Introduction

One of the most sustained and widespread changes within European societies over recent decades has been the growth of women’s employment. There is increasing recognition that this integration of women into the wage labour market is related to a permanent and largely irreversible change in economic and social life. Women’s employment, far from constituting a marginal segment of European labour markets, has come to be a key force in the restructuring of work and employment within Europe. There has been an increasing recognition of the significance of gender in the shaping of European labour markets, such that equal opportunities issues have begun to be integrated into European employment policy. In 1997 the European Union agreed, first through the Amsterdam Treaty and second through the approval of common employment guidelines at the Luxembourg Jobs Summit, both to act collectively to draw up common action plans on employment, and to include equal opportunities as the fourth pillar of employment policy, along with employability, entrepreneurship and adaptability. European governments are now committed to develop and to monitor policies designed to promote the employment of women. Equal opportunities has moved up the agenda, from being solely an issue of social justice, to an integral part of the changing employment map in Europe. Integration of women into employment is an essential part of the European employment strategy of boosting the overall share of the population in work in Europe. Moreover, women’s employment growth has been integral to the development of more flexible labour markets, associated with the growth of part-time and non-standard employment and with the expansion of the service sector labour market.