Virtual Café | Remote Work and Equal Pay: Can Flexible Work Help Reduce the Gender Pay Gap?

Friday 25 September 2026 | 13:00–14:30 CEST | Online

To mark International Equal Pay Day, the WinWin4WorkLife project hosted an interactive Virtual Café exploring the links between remote work and gender equality. The event recorded 22 registrations.

Remote work can offer greater flexibility and support work-life balance. But can it also help reduce the gender pay gap? Or could it reinforce existing inequalities through reduced professional visibility, slower career progression or an unequal sharing of unpaid care work?

During this Virtual Café, WW4WL researchers Sarra Ben Yahmed and Theun Pieter van Tienoven presented a series of thought-provoking “conversation starters” inspired by the project’s first findings. The session was designed to bring together expert perspectives and audience contributions on equal pay, careers, care responsibilities and the future of remote work.

Invited experts

• Jorge Cabrita – Eurofound, Working Life Unit, Ireland.
• Marina De Angelis – National Institute for Public Policy Analysis, Italy.
• Hildegard Van Hove – Institute for Equality between Women and Men, Belgium.

The Virtual Café provided a space to explore the conditions under which flexible work can support gender equality, with participants invited to share their experiences, questions and perspectives.