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2. Employment of mothers and fathers has remained stable

In 2016, the employment rate was 79 per cent, on average, for men aged 20 to 59, and 76 per cent for women. However, the variation of the employment rate by family type is large especially for men: in 2016, the employment rate for fathers of families with children was 90 per cent while for men without children it was 73 per cent. The situation has remained more or less the same in the past five years. (Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Employment rates for fathers and men without children in 2012 to 2016, aged 20 to 59, %

Women's employment does not vary by family type as much as men's but the employment rate of women without children has been slightly higher than that of mothers with children aged under 18. In 2016, the employment rate of women without children was 77 per cent and that of mothers of families with children was 74 per cent. Women’s employment rate has remained quite even between 2012 and 2016 (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Employment rates for mothers and women without children in 2012 to 2016, aged 20 to 59, %

In 2016, the unemployment rate for fathers of children aged under 18 was clearly lower (5%) than for men who did not have underage children (11%). In contrast, women’s unemployment rates were at the same level (8%) regardless of whether they had underage children or not.

Source: Labour Force Survey 2016. Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 10.10.2017