Portuguese women live, on average, 14 percentage points less years of healthy life after age 65 than men, the largest gender gap recorded in the European Union in this chapter. The conclusion is contained in the report Gender Equality Index 2025presented this Tuesday, December 2nd, and illustrates what is today Portugal’s main Achilles’ heel in terms of equality between women and men compared to the European average: health.
The report, published by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), reveals that Portugal has the worst result in the EU in the “health status” dimensionwhich assesses the population’s self-perception of health and also the percentage of years lived with quality after the age of 65. At the end of the table, Portugal combines a very low healthy life expectancy for women and reduced levels of positive self-rated health, among the worst in the bloc of 27 EU countries.
Just 50% of women in Portugal classify their health as “good” or “very good”, contra 58% of menboth below the European average. And, between the age of 65 and the end of life, Portuguese women spend only 34% of their time in good health, while men reach 48%. In other words, women live longer, but worse. The discrepancy is so significant that it highlights Portugal as the country with the most serious gender inequality in this area across the Union.
The “health status” dimension also includes indicators such as risk behaviors and access to medical care. Even though Portuguese women have, on average, healthier behaviors than men – they smoke less and consume less harmful alcohol – they continue to face greater physical limitations, worse mental health and a lower quality of life as they age.
Another area where gender inequality in Portugal is felt much more markedly than the European Union average is in informal long-term care. In Portugal, 32% of women between the ages of 45 and 64 dedicate more than 20 hours a week to providing assistance to one or more people suffering from an age-related problem, chronic health condition or illness. Well above the European average (20% of women) and double the percentage recorded among men (16%).
Other areas where Portugal presents delays
In addition to health, the report highlights other areas where Portugal is experiencing regression or stagnation.
No mastery of money – which measures gender inequalities in access to financial resources and the economic situation of women and men -, the country has dropped one point since 2020, mainly due to the worsening of the economic situation, placing it among the five countries that have regressed in this chapter in the last five years. The “economic situation” subdomain drops 3.3 points, reflecting the increased risk of poverty and persistent wage inequality: 16% of women are considered underpaid, compared to 10% of men. And, within couples, women earn on average 80% of partner’s incomea difference that remains practically unchanged.
No domain of knowledge – which measures gender inequalities in schooling, participation in lifelong education and training and gender segregation -, Portugal also shows a drop (–1.3 points), despite being above the European Union average.
The decline is linked to the decline in the participation of women and men in lifelong education and training, as well as the persistence of educational segregation. Almost three in four graduates in the areas of education, health and arts are women, while the Female presence in STEM (Sciences, Technologies, Engineering and Mathematics) remains a minority and has been falling since 2015.
In the domain of tempo – which measures gender inequalities in the allocation of time spent on care, domestic tasks and social activities – Portugal remains marked by strong inequalities in the division of domestic and care work. 66% of women do household chores daily, 44% of men. Here, however, for both genders, participation in domestic tasks is above the European average (59% for women and 33% for men) and with a smaller disparity (22 percentage points compared to 26 for the EU average).. Disparities widen between couples with children and older generations.
With regards to the can – which measures gender equality in decision-making positions in the political, economic and social spheres – despite being the area where Portugal has improved most since 2020, weaknesses continue to exist. The female presence in parliament and regional assemblies fell, while slight improvements were noted in the Government (even with the decline in the current executive) and on the boards of directors of listed companies in the last five years.
Deep-rooted stereotypes
The report also highlights the persistence of deeply rooted gender stereotypes in Portuguese society. Almost half of the population – 47% of women and men – accepts the idea that men earn more because they perform more demanding jobsan argument that naturalizes wage inequality and which, in the case of women, appears well above the European average.
Another strongly present stereotype is that theWomen are “naturally” more competent at managing the home: more than three in five women and more than half of Portuguese men believe that men are less capable of domestic worka perception that continues to fuel the unequal division of time and care.
The report also warns of the persistence of a culture of blaming victims in the digital context: 51% of women and 57% of men in Portugal consider that a woman has some responsibility if her intimate images are shared without consent. “Although more prevalent among older people, these beliefs maintain a significant expression among young men, revealing that cultural and educational transformation remains incomplete”, highlights the report.
Portugal in upward convergence with the EU
Despite these challenges, the report presents an overall positive portrait of Portuguese developments. With 63.4 points, Portugal occupies 10th place in the EU and has recorded solid growth since 2015: 9.1 points more in total, and 4.3 more since 2020. The country is identified as a case of “upward convergence”which means that it is improving while reducing the gap with the European average.
Most of this progress results from advances in representation in political and economic powerdriven by legislation that imposes gender quotas both in politics and on boards of directors, notes the Index.
50 years until full equality
In the European panorama, the Gender Equality Index 2025 warns of too slow progress: at the current rate, the EU will still be 50 years of achieving full equality. An emblematic fact of the report is the so-called “ghost quarter”: Women earn, on average, just 77% of men’s annual income, which is equivalent to three and a half months of “free” work every year.
Health and education are areas where many Member States have experienced setbacks, while representation in economic power is the area where the EU is making the most progress.
The report highlights, however, that without structural measures – especially in the redistribution of care work and the fight against female poverty – gender inequality will continue to deeply impact the lives of European women.