Work Women and Men in Ireland 2019 - Central Statistics Office

Ireland and EU: Employment rate

Table 5.1 Ireland and EU: Employment rate, 2009-2019
			% aged 15 -64
	Ireland		EU
Year	Men	Women	Men	Women
2009	68.6	59.3	70.6	58.3
2010	65.3	57.4	70.1	58.2
2011	64.0	56.8	70.0	58.4
2012	63.4	56.3	69.6	58.6
2013	65.8	57.1	69.4	58.8
2014	67.7	57.5	70.1	59.6
2015	70.2	59.0	70.8	60.4
2016	71.6	61.2	71.8	61.4
2017	72.6	62.3	72.9	62.4
2018	73.8	63.4	73.8	63.3
2019	74.6	63.7	74.4	64.2
Source: CSO QNHS, CSO LFS, Eurostat LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.1 (XLS 10KB)

The employment rate for men in Ireland dropped from 78.0% in 2008 to 63.4% by 2012 before rising over the following seven years to stand at 74.6% by 2019.

The male employment rate in Ireland in 2019 was 3.4 percentage points below the rate in 2008.

The employment rate for women followed a similar pattern, dropping from 62.5% in 2008 to 56.3% in 2012 and then increasing to 63.7% by 2019, above the level in 2008.

The female rate of employment in 2019 was 1.2 percentage points above the 2008 rate in Ireland.

The employment rate for men in the EU dropped from 72.6% in 2008 to 69.4% in 2013 and then increased to 74.4% in 2019.

The employment rate for women in the EU increased from 53% in 2008 to 64% in 2019.

The employment rate for men in Ireland in 2019 of 74.6% was the slightly higher than the rate in the EU in 2019, while the female rate in Ireland of 63.7% was just below the EU figure of 64.2%.

	Ireland - Men	Ireland - Women	EU - Men	EU - Women
2009	68.6	59.3	70.6	58.3
2010	65.3	57.4	70.1	58.2
2011	64	56.8	70	58.4
2012	63.4	56.3	69.6	58.6
2013	65.8	57.1	69.4	58.8
2014	67.7	57.5	70.1	59.6
2015	70.2	59	70.8	60.4
2016	71.6	61.2	71.8	61.4
2017	72.6	62.3	72.9	62.4
2018	73.8	63.4	73.8	63.3
2019	74.6	63.7	74.4	64.2

EU: Employment rate

Table 5.2 EU: Employment rate, 2019
	% aged 15-64
Country	Men	Women	Percentage points gender differential
Sweden	79.0	75.9	3.1
Netherlands	82.2	74.0	8.2
Denmark	77.8	72.2	5.6
Germany	80.4	72.4	8.0
Lithuania	74.0	72.1	1.9
Estonia	78.2	71.3	6.9
Finland	75.0	72.4	2.6
United Kingdom	78.8	71.1	7.7
Latvia	73.1	70.9	2.2
Austria	78.0	68.8	9.2
Czechia	82.0	67.8	14.2
Slovenia	75.8	68.9	6.9
Portugal	73.1	67.9	5.2
Cyprus	76.1	66.6	9.5
Bulgaria	74.0	67.3	6.7
Ireland	74.6	63.7	10.9
Luxembourg	72.6	63.9	8.7
EU 28	74.4	64.2	10.2
Hungary	77.1	63.0	14.1
France	68.9	62.7	6.2
Slovakia	74.1	61.9	12.2
Malta	80.7	64.6	16.1
Poland	75.0	61.4	13.6
Belgium	69.2	61.9	7.3
Spain	68.8	58.1	10.7
Romania	75.1	57.5	17.6
Croatia	67.8	55.8	12.0
Italy	68.2	50.7	17.5
Greece	66.4	48.0	18.4

Iceland	88.0	82.5	5.5
Switzerland	84.7	76.5	8.2
Norway	77.2	73.0	4.2
Serbia	67.5	54.3	13.2
Montenegro	64.5	49.3	15.2
North Macedonia	64.9	43.6	21.3
Turkey	68.4	32.9	35.5
Source: CSO LFS, Eurostat LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.2 (XLS 11KB)

The employment rate for women in Ireland was 63.7% in 2019, just below the EU average of 64.2%.

The highest employment rate for women in the EU was in Sweden at 75.9% while the lowest was in Greece at 48%.

The employment rate for men in Ireland was 74.6%, just above the EU average of 74.4%.

Czechia, the Netherlands, Germany and Malta had employment rates above 80% for men in 2018.

Men had higher rates of employment in all EU countries. The gender differential was lowest in Lithuania at 1.9 percentage points and highest in Greece at 18.4.

Ireland: Employment rate for persons aged 55-64

Table 5.3 Ireland: Employment rates for persons aged 55-64, 2009 - 2019
				%
Year	Men		Women
Year	Age 55-59	Age 60-64	Age 55-59	Age 60-64
2009	70.4	51.7	50.3	32.2
2010	65.9	49.0	53.6	32.5
2011	65.1	49.1	53.6	33.4
2012	62.1	47.9	53.2	32.7
2013	66.0	49.2	53.4	32.1
2014	68.6	49.7	53.2	35.2
2015	72.8	55.7	55.7	35.2
2016	73.7	55.6	58.2	37.1
2017	73.9	58.4	57.5	42.2
2018	76.7	60.4	59.7	43.3
2019	77.8	60.7	60.1	45.2
Source: CSO QNHS. LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.3 (XLS 10KB)

The employment rate for women aged 55-59 increased from 50.3% to 60.1% between 2009 and 2019, while the rate for men in this age group rose from 70.4% to 77.8% over the same time period.

For those aged 60-64, the female employment rate increased from 32.2% to 45.2% between 2009 and 2019, while the male rate rose from 51.7% to 60.7% in the same period.

While employment rates are still higher for men, the gap has narrowed over the time period 2009 to 2019.

For those aged 55-59, the gap in employment rates narrowed from 20.1 to 17.7 percentage points while for those aged 60-64 the gap narrowed from 19.5 to 15.5 percentage points.

	Men 55-59	Men 60-64	Women 55-59	Women 60-64
2009	70.4	51.7	50.3	32.2
2010	65.9	49	53.6	32.5
2011	65.1	49.1	53.6	33.4
2012	62.1	47.9	53.2	32.7
2013	66	49.2	53.4	32.1
2014	68.6	49.7	53.2	35.2
2015	72.8	55.7	55.7	35.2
2016	73.7	55.6	58.2	37.1
2017	73.9	58.4	57.5	42.2
2018	76.7	60.4	59.7	43.3
2019	77.8	60.7	60.1	45.2

Ireland: Labour force participation rate by age group

Table 5.4 Ireland: Labour force participation rate¹ (ILO) by age group, 2019
	% of cohort in labour force					'000 persons	%
Age group				Number of persons in Labour Force
	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total	% women
15-19	23.8	24.1	24.0	38.7	37.9	76.6	49.5
20-24	74.5	71.4	73.0	112.9	104.7	217.6	48.1
25-34	91.0	78.4	84.6	277.7	246.9	524.6	47.1
35-44	91.4	77.9	84.5	346.9	309.5	656.5	47.1
45-54	88.4	72.6	80.5	291.0	241.3	532.3	45.3
55-59	81.2	62.3	71.6	114.6	90.1	204.7	44.0
60-64	63.0	47.5	55.2	79.4	60.7	140.1	43.3
65 & over	16.4	6.7	11.3	53.7	24.7	78.4	31.5
Total	68.4	56.0	62.1	1,314.9	1,115.8	2,430.8	45.9
					Source: CSO LFS
¹Persons in the labour force as a proportion of the population

Open in Excel: Women and Men In Ireland 2019 Table 5.4 (XLS 11KB)

The labour force participation rate for men was 68.4% in 2019, over 12 percentage points higher than the rate for females of 56%.

The participation rate for men was highest in the 35-44 age group at 91.4%. For women, the highest rate was in the 25-34 age group, with 78.4% of women in this age group in the labour force.

Older women had a much lower participation rate than older men. Women aged 60-64 had a participation rate of 47.5% compared to 63% for men in this age group. For persons aged 65 and over, the female participation rate was just 6.7% compared to a male rate of 16.4%.

Women represented 46% of the Labour Force in 2019. Just under half (49.5%) of the labour force aged 15-19 were female, the highest proportion across all age groups.

Age Group	Men	Women
15-19	23.8	24.1
20-24	74.5	71.4
25-34	91	78.4
35-44	91.4	77.9
45-54	88.4	72.6
55-59	81.2	62.3
60-64	63	47.5
65 & over	16.4	6.7

Ireland: Labour force participation rate by sex

Table 5.5 Ireland: Labour force participation rate¹ (ILO) by sex, 2009 - 2019
	% of cohort in labour force
Year	Men	Women	Total
2009	73.1	56.5	64.7
2010	70.6	55.7	63.1
2011	69.4	55.4	62.3
2012	69.0	55.0	61.9
2013	69.1	55.8	62.3
2014	68.8	54.8	61.7
2015	69.3	55.0	62.0
2016	69.4	56.1	62.6
2017	68.4	55.5	61.9
2018	68.6	56.4	62.3
2019	68.4	56.0	62.1
	Source: CSO QNHS, CSO LFS
¹Persons in the labour force as a proportion of the population

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.5 (XLS 10KB)

The participation rate for women in the Labour Force fell from 56.5% in 2009 to 54.8% by 2014 but has increased since then to 56% by 2019.

The rate for men dropped from 73.1% in 2009 to 68.8% by 2014, followed by a small rise to 69.4% in 2016. By 2019 the rate for men had dropped slightly to 68.4%.

The male participation rate has been consistently higher than the female rate over the 2009 to 2019 time period but the gap has narrowed from 16.6 to 12.4 percentage points.

	Men	Women	Total
2009	73.1	56.5	64.7
2010	70.6	55.7	63.1
2011	69.4	55.4	62.3
2012	69	55	61.9
2013	69.1	55.8	62.3
2014	68.8	54.8	61.7
2015	69.3	55	62
2016	69.4	56.1	62.6
2017	68.4	55.5	61.9
2018	68.6	56.4	62.3
2019	68.4	56	62.1

Ireland: Persons in employment by occupation

Table 5.6 Ireland: Persons in employment by occupation, 2018
			'000s	%
Broad occupational group	2018			% women
Broad occupational group	Men	Women	Total	% women
Managers, directors and senior officials	119.4	63.0	182.4	34.5
Professionals	224.4	256.9	481.3	53.4
Associate professional and technical	147.7	109.9	257.6	42.7
Administrative and secretarial	51.9	179.3	231.2	77.6
Skilled trades	288.3	28.9	317.2	9.1
Caring, leisure and other services	39.8	152.3	192.1	79.3
Sales and customer service	69.7	114.8	184.6	62.2
Process, plant and machine operatives	157.4	29.6	187.0	15.8
Elementary	137.5	119.1	256.6	46.4
Other/not stated ¹	[5.9]	7.5	10.0	75.0
Total	1,242.0	1,058.1	2,300.0	46.0
	Source: CSO LFS
¹The number of men in the 'Other/Not Stated' category is based on a cell with 30-49 persons and thus is considered to have a wider margin of error

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.6 (XLS 11KB)

There were 1,058,100 women and 1,242,000 men in employment in Ireland in 2019.

About a quarter (24.3%) of women in employment were in Professional occupations and 16.9% were in Administrative and secretarial occupations.

Just over a fifth (23.2%) of men were in Skilled trades occupations while 18.1% were in Professional occupations.

Less than half (46%) of those in employment were female in 2019. The vast majority (90.9%) of workers in Skilled trades were male while most workers (79.3%) in Caring, leisure and other services were female.

Occupation	Men	Women
Managers, directors and senior officials	119.4	63
Professionals	224.4	256.9
Associate professional and technical	147.7	109.9
Administrative and secretarial	51.9	179.3
Skilled trades	288.3	28.9
Caring, leisure and other services	39.8	152.3
Sales and customer service	69.7	114.8
Process, plant and machine operatives	157.4	29.6
Elementary	137.5	119.1
Other/Not stated	5.9

Ireland and EU: Employment by economic sector

Table 5.7 Ireland and EU: Employment by economic sector, 2018
				% in employment aged 15 & over
NACE sector		Ireland			EU
NACE sector		Men	Women	% women	Men	Women	% women
A	Agriculture, forestry and fishing	7.5	1.5	14.3	4.9	2.9	33.6
B-E	Industry	15.9	7.9	29.8	22.7	10.7	28.7
F	Construction	11.3	0.8	5.8	11.3	1.5	10.0
G	Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	12.8	13.7	47.9	13.1	14.6	48.6
H	Transportation and storage	6.6	1.7	18.1	7.6	2.5	21.9
I	Accommodation and food service activities	6.7	9.2	54.0	4.2	5.7	53.8
J	Information and communication	6.4	3.6	32.6	4.1	2.0	29.8
K-L	Financial, insurance and real estate activities	4.8	5.1	47.5	3.4	4.1	50.8
M	Professional, scientific and technical activities	6.5	6.0	44.3	5.6	5.8	47.2
N	Administrative and support service activities	4.8	4.3	43.6	4.1	4.4	48.2
O	Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	4.3	5.2	50.9	6.6	7.1	48.1
P	Education	3.5	11.9	74.1	3.9	11.9	72.3
Q	Human health and social work activities	4.7	22.0	79.9	4.4	18.6	78.2
R-U	Other NACE activities	3.9	6.7	59.4	3.6	7.4	63.7
Total		100.0	100.0	46.1	100.0	100.0	46.0
Persons in employment ('000s)¹		1,215.5	1,039.5		124,442.3	105,990.6
				Source: Eurostat LFS, CSO LFS
¹ NACE sector 'not stated' is excluded from the percentage breakdown for Ireland and EU but is included in the total for persons in employment.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.7 (XLS 13KB)

Just over one in three (33.9%) Irish women at work were either in the Education or the Health sector in 2018.

Wholesale and retail trade accounted for 13.7% of Irish women at work while 9.2% were in Accommodation and food service activities.

The sectors with the largest proportions of Irish men at work were Industry (15.9%), Wholesale and retail trade (12.8%) and Construction (11.3%).

The percentage of women employed in each economic sector in Ireland was broadly similar to the pattern in the EU, with the exception of Agriculture, forestry and fishing where only 14.3% of those at work were women compared to 33.6% in the EU.

NACE Sector	Men	Women
Construction	94.238683127572	5.76131687242798
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	85.7276995305164	14.2723004694836
Transportation and storage	81.9487179487179	18.0512820512821
Industry	70.1856570804514	29.8143429195486
Information and communication	67.3894189071986	32.6105810928014
Administrative and support service activities	56.3706563706564	43.6293436293436
Professional, scientific and technical activities	55.7365439093484	44.2634560906516
Financial, insurance and real estate activities	52.4841915085818	47.5158084914182
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	52.0630660852063	47.9369339147937
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	49.1477272727273	50.8522727272727
Accommodation and food service activities	45.9627329192547	54.0372670807453
Other NACE activities	40.5660377358491	59.4339622641509
Education	25.8703481392557	74.1296518607443
Human health and social work activities	20.1048951048951	79.8951048951049
Total	53.9024390243902	46.0975609756098

Ireland: Employment by usual hours worked

Table 5.8 Ireland: Employment by usual hours worked, 2008 and 2018
				'000s				%
	2008		2018		2008		2018
Usual hours worked	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
1-9	12.2	32.3	20.4	31.9	1.0	3.3	1.7	3.1
10-19	25.7	99.0	41.4	99.8	2.1	10.2	3.4	9.6
20-29	57.8	189.1	70.1	190.2	4.6	19.5	5.8	18.3
30-34	25.2	69.8	39.9	95.0	2.0	7.2	3.3	9.1
35-39	444.5	361.9	329.1	320.9	35.6	37.2	27.1	30.9
40-44	304.1	124.7	375.3	191.0	24.4	12.8	30.9	18.4
45 and over	203.4	33.8	266.6	65.7	16.3	3.5	21.9	6.3
Varied & not stated	175.2	61.4	72.7	44.9	14.0	6.3	6.0	4.3
Total	1,248.0	972.1	1,215.5	1,039.5	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Average hours per week	39.9	31.4	40.1	32.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.8 (XLS 10KB)

Men worked more hours per week in paid employment in 2018 than in 2008, with the average hours worked per week rising slightly from 39.9 to 40.1 hours.

The number of hours worked by women in paid employment also increased between 2008 and 2018, rising from 31.4 to 32.3 hours.

Two out of every four men worked for 40 hours or more each week (52.8%), compared to just one in four women (24.7%).

The proportion of men working 35 to 39 hours each week dropped from 35.6% in 2008 to 27.1% in 2018, while the proportion of women also dropped from 37.2% to 30.9%.

Conversely, the proportion of men working for 40 hours or more each week rose from 40.7% to 52.8% while the percentage of women working a 40 hour week or longer rose from 16.3% to 24.7%.

Usual hours worked	Men	Women
1-9	1.67832167832168	3.06878306878307
10-19	3.40600575894694	9.6007696007696
20-29	5.76717400246812	18.2972582972583
30-34	3.28259975318799	9.13900913900914
35-39	27.075277663513	30.8706108706109
40-44	30.8761826408885	18.3742183742184
45 and over	21.9333607568902	6.32034632034632

Ireland: Employment by marital status and usual hours worked

Table 5.9 Ireland: Employment by marital status and usual hours worked, 2018
%
	Single		Married		Separated / divorced / widowed
Usual hours worked	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
1-19	5.3	9.0	2.0	9.8	5.8	11.5
20-29	7.1	14.1	4.8	21.3	7.1	20.6
30-39	31.2	38.8	29.9	41.3	28.8	37.9
40 and over	47.5	29.4	56.5	21.6	49.7	20.4
Varied or not stated	9.0	8.7	6.7	6.0	8.4	9.5
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Total persons ('000s)	466.2	424.9	701.5	535.5	47.9	79.1
Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.9 (XLS 11KB)

Married men worked longer hours in paid employment than married women in 2018. More than half of married men (56.5%) worked for 40 or more hours per week compared with 21.6% of married women.

In contrast, 21.3% of married women worked for 20-29 hours per week compared to 4.8% of married men.

Single men also worked longer hours in paid employment than single women in 2018, with 47.5% of single men working for 40 or more hours per week compared with 29.4% of single women.

	Single men	Single women	Married men	Married women
1-19	5.27670527670528	8.9668157213462	1.99572344975053	9.84126984126984
20-29	7.05705705705706	14.1209696399153	4.81824661439772	21.2698412698413
30-39	31.1668811668812	38.7855966109673	29.9215965787598	41.2885154061625
40 and over	47.5117975117975	29.3716168510238	56.535994297933	21.624649859944
Varied or not stated	8.98755898755899	8.73146622734761	6.71418389166073	5.99439775910364

Ireland: Employment rates of couples (with/without children) and lone parents, aged 20-44 by age of youngest child.

Table 5.10 Ireland: Employment rates of couples (with/without children) and lone parents aged 20-44 by age of youngest child, 2018
employment rate
Family status	Men	Women
No children	91.5	88.1
Youngest child aged 0-3	90.1	66.9
Youngest child aged 4-5	92.7	66.8
Youngest child aged 6 or over	88.4	69.5
Total	90.4	72.0
Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.10 (XLS 10KB)

The employment rate for women aged 20-44 who were lone parents or who were part of a couple (with or without children) was 72% in 2018.

There was large variations in employment rates between women with and without children.

This rate varied from 88.1% for women in a couple and with no children to 66.8% for women whose youngest child was aged between 4 and 5 years of age, a difference of 21.3 percentage points.

The presence of children had a much smaller effect on the employment rate for men.

Men in a couple with no children had an employment rate of 91.5%, while the rate for men whose youngest child was aged 6 or over was 88.4%.

	Men	Women
No children	91.5312232677502	88.1255301102629
Youngest child aged 0-3	90.0609756097561	66.8837675350701
Youngest child aged 4-5	92.6916221033868	66.8329177057357
Youngest child aged 6 or over	88.3699633699634	69.4991558806978
Total	90.3630658897356	72.0368439346542

Ireland: Unemployment rates by age group

Table 5.11 Ireland: Unemployment rates by age group, 2008 and 2018
				%
	2009		2019
Age group	Men	Women	Men	Women
15-19	40.2	31.7	29.3	21.3
20-24	29.9	14.4	14.5	9.8
25-34	17.2	9.6	5.1	4.8
35-44	11.7	7.9	3.6	4.4
45-54	9.9	5.6	3.5	3.1
55-59	7.1	4.9	4.2	3.5
60-64	7.6	2.2	3.7	4.7
65 and over	1.0	2.4	1.7	1.6
Total	15.6	9.6	5.6	5.2
			Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.11 (XLS 9KB)

The rate of unemployment for males was 5.6% in 2019 while the female rate was 5.2%.

The rate of unemployment was higher in the younger age groups in both 2009 and 2019.

Men aged 15-19 had an unemployment rate of 29.3% in 2019 while the rate for women in this age group was 21.3%.

The lowest unemployment rate among men was 3.5% for those aged 45-54 while for women the lowest rate of 3.1% was among those aged 45-54.

	Men 2009	women 2009	Men 2019	Women 2019
15-19	40.2	31.7	29.3	21.3
20-24	29.9	14.4	14.5	9.8
25-34	17.2	9.6	5.1	4.8
35-44	11.7	7.9	3.6	4.4
45-54	9.9	5.6	3.5	3.1
55-59	7.1	4.9	4.2	3.5
60-64	7.6	2.2	3.7	4.7
65 and over	1	2.4	1.7	1.6

Ireland: Unemployment rates and long term unemployment

Table 5.12 Ireland: Unemployment rates and long-term unemployment rates, 2009-2019
						%
Year	Unemployment rates			Long-term unemployment rates
	Men	Women	All persons	Men	Women	All persons
2009	15.6	9.6	12.9	3.9	1.8	3.0
2010	17.1	11.6	14.6	8.5	4.0	6.5
2011	17.8	12.4	15.3	10.5	5.6	8.3
2012	18.4	12.9	15.9	12.0	6.4	9.5
2013	15.9	13.3	14.7	9.8	6.1	8.2
2014	13.5	11.3	12.5	8.0	5.3	6.8
2015	11.0	9.6	10.4	6.4	4.4	5.5
2016	9.7	8.3	9.1	5.4	3.2	4.4
2017	7.5	6.2	6.9	3.8	2.4	3.2
2018	6.2	5.8	6.0	2.3	1.8	2.0
2019	5.6	5.2	5.4	2.0	1.3	1.7
Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.12 (XLS 11KB)

The unemployment rate for men was consistently higher than the rate for women over the time period 2009-2019.

The unemployment rate for men increased sharply from 6.8% in 2008 to 15.6% in 2009 and continued to increase over the next three years to reach 18.4% by 2012.

The rate then dropped to 15.9% in 2013 and continued to drop each year since then to stand at 5.6% in 2019.

The unemployment rate for women followed a similar pattern, rising from 5.2% in 2008 to 9.6% in 2009 and continuing to rise over the next four years to reach 13.3% by 2013.

In 2014 the female rate of unemployment dropped to 11.3% and decreased each year since then to stand at 5.2% by 2019.

The long-term unemployment rate (unemployed for one year or more) for Irish men rose from 3.9% in 2009 to 12.0% by 2012 and then dropped to 2% in 2019.

The female long-term unemployment rate rose from 1.8% in 2009 to 6.4% in 2012 before dropping to 1.3% by 2019.

Ireland and EU: Unemployment rates

Open in Excel:

	Ireland-Men	Ireland-Women	EU 28-Men	EU 29-Women
2008	6.8	5.2	6.6	7.5
2009	15.6	9.6	9	8.9
2010	17.1	11.6	9.6	9.6
2011	17.8	12.4	9.5	9.7
2012	18.4	12.9	10.4	10.5
2013	15.9	13.3	10.8	10.9
2014	13.5	11.3	10.1	10.3
2015	11	9.6	9.3	9.5
2016	9.7	8.3	8.4	8.8
2017	7.5	6.2	7.4	7.9
2018	6.2	5.8	6.6	7.1

The unemployment rate for men was consistently higher than the rate for women over the time period 2008-2018.

The unemployment rate for men increased sharply from 6.8% in 2008 to 15.6% in 2009 and continued to increase over the next three years to reach 18.4% by 2012.

The rate then dropped to 15.9% in 2013 and continued to drop each year since then to stand at 6.2% in 2018.

The unemployment rate for women followed a similar parttern, rising from 5.2% in 2008 to 9.6% in 2009 and continuing to rise over the next four years to reach 13.3% by 2013.

In 2014 the female rate of unemployment dropped to 11.3% and decreased each year since then to stand at 5.8% by 2018.

The rate of unemployment for men and women were similar in Ireland in 2008 but by 2012 the male rate had increased more strongly which produced a gap of 5.5 percentage points.

Rates of unemployment fell in Ireland between 2012 and 2018 and this led to a narrowing of the gap in male and female rates to just 0.4 percentage points.

EU: Unemployment rates

Table 5.13 EU: Unemployment rates, 2018
% of 15-74 age group
Country	Men	Women	Percentage points gender differential
Czechia	1.8	2.8	-1.0
Germany	3.8	2.9	0.9
Romania	4.7	3.5	1.2
Malta	3.8	3.6	0.2
Poland	3.9	3.9	0.0
Hungary	3.5	4.0	-0.5
Netherlands	3.7	4.0	-0.3
United Kingdom	4.1	4.0	0.1
Bulgaria	5.7	4.7	1.0
Austria	5.0	4.7	0.3
Denmark	4.8	5.1	-0.3
Estonia	5.4	5.3	0.1
Lithuania	6.9	5.4	1.5
Belgium	6.3	5.6	0.7
Slovenia	4.6	5.7	-1.1
Ireland	6.2	5.8	0.4
Luxembourg	5.3	5.9	-0.6
Sweden	6.4	6.3	0.1
Latvia	8.4	6.4	2.0
Slovakia	6.1	7.0	-0.9
EU 28	6.6	7.1	-0.5
Finland	7.4	7.3	0.1
Portugal	6.7	7.5	-0.8
Cyprus	8.1	8.8	-0.7
France	9.0	9.1	-0.1
Croatia	7.7	9.4	-1.7
Italy	9.8	11.8	-2.0
Spain	13.7	17.0	-3.3
Greece	15.4	24.2	-8.8

Iceland	2.8	2.5	0.3
Norway	4.0	3.5	0.5
Switzerland	4.4	5.1	-0.7
Serbia	12.1	13.8	-1.7
Turkey	9.6	13.8	-4.2
Montenegro	15.3	15.1	0.2
North Macedonia	21.3	19.9	1.4
Source: Eurostat LFS, CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.13 (XLS 10KB)

The female rate of unemployment in Ireland, at 5.8%, was lower than the EU average of 7.1% in 2018.

The male rate of unemployment was 6.2% in Ireland, below the EU average of 6.6%.

The lowest rates of unemployment in the EU were in Czechia at 1.8% for males and 2.8% for females.

Greece had the highest rates of male and female unemployment in the EU, at 15.4% for males and 24.2% for females.

Ireland: Pensions coverage of persons aged 20-69 in employment

Table 5.14 Ireland: Persons in employment (ILO) aged 20-69 with a pension¹, 2018 and 2019
% of persons in employment aged 20-69
Age group	2018		2019
Age group	Men	Women	Men	Women
20-24	13.4	19.4	20.7	17.9
25-34	41.5	41.5	45.5	43.8
35-44	62.2	63.1	66.2	68.3
45-54	71.3	70.3	73.0	70.4
55-69	71.9	63.2	72.9	65.0
Total	57.1	55.4	60.7	58.7
	Source: CSO LFS
¹ Includes occupational pension coverage from current/previous employments, and personal pensions, including deferred pensions and pensions in draw-down mode.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.14 (XLS 11KB)

Men are slightly more likely than women to have a pension.

In 2019, 60.7% of men had a pension compared to 58.7% of women.

The highest rates of pension coverage among workers was in the age group 45-54, at 73.0% for men and 70.4% for women.

Conversely, pensions coverage among young workers aged 20-24 was very low. Just 20.7% of male and 17.9% of female workers in this age group had pension coverage in 2019.

Ireland: Principal economic status

Table 5.15 Ireland: Principal economic status, 2009 and 2019
persons aged 15 years and over ('000s)
	2009			2019
Principal Economic Status	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total
At work	1,057.5	881.8	1,939.3	1,193.4	985.3	2,178.7
Unemployed	235.2	90.3	325.5	95.4	69.8	165.2
Total in labour force	1,292.7	972.1	2,264.8	1,288.8	1,055.1	2,343.9
% in labour force	72.6	53.4	62.9	67.1	53.0	59.9

Student	167.2	181.9	349.1	207.0	213.4	420.4
Looking after home/family	7.0	527.0	533.9	19.9	329.6	349.5
Retired	228.5	87.8	316.2	296.7	287.3	583.9
Other	84.1	52.1	136.2	109.1	105.8	214.9
Total not in labour force	486.8	848.8	1,335.4	632.7	936.1	1,568.7
% not in labour force	27.4	46.6	37.1	32.9	47.0	40.1

Total aged 15 and over	1,779.4	1,820.8	3,600.2	1,921.5	1,991.1	3,912.6
Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.15 (XLS 11KB)

More than half (53%) of women aged 15 years and over were in the labour force (at work or unemployed) in 2019, a slight increase on the proportion from 2009 of 53.4%.

The proportion of men in the labour force over the same time period dropped from 72.6% to 67.1%.

More than half (54.8%) of those who were at work in 2019 were men while 57.7% of people who were unemployed were men.

Nearly all of the people (94.3%) who were looking after home or family in 2019 were women, although the number of men in this grouping more than doubled in the ten years up to 2019, rising from 7,000 to 19,900.

The number of women looking after home/family dropped sharply from 527,100 in 2009 to 329,600 in 2019.

The number of women who described themselves as retired trebled from 87,800 to 287,300 between 2009 and 2019.

	Men	Women
At work	1193.4	985.3
Unemployed	95.4	69.8
Student	207	213.4
Looking after home/family	19.9	329.6
Retired	296.7	287.3
Other	109.1	105.8

EU: Gender pay gap

Table 5.16 EU: Gender pay gap, 2013-2017
Difference between male and female gross hourly earnings as
% of average gross hourly male earnings
Country	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Romania	4.9	4.5	5.8	5.2	3.5
Luxembourg	6.2	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.0
Italy	7.0	6.1	5.5	5.3	5.0
Belgium	7.5	6.6	6.5	6.1	6.0
Slovenia	6.3	7.0	8.1	7.8	8.0
Poland	7.1	7.7	7.4	7.2	7.2
Croatia	7.7	8.7	:	11.1	11.6
Malta	9.7	10.6	10.4	11.0	12.2
Greece	:	12.5	:	:	:
Lithuania	12.2	13.3	14.2	14.4	15.2
Sweden	14.6	13.8	14.0	13.3	12.6
Ireland*	12.9	13.9	13.9	14.2	14.4
Bulgaria	14.1	14.2	15.4	14.4	13.6
Cyprus	14.9	14.2	14.0	13.9	13.7
Spain	17.8	14.9	14.2	15.1	14.0
Portugal	13.3	14.9	17.8	17.5	16.3
Hungary	18.4	15.1	14.0	14.0	13.3
France	15.5	15.5	15.3	15.3	15.4
Denmark	16.5	16.0	15.1	15.0	14.7
Netherlands	16.6	16.2	16.1	15.6	15.2
EU 28	16.8	16.6	16.5	16.3	16.0
Latvia	16.0	17.3	17.0	17.0	15.7
Finland	18.8	18.4	17.6	17.4	16.7
Slovakia	18.8	19.7	19.6	19.0	19.8
United Kingdom	21.0	20.9	21.0	20.7	20.9
Austria	22.3	22.2	21.7	20.1	19.9
Germany	22.1	22.3	22.0	21.5	21.0
Czechia	22.3	22.5	22.5	21.5	21.1
Estonia	29.8	28.1	26.9	25.3	25.6

Turkey	:	-1.3	:	:	:
Montenegro	:	7.7	:	:	:
Serbia	:	8.7	:	:	:
North Macedonia	:	9.1	:	:	:
Norway	15.5	14.5	16.2	14.9	14.3
Iceland	19.0	16.7	17.5	15.8	15.3
Switzerland	17.6	17.4	17.2	17.0	17.0
Source: Eurostat, EU SES
* 2015, 2016 and 2017 figures for Ireland are provisional.
: data not available.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 5.16 (XLS 12KB)

On average female employees were paid 14.4% an hour less than male employees in Ireland in 2017.

In 2014, the most recent year for which data was available for all EU countries, the gender pay gap in Ireland was the twelfth lowest in the EU.

Estonia had the highest gender pay gap (of countries available in 2017) at 25.6% while the lowest was in Romania at 3.5%.

Women and Men in Ireland 2019

Work

Ireland and EU: Employment rate

EU: Employment rate

Ireland: Employment rate for persons aged 55-64

Ireland: Labour force participation rate by age group

Ireland: Labour force participation rate by sex

Ireland: Persons in employment by occupation

Ireland and EU: Employment by economic sector

Ireland: Employment by usual hours worked

Ireland: Employment by marital status and usual hours worked

Ireland: Employment rates of couples (with/without children) and lone parents, aged 20-44 by age of youngest child.

Ireland: Unemployment rates by age group

Ireland: Unemployment rates and long term unemployment

Ireland and EU: Unemployment rates

EU: Unemployment rates

Ireland: Pensions coverage of persons aged 20-69 in employment

Ireland: Principal economic status

EU: Gender pay gap

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