Over the last decade, the inactivity rate for women aged between 15 and 64 years in the EU27 has fallen steadily, from 39.9% in 2000 to 35.7% in 2009, meaning that 5.0 million more women have entered the labour market. In contrast, the inactivity rate for men aged 15 to 64 has decreased only slightly, from 22.8% in 2000 to 22.2% in 2009.

In spite of the economic crisis, the labour market participation of women in the EU27 continued to increase between 2008 and 2009, as the inactivity rate of women aged 15-64 further declined from 36.1% to 35.7%. For the participation of men however a limited impact can be observed, as the rate for men aged 15 to 64 increased, even if slightly, for the first time since 2002, from 22.0% in 2008 to 22.2% in 2009. Most affected seemed to be young men aged 15 to 24, who saw their inactivity rate rise from 52.1% in 2008 to 53.0% in 2009.

These data come from a report issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, focusing on people outside the labour market.

Between 1% of prime working aged women in Denmark and 40% in Malta outside the labour market due to family responsibilities

In the EU27 in 2009, the inactivity rate of women aged between 25 and 54 years was 22.1%, compared with 8.2% for men. Among the Member States, the lowest inactivity rates for women aged 25-54 were found in Slovenia (12.1%), Sweden (12.9%) and Denmark (13.0%), while Malta (51.1%), Italy (35.5%), Romania (29.4%) and Greece (29.0%) had the highest.

The period between the ages of 25 and 54 is the main working age, and also the age when families are started and children are raised. The main single reason for prime working aged women to be outside the labour market is therefore family responsibilities. Among prime working aged women in the EU27 in 2009, 10.1% stated they were outside the labour market due to family responsibilities, almost half of all women of this age outside the labour market. The percentage mentioning family responsibilities varied greatly between Member States: Denmark (1.4%) had the lowest rate, followed by Sweden (1.8%) and Slovenia (3.6%). At the other end of the scale, Malta (40.4%) had by far the highest rate, followed by Greece (16.2%) and Luxembourg (15.6%).

Around 60% of both younger and older women outside the labour market

Education and retirement explain the higher inactivity rates observed for the younger and older population. For women aged 15-24, the inactivity rate was 59.3% in the EU27, compared with 53.0% for men. Female inactivity rates within this age group were lowest in the Netherlands (28.1%) and Denmark (29.3%), and highest in Hungary (78.5%) and Italy (76.1%). National differences in the behaviour of students having or seeking a job largely explain those differences.

For women aged 55-64, the inactivity rate was 60.1% in the EU27 in 2009, compared with 41.5% for men. The lowest female inactivity rates were recorded in Sweden (30.1%) and Estonia (33.9%), and the highest in Malta (87.9%) and Poland (76.8%).