Is Luxembourg a model of gender equality in 2024? “We’re getting there, but there is room for improvement,” says Aldina Ganeto, president of the National Council of Women of Luxembourg (CNFL). The Grand Duchy’s progress has yielded mixed results so far, according to the group.
Luxembourg is faring well in certain areas when it comes to women’s rights. Contraception is fully reimbursed by the National Health Fund, abortion rights are unchallenged, parents have equal access to parental leave, with improvements planned for the latter as well as for maternity leave. The government has also promised to ban virginity certificates. Despite a non-parity government, political parties have to respect a gender quota during legislative elections, and in 2011, the Grand Ducal family regulations were amended to allow the line of succession to pass to the eldest child, regardless of their gender.
But the Grand Duchy is not yet exemplary, says the CNFL, which groups together several associations. Recent years have seen a lack of action, says Ganeto. “Things haven’t changed too much, even if we have the impression that Luxembourg doesn’t need to work too much on these topics.”
With a new government in office, it will take time for new policies promoting gender equality to be implemented. The CNFL remains optimistic. “There is favourable dialogue, so that’s a very good starting point.”
According to the latest salary figures, Luxembourg has reduced the gender pay gap, becoming the first EU member state where women earn a higher average hourly salary than men. However, this progress must be taken in the right context - men are still higher earners when it comes to annual salaries, boosted by bonuses. In addition, the gender pay gap as calculated by Eurostat focuses only on averages, and does not compare salaries for the same roles. In the long term, income gaps are particularly evident among pensioners, says Gabrielle Antar, the CNFL’s political director; in fact, women’s pensions are around 40% less than those of men.
In addition to women’s rights, the CNFL seeks to tackle social difficulties. Women are still less likely to work in full-time employment, and more likely to put their careers on hold for family reasons. With lower pay added in, Luxembourgish women are caught in a vicious circle.
As for housing, the main source of anxiety for most residents, single mothers pay a high price. “It is difficult to find accommodation when you have children,” Ganeto explains. “As a social worker, I regularly see how easy it is for couples or childless people to find rentals. Why not create priority access for affordable housing?”
The previous government’s failure to carry out tax reforms was a disappointment for the CNFL. Now pushed back to at least 2026, single people or single parents in tax class 1a will continue to struggle with no end in sight. Although there will be a slight reduction in 2025, couples will continue to benefit from better taxation - “a real injustice,” says the CNFL.
One of the CNFL’s long-standing goals is to ensure the inclusion of femicide in the Grand Duchy’s criminal code. This failure is disappointing to the group. “The problem is that our society is often afraid to name things properly.” In 2024, Luxembourg cannot supply official figures on the number of women murdered “for being women"; not to mention regular harassment and violence.
The group also calls for extended paternity leave, currently limited to ten days, as it would allow fathers more involvement after the birth of their child.
The CNFL also highlighted France’s recent decision to enshrine the right to abortion in its Constitution, and suggested that Luxembourg could follow suit. A relatively recent right in the Grand Duchy, abortion was introduced for emergency situations in 1978, but was not decriminalised until 2014. “Given current events, I think it would be desirable, as we can see from other countries that this right cannot be taken for granted,” Antar says, referring to recent setbacks in the USA. “Prevention is better than the cure.”
This distrust means that, in 2024, women cannot relax when it comes to securing their rights. “It is up to us to remain vigilant and ensure that women’s rights are fairly respected. This is the reason the CNFL has existed for nearly 50 years, and why we have to keep going. There’s still so much to do,” observes Antar.
