8 March 2010: International Women's Day A statistical perspective on women and men in the EU27

STAT/10/35

5 March 2010

8 March 2010: International Women's Day A statistical perspective on women and men in the EU27

How much higher is the life expectancy for women than for men, and what is it expected to be in 2030? Is the unemployment rate for women higher than for men? And what about the employment rate? What are the differences between women and men in their use of the internet - sending e-mails, reading on-line newspapers, doing internet banking or checking work opportunities?

Answers to these questions can be found in this News Release , published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union , on the occasion of the International Women's Day on 8 March 2010. This News Release presents just a small selection of the large amount of gender based data available from Eurostat.

One woman in four aged 65 and over in 2030

Life expectancy for women in 2008 ranged between 77.0 years in Bulgaria and 84.9 years in France (in 2007), and was higher than for men in all Member States. In 2008, the largest differences in life expectancy between women and men, of around eleven years, were found in Lithuania (77.6 years for women and 66.3 years for men), Estonia (79.5 and 68.7) and Latvia (77.8 and 67.0), and the smallest, of around four years, in the Netherlands (82.5 and 78.4), Sweden (83.3 and 79.2) and the United Kingdom (81.8 and 77.6 in 2007). On average in the EU27 in 2007, life expectancy at birth was 82.2 years for women and 76.1 years for men, a difference of 6.1 years.

In 2030, life expectancy at birth in the EU27 is expected to rise to 85.3 years for women and 80.0 years for men, a difference of 5.3 years. Differences between women and men are projected to narrow, ranging from around three years in Cyprus to around nine years in Lithuania , Estonia and Latvia .

This rise in life expectancy will be reflected by an increase in the proportion of women aged 65 and over: in 2008, a fifth (19%) of women in the EU27 were aged 65 and over, while this share is expected to increase to a quarter (26%) in 2030.

Demography

* 2007: EU27, Belgium, France, Italy, United Kingdom

** 2030: Eurostat population projections convergence scenario 2008-2060 (EUROPOP2008)

** * "France métropolitaine", excluding the four overseas departments (French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) for the 2030 data

For the first time, unemployment rate for women lower than for men in the EU27

Over the last decade 1, the unemployment rate 2 in the EU27 has been higher for women than for men. Since May 2009, the unemployment rate for women in the EU27 has for the first time been lower than for men. This reflects the effects of the current economic crisis on the labour market where sectors such as construction and manufacturing were hit hard leading to job losses predominantly among men.

In January 2010, the unemployment rate in the EU27 was 9.3% for women and 9.7% for men. In fifteen Member States, the unemployment rate was higher for men than for women. The largest differences in unemployment rates in January 2010 in favour of women were found in Estonia (11.2% for women and 19.7% for men in Q4 2009), Lithuania (10.6% and 18.6% in Q3 2009), Latvia (19.2% and 26.6%) and Ireland (9.9% and 17.0%). The largest differences in the rates in favour of men were observed in Greece (13.5% for women and 7.1% for men in Q3 2009) and Italy (9.8% and 7.7%).

As for the employment rate 3, it was 58.7% for women and 71.0% for men in the third quarter of 2009 in the EU27, compared with 59.4% and 73.3% respectively in the third quarter of 2008. The employment rate for women in the third quarter of 2009 was lower than for men in all Member States, except Lithuania (61.2% for women and 59.6% for men).

Employment

* Q3 2009 data for Greece, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey. Q4 2009 data for Estonia. November 2009 data for the United Kingdom and Norway. December 2009 data for Denmark.

: Data not available

Higher share of women than men use internet banking in Estonia, France, Latvia and Lithuania

In 2009, more than half of women (55%) aged 16 to 74 in the EU27 used the internet in the last three months for sending or receiving e-mails, compared with 60% of men. The highest rates for women were found in Sweden (83%), the Netherlands (82%) and Denmark (80%).

There was also a larger share of men (35%) than women (27%) in the EU27 using the internet to read or download online newspapers/magazines. The highest rates for women were found in Estonia and Finland (both 63%) and Denmark (59%).

Less than one third of women (30%) in the EU27 used the internet for banking, compared with 35% of men. The largest proportions of women were observed in Finland (72%), the Netherlands and Sweden (both 69%).

In 2009, the internet was used by 15% of both women and men in the EU27 to look for a job or to send a job application. Denmark (27%) had the highest rate for women, followed by Finland (26%), Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom (all 23%).

Internet use, 2009

• The series started in January 2000.

• The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force. The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed.

• The emplo

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  European EC Rapid Press Release STAT/10/35, copyright European Commission.
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