In 2021, the share of women in the EU (25-54-year-olds) outside the labour force who were not seeking employment was much higher than for men (18.5% compared with 8.2%).
Significant differences can be observed in the reasons men and women outside the labour force aged 25-54 have for not seeking employment. The shares of women outside the labour force who did not look for a job due to care responsibilities (5.7%) and other family reasons (2.9%) were significantly higher than those of men. Even if those two categories of care responsibilities and family reasons are combined for men, the resulting share is only 0.5%.
Source dataset: Eurostat ad-hoc extraction
At national level, women outside the labour force aged 25-54 who did not seek employment due to care responsibilities exceeded 5% in half of the EU countries. The highest share was recorded in Czechia (12.8 %), followed by Romania (11.0%) and Ireland (8.2%). Meanwhile, the lowest shares were recorded in Denmark (0.9%), Sweden (1.5%) and Slovenia (1.8%).
On the other hand, the corresponding share for men, even though combined with ’other family reasons’, exceeded 1% only in Ireland (1.1%).
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on people outside the labour force
- Statistics Explained article on unemployment and beyond
- Dedicated section on labour force statistics
- Database on labour force statistics
- Dedicated section on gender statistics
Methodological notes:
- ‘Other reasons’ include education or training, retirement, awaiting recall to work (lay-off), no suitable job is available, other personal reasons and not stated.
- Data reliability flags are available in the Excel file below the visual.
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