquired while providing care Improved maternal health services, addressing both physical and mental wellbeing during the perinatal period Supportive incentives for unpaid care work such community-based and intergenerational childcare, one-stop shops, and flexible parental leave A life-cycle approach to employment, with access to lifelong learning, upskilling and re-skilling opportunities. Address gender inequality Support to families with children The well-being of children depends in large part on the support of their parents, which goes beyond income support. However, current discussions on recovery and jobs creation, and childhood education and care do not consider the importance of care provided by parents. In our 2024 EU survey , the first reason for 28% of mothers who changed their working status came down to wanting to have more time with their child/children. Mothers also expressed a preference to work part-time while dedicating time to caregiving, particularly until their youngest child reaches at least the age of 12. Additionally, over 67% of mothers we surveyed reported feeling overloaded, and 41% shared how they felt that the critical role they play was not adequately recognized by society. Both of these factors, along with many others, greatly impact the ability of mothers to contribute to and participate in society in meaningful and impactful ways. We believe that families are at the centre of nurturing care for young children. To provide it, they need information, resources and services. MMM recommends to grant more attention to the choices of parents regarding outsourced or an in-family care solution. Parents who would like to care for their under school-age children themselves should be able to do so without fear of repercussions on their income, pension, and ability to return to work.https://makemothersmatter.org/mmm-state-of-motherhood-in-europe-2024
Read full responseMeeting with Emma Rafowicz (Member of the European Parliament) and European Cancer Organisation
22 May 2025 · FEMM
Meeting with András Tivadar Kulja (Member of the European Parliament)
26 Nov 2024 · Mothers health in the EU
Meeting with Frances Fitzgerald (Member of the European Parliament)
6 Sept 2023 · Cross-border movement of women caregivers
Meeting with Marc Angel (Member of the European Parliament)
8 Jun 2023 · women's rights
Meeting with Ana Carla Pereira (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit) and
22 Jun 2022 · Social Platform position on an EU Solidarity Strategy to respond to the Ukraine crisis
Response to Proposal for a Council Recommendation on long-term care
28 Mar 2022
Make Mothers Matter wishes to draw the European Commission’s attention to the affordability of long-term care, especially for women. Gender pension gaps (GPG) today reflect the substantial gender gaps driven by inequalities accumulated in the labour market: gaps in remuneration, working hours and years of employment of women. Household and caring duties relating to children and older relatives fall mostly upon women who, as a result, experience more career interruptions and hold part-time jobs more often than men. Therefore, the GPG is almost never simply a question of pension system design. Its explanation is unlikely to just point to any one specific feature or parameter of the pension system. Typically pension systems accumulate inequalities that occur over a person’s lifetime.
While women are primary providers of long-term care, they are also the least likely to be able to afford long-term care due to economic gender inequalities. Unpaid care work done by mothers within their families is a major resource for society. Without recognition of this, mothers of retirement age are exposed to a higher risk of poverty because they reduced their working time or dropped out of the labour market for caring activities with a direct consequence on their contribution to social security.
Part-time work is not always a choice: in certain sectors e.g. care and education where women are predominant, employers offer only part-time positions, and these women therefore suffer in their pension from this part-time barrier. Additionally, it also happens that women decide to reduce their working hours to respond to unpaid care work needs of their relatives. It is therefore necessary to ensure that part-time work is revalued on the one hand, and on the other, that women and men making this decision for family care have access to a minimum pension.
Pension systems should have a redistributive effect and reflect the fact that unpaid care is a collective responsibility. As such, MMM calls on Member States to introduce “care credits” to the benefit of both women and men and to fairly take these credits into account in pension entitlements. MMM believes that care credits should be as gender neutral as possible: they should also be given to fathers who interrupt or reduce work in order to provide care to their family member in need. Some countries have already introduced such innovative measures with care credits and the like.
One could even imagine going beyond the family sphere: with the ageing of the population and the expected rise in care needs for the elderly, pension care credits should also be given to any person who has to stop or reduce work in order to take care of a sick, disabled or elderly relative, friend, neighbour... Such compensation can be an incentive for caregivers and beneficial for the person being taken care of and the State: home care is much cheaper than institutional care, and in most cases, it is the preferred option of the person being cared for.
In the OECD ‘s report “Towards Improved Retirement Savings Outcomes for Women” (10.03.2021) key actions are outlined to reduce the to reduce the gender pension gaps.
Women must be supported for themselves of course, but also because they are responsible for other family members and it is necessary to do everything possible to break the intergenerational transmission of precarity and the dramatic impact that has on long-term care.
Some MMM’s recommendations are: Consider unpaid care work as essential work giving access to social rights (e.g., access to social security, education, and training); introduce “care credits” to offset breaks from employment taken in order to provide informal care to family members and periods of formal care leave, such as maternity, paternity and parental leave, and to count those credits to pension entitlements fairly; consider women’s longer life expectancy in the design of the options to provide long-term care. See details in annex.
Read full responseMeeting with Astrid Dentler (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica), Iris Abraham (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica)
15 Sept 2020 · Strategy on the Rights of the Child, Green Paper on Ageing
Meeting with Santina Bertulessi (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)
9 Sept 2020 · European Pillar of Social Rights/Child Guarantee
Meeting with Lesia Radelicki (Cabinet of Commissioner Helena Dalli)
3 Jul 2020 · Exchange of views on gender equality
Meeting with Catherine Sustek (Cabinet of Vice-President Margaritis Schinas)
2 Jul 2020 · Fostering skills and employability of mothers (and fathers)
Response to EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change
30 Jun 2020
Make Mothers Matter welcomes the European Commission public consultation on the Green Deal Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change .
Due to their weaker, more vulnerable social-economic position, women may be disproportionately impacted by climate change. In addition, they are at a disadvantage when expensive adaptation measures are required as they may not have the means to address climate change and protect themselves. Furthermore, women, particularly mothers, are still responsible for most caring and household tasks for the family. Care work is also likely to increase due to health impacts of climate change or natural disasters , putting additional burdens on mothers. In addition, as the in-depth analysis for the FEMM Committee highlights “social and cultural norms also influence women's' vulnerability to climate change due to the gendered division of labour, mobility, roles in the household and participation in political and economic decision making.”
Women have an important role to play to find solutions to the current climate crises, however, they tend “to have a smaller ecological footprint and propose different solutions to climate change than men.” Despite their key role in mitigating the effects of climate change, “they are underrepresented in (inter)national negotiations and policy making on climate change”. According to EIGE, women’s participation in climate change decision-making at local, national or international level is not equal to men’s. There is therefore a need to increase gender equality in decision-making for equity and equality reasons but also because if “climate change policies are not targeted at all relevant beneficiaries and consumers, they are less likely to address the different needs of society, will not lead to efficient outcomes and will not bring benefits to men and women on an equal basis”.
Considering these aspects Make Mothers Matter stresses the importance of considering the gender perspective in measures taken to mitigate the effect of climate change, and more particularly in the European Green Deal Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change. These policies should take into account the direct economic and social impact and the required investment in time these measures would require. As described above, women, especially mothers, are more likely to engage in sustainable behaviours and are also still responsible for most of caring and households’ tasks. This investment in time, although crucial for the wellbeing of the planet is, just like the investment of unpaid care work, not recognised. If these differences between men and women are not considered in climate policies, there is a risk that there will even be an increase in gender inequality because climate change will make the position of women, and mothers, yet more difficult.
In addition, including education on sustainable practices in school curricula or extracurricular activities is crucial. Societies need to train and encourage end-users and in particular families, in sustainable practices such as reducing waste, recycling and reuse, eco-friendly habits, use of energy-efficient products, consuming local, sustainable consumption, second hand buying, etc. These will have a multiplying effect as they will transfer this knowledge to the families and communities they live in.
Lastly, women's participation in negotiations and decision-making related to climate change needs to increase on all levels.
Read full responseResponse to Gender equality in the EU
13 Feb 2020
Despite the efforts of the European Commission, gender equality is progressing at a "snail’s pace". Indeed, EU legislation and policies have only had a limited impact and the gender pay gap and the pension gap are persisting. Moreover, the EU Gender Equality score has increased, since 2005 by only 5.4 points (+ 1.2 points since 2015). (EIGE, Gender Equality Index 2019).
The main issue is a lack of understanding of what the root causes of gender inequality are. Among those:
• Unequal share of unpaid care work (‘care gap’)
• Gender stereotypes and discrimination
• Inadequate EU and national legislation that encompass the realities of the XXI century, an economy where women also perform paid work.
Employment legislation is rigid and dates back to the industrial era when women performed the care work and career breaks were not needed.
Make Mothers Matter strongly believes that gender equality will never be achieved until the « care gap » is recognized, and that the care is redistributed. The amount of time dedicated by women to care activities is much higher than men.
In the European Union, the lack of recognition of the value of such activities and the absence of measures to adjust the sharing of them is a major obstacle to gender equality. Women still perform the majority of unpaid care work, such as household work and caring for children, the disabled, the elderly or the frail. This inequality is difficult to prove because recent and reliable data of the share of unpaid care work in European households is not available. Only some estimates exist and what is not counted ‘does not count’.
This impacts women's availability on the labour market, forcing women to reduce their paid working hours. As a consequence, this not only reduces their overall income, but also their career progression, time for training or retraining, and also affects their hourly-wage and pension income. In addition, there is the perception that women with children are less available, competent and are therefore discriminated in terms of promotions, access to training, more senior positions, etc. The result is a ‘motherhood penalty’ that raises concerns not only about the gender pay gap, but also for the capacity of societies to manage a sustainable balance between economic and social aspects.
There is an urgent need for the European Commission to set clear targets and indicators including impact assessments. It would also be important to include a subdomain that compares women without children and mothers, in pay gap calculations. Comparing families with children and families without children hides the fact that in many cases, men compensate the loss of income (extra hours, etc.) and the real gender gap is not shown. The motherhood gap increases with the number of children the mother has. In many countries in Europe the gap is lower with one child but increases significantly with three.
Women need support when returning to the labour market after a career break due to caring responsibilities, by validating their informal skills acquired working at home and giving them access to training in order to maintain their pay level and seniority.
If policies and societies tackle only the gender pay gap and there are no figures that show that mothers are penalized, society will not attain the capacity of supporting the costs of rearing children and a better distribution of child rearing. Knowing that the economy in general will also profit from such redistribution.
Make Mothers Matter advocates for the care gap to be recognized, and unpaid care work redistributed while also urging authorities to take the necessary measures to meet the essential needs of the European mothers to eliminate the discriminatory consequences of childbirth. These needs are: time, choice, services, resources and recognition.
Please find the complete statement with policy recommendations attached.
Read full responseResponse to Strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women through pay transparency
2 Feb 2020
Pay transparency is a tool against the gender pay gap, but it is not the final aim and it does not solve the internal causes of the gap. In fact, the underlying cause of the gender pay gap arises from the unequal distribution of unpaid care work.
The wage gap between men and women cannot be solved without substantive action on care work, both paid and unpaid, most notably undertaken by mothers. The fact that women take charge of important unpaid tasks, such as household work and caring for children or relatives, on a far larger scale than men has not been considered sufficiently in the analysis of the gender pay gap and when proposing measures to tackle it, as this one on pay transparency. The career interruptions and adaptations of the time spent at work influence the hourly pay, and impact future earnings and pensions. This is the penalty that women with children suffer –the motherhood penalty.
Unpaid family care work is indispensable. Someone must respond to the emotional, educational and material needs of the members of a family, not only children but also people affected by a handicap, illness or old age. As stated, since women mainly undertake it, notably mothers, this ends up limiting women’s ability to participate fully in economic life and over the time results in poverty.
As studied in the Gender Equality Index 2017 from EIGE, the unequal division of care work between genders and the devaluation of care work contributes to continuing gender segregation in education and in the labour market. It has a strong effect in perpetuating women’s lower labour force participation over the life course and women’s disproportionate participation in precarious employment and reinforces the gender gap in pay and pensions. It also limits women’s possibilities to participate in lifelong learning and to develop skills and qualifications needed to enter the labour market or new occupations.
The gender wage inequality is not only a pay gap between men and women but also between mothers and fathers and between women without children and mothers. Some studies show that, while mothers are prejudiced in their earnings by their motherhood, “fathers’ earnings, by contrast, are unaffected by childbirth and that fathers enjoy a wage premium compared to men without children as they are considered to be “more mature” after having had children.” (ILO, The motherhood pay gap: A review of the issues, theory and international evidence, Geneva, 2015, p.1).
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