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2 Employment of mothers and fathers has increased

In 2018, the employment rate for men aged 20 to 59 was 82 per cent, on average, and 78 per cent for women in the same age group. The variation of the employment rate by family type is large for men: in 2018, the employment rate for fathers of families with children was 92 per cent, while for men without children it was 77 per cent. The employment rate of men without children has increased by five percentage points and the employment rate of fathers by two percentage points from 2014 to 2018 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Employment rates for fathers and men without children in 2014 to 2018, 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 is slightly higher than that of mothers with children under 18 years of age. In 2018, the employment rate of women without children was 79 per cent and that of mothers was 77 per cent. The increase in women’s employment rate is especially visible for mothers of families with children. In 2014, the employment rate of mothers was 3.3 percentage points lower than that of women with no children, but in 2018 the difference was only 1.3 percentage points (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Employment rates for mothers and women without children in 2014 to 2018, aged 20 to 59, %

In 2018, the unemployment rate for fathers of children aged under 18 was clearly lower (4%) than for men who did not have underage children (9%). The unemployment rate of mothers was five per cent and that of women without children was eight per cent.

Source: Labour Force Survey 2018. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Tarja Nieminen 029 551 3561, Olga Kambur 029 551 3565, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 14.11.2019