WRITTEN QUESTION E-0068/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (30 January 1998)

Subject: Unemployment among women in the EU

Official EU statistics give details of unemployment among women and the percentage of the total unemployment figures which women represent. Unfortunately, those figures omit some data from the individual Member States and the EU as a whole which, we feel, are very significant.

1. What percentage of all women are unemployed?

2. What are the employment patterns of women in gainful employment?

3. How are women who are neither unemployed nor gainfully employed covered financially and in terms of social security?

4. How are unemployed women covered financially and in terms of social security in the individual Member States?

5. How are unemployed women's allowances calculated, and what factors have an impact thereon (e.g. family circumstances, number of children, brothers and sisters, etc.)?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (2 April 1998)

1. The percentage of unemployed women relative to the female working-age population in 1996 (latest year for which complete labour force survey data is available) was:

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2. The analysis presented by the Commission in Employment in Europe 1996 shows that women tend to be employed in a more limited number of sectors of activity and occupations than men. Just four sectors, which account for less than a third of total employment of men and women, employed almost half of all women in work in 1995 (health and social services 16%, retailing 13%, education 10.5% and public administration 7.5%). Since three of these sectors are among the most rapidly expanding in terms of jobs, the sectoral concentration of female employment has increased over time.

Similarly, a disproportionate number of women also work in comparatively few occupations. Three broad occupations accounted for 59% of women in employment although only 40% of total employment of men and women (secretaries, typists, clerks 22%, shop assistants, waitresses, sales and service 20.5%, technicians - which includes nurses, teachers and care workers - 16%). Women are also significantly less likely to be in senior positions than men. While 10% of men were employed as managers or senior officials, only 6% of women were similarly employed.

3. and 4. In principle, social protection rights are not dependent on gender. The social protection rights of those outside the labour force vary considerably within the Community. The mutual information system on social protection (Missoc) tables published annually by the Commission give a fairly comprehensive overview over the rights in question. A copy of the latest edition is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament's Secretariat.

While there is great variation, two basic models are discernible: one where able-bodied people outside the labour force may acquire social protection as a derived right only and another where a measure of such rights is granted on the basis of residence. Some Member States have a mixture of these two models. In some protection systems a measure of rights is also granted to carers e.g. to people who look after young children or elderly dependants.

5. The Missoc tables mentioned above provide an accurate picture of how the rights of women outside the labour force vary between the Member States. Civil status is naturally important in systems with derived rights, just as it is important in dealing with lone parents. The number of children of recipients affects the calculation of several benefits in most social protection systems of the Member States. Outside social protection in a narrow sense, the number of dependants usually also affects the size of housing and some other benefits.