Empowering mothers for accessing the labor-market

The project aimed to place the gender economy at the center of the post-pandemic recovery dialogue by strengthening mothers’ soft skills and facilitating their access to the labor market. More spe...

The project aimed to place the gender economy at the center of the post-pandemic recovery dialogue by strengthening mothers’ soft skills and facilitating their access to the labor market. More specifically, the project pursued three key objectives: 1) to raise awareness on labor market barriers for mothers and the mitigation measures for enhancing a better socioeconomic inclusion and promoting a cultural change through family roles rebalancing (i.e. the system of paternity leaves); 2) strengthen mothers’ skills to access the labor market by activating their softs-skills and a work-life balance strategy and developing new digital skills; 3) initiate a dialogue with local public authorities, job centers and trade unions on actions to reduce the maternity gaps in the labor market access and create the conditions to remove discrimination in the workplace.

The motivation for the MoWe4Job project stemmed from the urgent need to address the gender employment gap, which remains a critical issue across Europe. The socio-economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have further exposed inequalities, disproportionately affecting women and especially mothers, who continue to experience job insecurity, reduced working hours, and difficulties in balancing work and family life. Despite policy efforts, the underrepresentation of mothers in the workforce persists, reinforced by traditional caregiving roles, limited access to flexible work arrangements, and a lack of structured support for their professional reintegration. Additionally, digitalization has widened the skills gap, with many mothers lacking the necessary competencies to compete in an evolving job market. This project was designed as a response to these challenges, providing mothers with targeted training, awareness initiatives, and policy engagement to foster their economic inclusion and ensure a more equitable labor market.

Questionnaire Result Analysis; Awareness Campaign Report; Programme of the International Cooperation Meetings; Course materials (Programme, Self-evaluation Questionnaire & Presentations); Guidelines on the measures and policies to reduce the mothers' gap in the job market