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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

30 April 2020

Women and Men in Ireland 2019

Ireland has the tenth lowest representation of women in Parliament in the EU
  • More women aged 25-35 have a third level education than men, but the gap has reduced from 15.1 percentage points in 2008 to 7.4 percentage points in 2018
  • The average hours worked per week is 40.1 hours for men and 32.3 hours for women
  • Rates of unemployment fell in Ireland between 2012 and 2018 which led to a narrowing of the gap in male and female unemployment rates, from 5.5 percentage points to just 0.4 percentage points
  • Just 11% of sentenced committals to prison in 2018 were women. Less than 1% of sexual offences were committed by women
  • Female life expectancy at birth has increased from 57.9 years in the 1920's to 82.8 in 2012, while male life expectancy increased from 57.4 to 78.4 over the same period

Go to release: Women and Men in Ireland 2019

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (30 April 2020)  published the eleventh edition of Women and Men in Ireland, which identifies important gender differences in the activities of men and women and presents these in an international context.

This edition of Women and Men in Ireland is organised so that the 73 indicators are categorised under six themes from the Sustainable Development Goals. These are:

  • Sustainability
  • Health
  • Education
  • Gender Equality
  • Work
  • Poverty, Peace and Justice

Commenting on the data, Statistician, Emma Hogan, said:

“A wide array of facts and figures can be found in Women and Men in Ireland 2019. Some of the standout facts include:

Ireland has the tenth lowest representation of women in parliament in Europe and are underrepresented in the Dáil.

Between 2014 and 2018, the percentage of female representation in the Dáil increased from 16% to 22%. The 22% representation did not change in the 2020 election.

More women aged 25-35 have a third level education – but the gap has reduced from 15.1 percentage points in 2008 to 7.2 percentage points in 2018.

The average hours worked per week is 40.1 hours for men and 32.3 hours for women. More than half of men (52.8%) work for 40 hours or more each week, compared to less than a quarter of women (24.7%).”

For further information contact:

Emma Hogan (+353) 1 498 4143

or email sscu@cso.ie

-- ENDS --