In some regions, female unemployment is more than double. In rural areas of Portugal, nearly two-thirds of the rural unemployed are women. In only a few rural regions is male unemployment higher than female. If one is to include those women who are seeking paid work, but who are not counted as being unemployed, the situation in most rural areas is even more grave than the picture given by official statistics. This is particularly the case in Objective 1 rural regions, where traditional agricultural societies still predominate.
Current trends aggravate the already difficult situation of rural women.
The cutbacks in public services and in public sector employment and further centralisation of the location of both public and private services affect rural women doubly, making it both more difficult to obtain jobs and to access the services they need for themselves and their families. In France and Ireland, where information on people's use of time is available, rural women, and particularly farm women, have the fewest number of free hours, fewer than urban women and most rural men. In contrast, they are generally less involved in decision-making at local or regional levels. Often their domestic and community maintenance roles not only restrict them from participating in decision-making, but provide the support which enables men to participate. The unequal share of family and domestic responsibilities is a significant constraint to the equal participation of women and men in rural development.