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2. Mothers’ employment made a downturn

Men's employment rate has conventionally been slightly higher than women's. In 2013, the employment rate was 79 per cent, on average, for men aged between 20 and 59, and 77  per cent for women. However, the variation by type of family is large especially for men: in 2013, the employment rate for fathers of families with children was 91 per cent while for men without children it was 73 per cent. Fathers of families with children are still more firmly in working life than other men.

Women's employment is more even by family type than men's but the employment rate of women without children has been slightly higher in recent years than that of mothers with children aged under 18. In 2013, the employment rate of women without children was 78 per cent and that of mothers of families with children was 74 per cent. Between 2009 and 2013, the employment rate of mothers has decreased by nearly three percentage points, while it has not changed much for other women.

Among fathers with children aged under 18 the unemployment rate was clearly lower than for men who did not have underage children. The unemployment rate of fathers remained unchanged from 2012 to 2013, while among other men the unemployment rate rose slightly. By contrast, the development for women has been the opposite during the same period. The unemployment rate of mothers grew, while it remained almost unchanged for other women.

Source: Labour Force Survey 2013. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Tarja Nieminen 029 551 3561, Anna Pärnänen 029 551 3795, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Updated 7.10.2014