Plaid Cymru MEP Jill Evans has unveiled plans to increase employment opportunities for women in Wales.
Ms Evans also wants to introduce rules that will ensure there is better representation of women on company boards.
The ideas are contained within the Party of Wales European Manifesto.
It calls for improvements in childcare and its affordability and the introduction of a new parental leave system which would apply to both parents following the birth of a child.
The measures are designed to tackle the gender inequality that exists in the Welsh jobs market.
Research by the Women Adding Value to the Economy (WAVE) project has found that men hold nearly two thirds (64%) of all the available full-time jobs in employment and self-employment in Wales, while women hold around 80% of all the available part-time jobs.
For full-time workers in Wales, the gender pay gap is 12% with men earning £11.55 per hour compared with £10.18 for women.
Plaid Cymru MEP Jill Evans said:
“While the jobs market has improved for women, inequality persists, particularly in company board rooms where female representation is low.
“This has been exacerbated since the beginning of the 2008 financial crash as the subsequent economic recovery has seen more men than women achieve work. The numbers of women out of work remains high.
“Many skilled and experienced women are prevented from accessing the jobs market because of barriers like the lack of adequate and flexible childcare and caring duties. Action is needed to tackle this.
“In Scandinavian countries, policies have been adopted which are beneficial to all sections of the population and therefore to society as a whole.
“A Plaid Cymru government would introduce a 40% quota for the boards of all bodies sponsored by the Welsh Government.
“A shared parental leave system would mean flexibility so that fathers, as well as mothers, could spend time away from work to look after a new-born child. This would allow families to tailor parental leave to suit their circumstances.
“This approach has been adopted by other European countries and is proven to have worked.
“The Party of Wales believes these measures would provide better opportunities for women in the workplace as well as benefitting families and the economy.”
