Facing the challenge of increasing women’s participation on the European labour market NEUJOBS...

Facing the challenge of increasing women’s participation on the

European labour marketNEUJOBS WORKING PAPER NO. D16.2C

Agnieszka Chłoń-DomińczakAgnieszka Kamińska

Iga Magda

Motivation

• Inevitable adverse demographic changes • In 2012, the employment rates of men and women in

the EU stood at 69,8% and 58,6%, respectively• A projected significant decline in working age

population by 2025 (from 335,6 mln to 327,2 mln)• What can be done to increase female labour market

participation? – Young women, school to work transitions & maternity– Life long learning challenges– Women and retirement

1. Introduction2. Young women & education3. Young women & maternity4. Life long learning5. Retirement6. Policy implications

Women on the European labour market

• Gender employment gap shrank considerably in the EU during the last 20 years – from 27 p.p in early 1990s to 12 p.p in 2010.

• Women at the age of 45-64 reached the highest employment improvement, whereas employment rates of women aged under 25 years decreased in most EU countries

• An increase in women’s involvement in the labour market is a major factor improving female employment


Young women and school to work transitions

• In 1995 about 18% of people aged 20-29 were students. During the next 15 years this share increased to 27% (OECD, 2013).

• The proportion of women who enter an university increased from 51% in 2000 to 66% in 2009, while among men these shares were 42% and 52%, respectively.

Students as a percentage of the population of 20-29 year olds.


Young women and school to work transitions

LM participation rates, 15-24 year olds • A significant employment decline among young women and men in consequence of growing popularity of tertiary education

• Reluctance to combine education with work -> increase in the average age of entering the labour market of young women

• Higher education increases the human capital, therefore women’s future employment prospects

• NEETs as an important policy challenge


How to facilitate school-to-work transitions?

• Early intervention and cooperation of all responsible stakeholders – close cooperation between public employment services and bodies of the educational system

• Good programme targeting – youth programmes should be provided to all unemployed young people, regardless of their educational status

• Strict conditions of granting all benefits - tight job-search requirements and mandatory participation in ALMPs under the threat of unemployment benefit sanctions prevent long-term exclusion


Maternity and labour market participation

• Employment rates among mothers vary across EU countries, they are lower than employment rates of other women

• Slovenia, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland as examples of countries with the highest employment rates among mothers in the contrary to Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic


Factors behind women’s LM participation

• The duration of parental leave may strongly influence the future activity of women (negative relation between the length of the leave and the mothers’ employment rate)

• The crucial importance of men participation in childcaring obligations

• Existence of developed public childcare services is a crucial factor shaping mothers’ behaviour on the labour market

• Flexible workplace arrangments matter as well


Proportion of children aged <6 enrolled in formal childcare services (2008)

and public spending on childcare (% of GDP)


Lifelong learning and female labour market potential

• Growing importance of skills development• The participation rate in job-related training is equal

for men and women• On average, time spent in education is shorter

among women • Women: Higher popularity of non-formal education

than formal• Differences in obstacles to LLL participation among

men and women


Participation in formal and non-formal education in LFS and AES


Different obstacles to participation in education


Lifelong learning and female labour market potential

Obstacles related to family responsibilities by country


Women and retirement

• The considerable rise in elderly women’s employment in most of EU countries

• Sweden and Denmark – countries with the highest female labour market participation rates

Average expected years in employment for women


Women’s employment rates in age group 55-64 in the EU12 countries, 1992 vs. 2000 and

in the EU27 countries, 2001 vs. 2011


Retirement policies

• Attempts to equalize the statutory retirement ages for men and women due to demographic trends

• Between 2011 and 2040 the number of countries with different pensionable ages of men and women is expected to decrease from 12 to 3 (BG, SI, RO)

Average pensionable age in OECD countries by gender, 1950-2050


Pensionable age in the EU countries by gender, 2011 and 2040


Retirement policies

• The replacement rates provided by the pension systems are important factors determining retirement decisions

• Lower wages of women (in relation to men) encourage faster transition to retirement

• Pension entitlements for periods outside labour market related to childcare are desired in order to compensate for loss of pension rights due to break in employment careers, though they need to be well designed

• Other policies aimed at extending working lifes similar for men and women


Net replacement rates in 2010 and their projected level 10 years after retirement


Policy implications

•flexible working hours, part-time employment and teleworking•increasing the availability of good quality childcare and pre-school services•the extension of the access to public employment services to all young people•carefully assessed duration of the parental leaves •changing the attitiudes: more gender-balanced distribution of childcare and home responsibilities


Policy implications

• The full equalisation of male and female statutory retirement ages

• The linkage between pension benefits and accumulation of previous contributions

• Supporting the LLL, removing obstacles related to family obligations crucial from female perspective


Thank you for your attention

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Facing the challenge of increasing women’s participation on the European labour market NEUJOBS...

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