LABOUR MARKET : INACTIVITY RATE FALLS FOR WOMEN, RISES FOR MEN.

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(1) 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% 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% in 2009. This is revealed in a report, published on 7 December by Eurostat, devoted to the population outside the labour market(2).

Over the last decade, notes the report, the inactivity rate for women in the EU27 has fallen steadily, from 39.9% in 2000 to 35.7% in 2009, meaning that five 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 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%), while Malta (51.1%), Italy (35.5%), Romania (29.4%) and Greece (29%) had the highest. The period between the ages of 25 and 54 is...