Statistics focusing on women of working age within the labour force were published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
Despite making up half the working age population (16-64), nearly a third of working age women are not in the labour force, while this is the case for just over a fifth of working age men. The Women in NI 2020 looks at this trend in greater depth and examines the reasons for female economic inactivity in more detail.
According to the 2019 Labour Force Survey, the main reason that women are economically inactive is that they are looking after the family and the home. Conversely, looking after family and the home is the least commonly given reason for male economic inactivity. The difference in inactivity rates between males and females can be entirely attributed to the difference in the number looking after the family/home. In fact, excluding the numbers looking after the family/home from the inactivity totals would bring the female inactivity rate below that of males (19.9 per cent for women and 20.7 per cent for men).
Economic inactivity rates for women in the 25-34 range with dependent children are much higher (20pps) than for those without dependent children, the age group most likely to have infants, toddlers and pre-school aged children. Further, women with dependent children are most likely to be employed between the ages of 35-49 years, within which age band approximately four-fifths of women are in the labour market (working or looking for work), and are much more likely to work part-time hours than their male counterparts.
Key Points:
- The employment rate for males in NI has been consistently higher than for females over the past 10 years. Although the number of employees in NI is evenly split between males and females, the number of self-employed males is more than double the number of self-employed females.
- Males were more likely to work full-time than females. Furthermore, approximately 60 per cent of employed women with dependent children worked full-time, compared to 95 per cent of employed males with dependent children.
- The unemployment rate for males in NI has been consistently higher than for females over the past 10 years, however, the gap is narrowing between the two. In 2019, 44 per cent of the unemployed were female and 56 per cent were male.
- Over the past 10 years there have been consistently more economically inactive women than men. In 2019, just under a third of working age women (30.2 per cent) were economically inactive, compared to just under a quarter of men (22 per cent).
- The most common reason for inactivity among women was family and home commitments, while the most common reason for men was sickness or disability. The difference in inactivity rates between men and women can be entirely accounted for by the number inactive due to looking after family/home.
- 76 per cent of women with dependent children were economically active, compared with 92 per cent of men with dependent children.
- Economic activity rates were lowest for women with a youngest dependent child of pre-school age.
Notes to editors:
- The Women in NI publication and associated tables are available on the NISRA website.
- This report relies on two separate Labour Force Survey datasets - the January-December 2019 individual dataset and the October-December 2019 quarterly household dataset. The 2019 annual dataset is based on 11,000 individuals, while the quarterly dataset is based on 7,000 individuals. Estimates from both are subject to sampling variability. Estimates from the quarterly dataset are less precise (have larger confidence intervals around them) than estimates from the individual dataset.
- Media enquiries to the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk.
- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
- Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to: Responsible statistician, Elizabeth Super, Economic and Labour Market Statistics Branch (ELMS), elizabeth.super@nisra.gov.uk or Tel: 028 902 55176.