by Blanca Casares Guillén, policy expert and project manager (AEIDL). Coordinator of the European Policy Forum for women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas
As the European Union prepares to shape its next Gender Equality Strategy (2026–2030), it is essential that the framework recognises the specific realities of women in rural areas and systematically integrates urban–rural disparities into policy design. Gender equality challenges are not uniformly experienced across Europe; they are shaped by geography, access, and demographic patterns—factors that often disproportionately affect women in rural territories.
Recent data from Eurostat underscores that labour market participation data highlights persistent gaps. In 2023, the EU employment rate for women aged 20–64 years in rural areas stood at 69.7%, slightly below the 70.2% average across all degrees of urbanisation. More striking is the gender disparity in part-time work: 26.5% of rural women were employed part-time compared to only 6.0% of rural men, exposing a 20.5 percentage point gap. This reflects deep-rooted structural inequalities, often tied to the availability of care services and social expectations about women’s roles in the household and community.
Women in rural areas are also more vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion, with 22.5% of rural women at risk in 2023, compared to 20.4% of men.
In terms of education, rural women and men face critical challenges that affect lifelong opportunities. In 2023, 13.4% of young rural women and 16.5% of young rural men had at most lower secondary education. The share of rural women with tertiary education was just 38.4%—10 percentage points below the EU average across all degrees of urbanisation (48.8%). Early school leaving is also more prevalent in rural areas, with 8.3% of young women and 11.2% of young men affected, limiting their access to quality employment.
These figures point to intersecting barriers that rural women face: geographic isolation, fewer educational and professional opportunities, limited service provision (e.g. childcare, transport), and entrenched gender roles. Without a rural-sensitive and intersectional approach, the Gender Equality Strategy risks reinforcing these gaps rather than closing them.
On 10 April 2025, the FEMM Committee considered a draft opinion on the Gender Equality Strategy 2025 presented by rapporteur Marko Vešligaj, where he calls on the Commission to present an ambitious strategy with concrete tangible legislative and non-legislative measures in a number of key areas, such as gender-based violence, women’s empowerment in the world of work, or equal representation and political participation. The draft report also calls for efforts to advance gender equality through the principles of intersectionality and gender mainstreaming, and to ensure that a gender perspective is integrated into all Commission proposals, including budgetary procedures.
Importantly, this draff report on the Gender Equality Strategy post-2025 already affirms the need for gender mainstreaming and intersectionality. However, rural women are not visible within this framework. Recognising their realities would align with broader EU goals, such as the Rural Vision 2040, the European Pillar of Social Rights, and commitments to territorial cohesion.
Based on findings from the GRASS CEILING project (Gender Equality in Rural and Agricultural Innovation Systems), funded under Horizon Europe, it is clear that the post-2026 Gender Equality Strategy must take a comprehensive and rural-sensitive approach to ensure no woman is left behind. For Europe to become truly inclusive and resilient, the Gender Equality Strategy must not only reflect diversity in gender—but also territorial diversity. By explicitly addressing rural realities, the next Gender Equality Strategy can ensure that no woman is left behind, regardless of where she lives.
For that, to build a truly inclusive and resilient Europe, the Strategy should prioritise actions that address the unique challenges faced by rural women, including: combating gender-based violence in isolated areas and promoting rural women’s entrepreneurship. It must also recognise and support informal and agricultural work, which is often unprotected and undervalued, by ensuring access to social security, parental leave, and other benefits. Bridging the digital divide through investments in broadband and digital literacy for rural communities is essential. The European Care Strategy must be adapted to consider rural infrastructure limitations, such as transportation and staffing as well as the development of community-based care models that are affordable and accessible. Moreover, rural women’s active participation in local governance should be fostered, and all EU data collection related to gender equality must include rural–urban disaggregation to properly reflect territorial disparities and inform targeted policy solutions.