8 March 2013: International Women’s Day Almost a third of women and 5% of men having a young child worked part-time in 2011

STAT/13/37

7 March 2013

8 March 2013: International Women’s Day
Almost a third of women and 5% of men having a young child worked part-time in 2011

On the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2013, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes a selection of data on women in employment and on reconciliation of work and family life. The tables in this News Release only show a small part of the large amount of gender based data available at Eurostat. A dedicated section on the topic of gender equality is available on the Eurostat web site1.

Highest proportion of female managers in Latvia, Hungary and France

In 2011, a third of managers2 in the EU27 were women. There were fewer female than male managers in all Member States, with the highest proportions of female managers recorded in 2011 in Latvia (45%), Hungary (41%) and France (40%), and the lowest in Cyprus (15%), Greece (23%) and Malta (24%).

More female than male teachers in primary and upper secondary education…

Women dominate the teaching profession, particularly in primary education. There are significantly more female than male teachers at primary education level3 in all Member States. In 2011, 85% of primary education teachers in the EU27 were women, with the highest percentages in the Czech Republic and Slovenia (both 97%), Italy, Lithuania and Hungary (all 96%), and the lowest in Denmark (69%), Luxembourg (74% in 2010) and Spain (75%).

While there are also more female than male teachers at upper secondary education level3 in the EU27, the pattern is less pronounced. In 2011, the proportion of female teachers at upper secondary level was 59%, with the highest percentages in Latvia (80%), Lithuania (79%) and Bulgaria (78%), and the lowest in Malta (43%), Germany, Spain, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (all 50%).

…but fewer female than male academic staff in tertiary education

On the other hand, at tertiary education level3 there are fewer female than male academic staff (which includes lecturers and researchers) in the EU27. In 2011 the proportion of female academic staff was 40% in the EU27, with the highest percentages in Latvia (59%), Lithuania (55%) and Finland (50%), and the lowest in Malta (30%), the Czech Republic, France and Italy (all 36%).

Highest proportion of female physicians in the Baltic Member States

In 2010, 45% of physicians in the EU27 were women, compared with 38% in 2001. In 2010, the highest proportions were found in Estonia and Latvia (both 74%), Lithuania (70%) and Romania (69%), and the lowest in Luxembourg (30% in 2011), Belgium (36%), Italy and Malta (both 37%).

Employment: Proportion of female teachers, physicians and managers, %

* 2010 data: Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Croatia and Turkey. 2010 data for academic staff in tertiary education for Ireland. EU aggregate is based on available years.

** 2009 data: Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden; 2011 data: Ireland, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Iceland. EU aggregate is based on available years.

: Data not available

Highest proportions of part-time work amongst women with children in the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom

One way to reconcile work and family life is to work part-time. In 2011 in the EU27, almost a third (32%) of employed women aged 25 to 54 having one child of less than 6 years worked part-time, while for employed women with three children or more, where the youngest is aged 6 or less, half (50%) worked part-time. For employed men, the rates were significantly lower (5% and 7% respectively). While the proportion of women working part-time increases when having children and also with the number of children, the proportion of men remains relatively stable. Amongst employed persons without children, 22% of women and 7% of men worked part-time in 2011.

Both for women having one child aged less than 6 and for those having three or more children, where the youngest is aged 6 or less, the highest proportions of those working part-time were observed in the Netherlands (81% for those with one child aged less than 6 and 92% for those with three or more children), Austria (60% and 69%), Germany (56% and 77%) and the United Kingdom (48% and 67%).

Flexible working hours most used in the Nordic Member States

Another way to reconcile work and family life is to have some form of flexible working hours5, which depends on personal choice, on national legislation and on the policy applied by the employer. In the EU27, 26% of female full-time employees aged 15 to 64 used flexible working hours in 2010 and 29% of men. The largest shares for both women and men were registered in Finland (53% of female full time employees and 59% of male), Sweden (49% and 47%), Denmark (both 44%), Germany (39% and 41%) and Austria (36% and 39%).

Part-time employment by number of children and flexible working hours for full-time employees

: Data not available or not reliable due to too small sample size.

The reliability of data shown in brackets may be affected by small sample sizes.

1. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/employment_social_policy_equality/equality, where many gender based indicators are presented, as well as links to the website of the European Commission Directorate General for Justice and to the European Institute for Gender Equality.

2. Includes corporate managers and managers of small enterprises.

3. Primary education: International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 1, upper secondary education: ISCED 3, tertiary education: ISCED 5 and 6.

Ireland: data for upper secondary education include lower secondary education (ISCED 2) and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4); Finland: data for upper secondary education include post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4); Denmark: data for primary education include lower secondary education (ISCED 2); France: data for tertiary education include post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4); Estonia: data for upper secondary education include vocational programmes in lower secondary education (ISCED 2) and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4); Italy and Switzerland: data include only public sector.

2. One child aged less than 6.

Three children or more: Youngest child aged less than 6 and the others aged less than 15 or aged 15 to 24 if they are economically dependent (e.g. students at home).

3. Flexible working hours: Having flexitime/working time banking; having a fixed daily number of hours, but some flexibility within the day; or having own work schedule (no formal boundaries).