Gender Equality in the EU on Health and Life Expectancy: How Can Member States be Segmented?

Abstract

The Gender Equality Index is a composite index published by the European Institute of Gender Equality in 2013. The aim of this study is to focus on the index domain related to health, ageing and healthy life years through the lens of gender equality and segment EU member states. The quantitative part encompassed the application of the k-medoids clustering algorithm on the six health domain indicators. Two clusters have been retained, sizes 11 and 16. The first cluster encompasses countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, and Sweden. The second cluster encapsulates countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus and Slovakia. The countries in the first cluster are characterised by higher gender equality regarding health. The indicator for which the highest difference is exhibited is Population doing physical activities and/or consuming fruits and vegetables (%, aged 16+). This result indicates that in the second cluster countries, there is a discrepancy in the way males and females behave in relation to physical activities and/or nutrition, where males are doing more physical activities and/or having better nutrition. The results of the study could indicate nuanced differences in health-related gender equality and signal which aspects could be targeted to eliminate gender inequality and provide better conditions for healthy ageing for both genders in the EU.