Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen
WOMEN’S & MEN’S WAGES
Women and men in the labour market Women and men in the labour market ...................
side
16
The population’s education ..................................... side
18
Women’s and men’s choice af education ................. side
22
Private and public sector employment ..................... side
23
Choice of sector ....................................................... side
25
Women’s and men’s occupations in the DA-area .... side
26
Part-time work......................................................... side
27
Labour market experience ........................................ side
28
.
Forside_kap 1.prn G:\PSC\DA Forlag\Arbejdsmarkedsrapport 2003\Kvinder og m nds lłn\Engelsk udgave\Forside_kvinder og m nds lłn_engelsk.cdr 3. oktober 2003 12:06:33
1. Women and men in the labour market Women and men achieving similar participation rates
Women and men's participation in the labour market has over the last 20 years approached each other. In 1981, nearly 95 per cent of all men between 25 and 50 years of age were in the labour force, cf. figure 1.1. For women, the labour force participation rate was somewhat lower. The agespecific participation rates were highest for men in their mid-30s, while among women it was those aged 20-30 who had the highest rate of participation in the work force. Women's age-specific participation rates are not nearly as stable as men. In 1981, labour force participation among 25-year-old women was 16 percentage points higher than for 50-year-old women. Whereas 87 per cent of women aged 25 were in the labour force in 1981, this is true for only 71 per cent of the 50-year-old women. While men's participation rate in 2001 was 81 per cent and thereby about 5 per cent lower than 20 years earlier, the participation rate for women increased in the same period 1 from 71 per cent to 74 per cent.
Figure 1.1
Labour force participation rates Per cent Women 2001
Men 2001
Women 1981
Men 1981
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20 0
0 16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66 Age
SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
1
Labour force participation rates are calculated on the basis of the registry-based labour market statstics (RAS) for Jan. 1, 2001.
16
Despite the fact that the labour force participation rate for women continues to be somewhat lower than for men, the age profile for the participation by women and men today is far more uniform than was the case in 1981. In the elder cohorts, however, somewhat fewer women are active in the labour market than are men. While the relatively smallest gender difference in labour force participation in 2001 could be found among persons from their mid-30s up to the age of 50, women in their 50s continue to be far less active in the labour market compared to men in the same age groups. There are several explanations for the continuing differences. Among these, the differences in women and men's respective choices of education and sector are significant for the date of entry into the labour market. Choice of education and sector can especially help explain differences among the younger age groups. In addition, a generational effect also makes itself felt among the older age groups. That women in their 50s have a somewhat lower rate of labour force participation than do men in the same age group must be seen in the context of the 12 per cent difference for this generation 20 years earlier – when they were in their 30s; see figure 1.3. No such difference exists for the younger age groups today, such that the gender-specific participation rates for the older age group must be expected to approach each other even more in the coming years.
17
Figure 1.2
Differences in labour force participation rates Percentage point
40
40 1981
30
30 2001
20
20
10
10
0
0 16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66 Age
NOTE: The lines show the difference between women and men’s participation rates. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
The population's education Population more educated today than 20 years ago
Over the past 20 years, the population's level of education has risen. While 56 per cent of the women and 45 per cent of the men had no job-specific education in 1981, this dropped to 42 per cent of the women and 37 per cent of the men in 2001, cf. table 1.1.
18
Table 1.1
Educational background 1981 Men
2001
Women
Men
Women
Distribution in per cent No job-specific education
45
56
37
42
Vocational
33
22
41
33
Short-cycle
2
3
4
4
Medium-cycle
6
8
9
14
Long-cycle
3
1
6
4
Unknown
10
10
3
3
100
100
100
100
Total
NOTE. Vocational is vocational education and training, short-cycle is short-cycle higher education programme, medium-cycle is medium-cycle education programme and long-cycle is long-cycle higher education programme. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
Thirty-three per cent of women and 41 per cent of men had an occupational education in 2001, which corresponds to an increase of 11 per cent for women and 8 per cent for men compared to 20 years earlier. Women have become more educated
Both 9 per cent of women and of men had a medium-cycle or longer-cycle higher education in 1981, though with a predominance of men among the long-cycle higher educated group. In 2001, there continued to be mostly men with long-cycle higher educations, but correspondingly more women with medium-cycle higher educations. Hence, 18 per cent of women had a medium-cycle or long-cycle higher education in 2001 against 15 per cent of the men. The higher overall level of education in 2001 is due primarily to the fact that the age groups over 30 years are now more educated than was the case 20 years ago. Among the 40-49 year olds, 59 per cent of the women in 1981 had no job-specific educations. In 2001 the number dropped to 35 per cent. For men, the number of 40-49 year olds without job-specific education in the period dropped from 4 out of 10 to 3 out of 10; see table 1.3. For both
19
women and men in the age group, it is characteristic that more of them in 2001 had medium-cycle and long-cycle higher educations. The proportion of women with mediumcycle higher educations had more than doubled.
Table 1.2
Population's educational background 40-49 years
1981 Men
2001
Women
Men
Women
Distribution in per cent No job-specific education
42
59
29
35
Vocational
40
27
45
33
Short-cycle
3
3
5
5
Medium-cycle
9
9
11
21
Long-cycle
5
1
8
5
Unknown Total
2
2
3
2
100
100
100
100
NOTE: See note in table 1.1. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
For the 30-39-year-olds, the general level of education in 2001 was also higher than 20 years earlier. Especially among women, the educational level had risen; see table 1.4.
20
Table 1.3
Population's educational background 30-39 years
1981 Men
2001
Women
Men
Women
Distribution in per cent No job-specific education
33
43
29
27
Vocational
44
36
44
41
Short-cycle
4
4
6
5
11
13
10
18
Long-cycle
6
2
8
6
Unknown
2
2
3
3
100
100
100
100
Middle-cycle
Total NOTE: Se note table 1.1.
SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
Among 20-29-year-olds in the sample, the educational level has not changed so markedly from 1981-2000. However, there were 12 percent fewer women who had no job-specific education in 2001, and 11 per cent points more who had a vocational education; see table 1.5.
Table 1.4
Population's educational background 20-29 years
1981 Men
2001
Women
Men
Women
Distribution in per cent No job-specific education
47
60
44
48
Vocational
42
24
40
33
Short-cycle
2
4
3
3
Medium-cycle
4
9
6
10
Long-cycle
2
1
2
2
Unknown
3
3
4
4
100
100
100
100
Total
NOTE: See note table 1.1. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
21
For men in this age group, the educational composition of the work force has not changed essentially over the last 20 years. A somewhat larger proportion of both women and men of 20-29 years, however, had a medium-cycle or longcycle higher education in 2001. It is, however, difficult to conclude anything about the 20-29-year-olds' choice of education, especially regarding the long-cycle higher educations, as registration of education doesn’t occur until the education has been completed. Thus, the predominant trend in the population's education in the period between 1981 and 2001 is that today's older cohorts are now more educated, and that the level of women's education is now approaching that of men.
Women's and men's choice of education Great difference between women's and men's educations
While women are in the majority within the health, teaching and service sector educations, men predominate in building and construction education, industry and transport education and social science and technical educations. However, a gradual softening up of the traditional boundaries between masculine and feminine jobs is taking place. Over the past 20 years, women have increasingly begun to enter typical masculine educations. Hence, women comprised 40 per cent of the social science educations in 2001, versus 24 per cent in 1981. Within the higher technical educations, the share of women's participation has increased from 11 per cent to 18 per cent during this period; see table 1.5.
22
Table 1.5 Women's and men's choice of education Distribution
1981
Education
Women
2001 Men
Women
Men
Per cent Vocational educ.: Pedagogue
-
-
89.6
10.4
Vocational educ. Service/clerical Vocational educ.: Building and construction
64.2
35.8
66.2
33.8
1.3
98.7
3.3
96.7
Vocational educ.: Industry Vocational educ.: Agriculture, food production, etc.
16.4
83.6
14.3
85.7
6.6
93.4
28.5
71.5
Vocational educ.: Transport
11.0
89.0
10.7
89.3
Vocational educ.: Health
94.6
5.4
95.5
4.5
Higher educ.: Pedagogue Higher educ.: Humanistic, art, etc.
64.1
35.9
72.3
27.7
66.2
33.8
67.6
32.4
Higher educ: Social science Higher educ.: Technology, transport. Higher educ.: Natural sci., food processing, etc.
23.9
76.1
39.9
60.1
11.3
88.7
18.0
82.0
41.3
58.7
41.9
58.1
Higher educ.: Health professions Higher educ.: Armed forces and police
82.4
17.6
84.0
16.0
1.4
98.6
8.8
91.2
Commercial high school educ.
35.4
64.6
49.3
50.7
No job-specific education
55.1
44.9
52.3
47.7
NOTE: The table shows the female and male proportion in each educational group, e.g. 64.2 per cent of all with a vocational education within service/clerical in 1981 were women and 35.8 per cent wore men. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
Private and public sector employment Women predominate The proportion of women out of total employment inin the public sector creased from 45 per cent in 1981 to 47 per cent in 2001. Women constitute the majority of the public employees, and their proportion has increased over the past 20 years.
23
Men predominate in In 1981, women constituted 36 per cent of private sector employees and 61 per cent of the public employees; see table the private sector 1.6. Twenty years later, women's share of private employment remains unchanged, while the proportion of women in the public sector has increased by five percentage points.
Table 1.6
Gender distribution by sector 1981
2001
Sector
Men
Women
Men
Women
Private
64
36
64
36
Public
39
61
34
66
Total
55
45
53
47
Per cent
NOTE: The table shows the female and male proportion in each sector, e.g. 64 per cent of all employed in the private sector in 1981 wore men 36 per cent wore women. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
Younger women in the public sector
There is a clear predominance of younger women in the public sector, but a more equal gender distribution among the group over aged 50. Among the 50-59-year-olds and those over 59, women constituted, respectively, 63 per cent and 48 per cent of the publicly employed, while among younger women, aged 20-29 and 30-39 years old, the proportion working in public employment in 2001 was 67 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively.
Skewed gender distribution in the private sector increases with age
The opposite is the case in the private sector, where the proportion of women declines with age. Among the age group 20-29 years old, women comprise 39 per cent of those employed in the private sector. For the 30-39-year-olds, 40-49year-olds and 50-59-year-olds, the share of women working in private sector jobs is smaller, respectively, to 35 per cent, 34 per cent and 33 per cent, while among the over 59-yearolds the share of women in the private sector is only 24 per cent.
24
Choice of sector Choice of education is at the same time a future choice of sector
Along with their differing choice of educations, women and men are employed within different sectors; see table 1.7. Men predominate in the building and construction sector, as well as manufacturing and transport, while women are overrepresented in the social and health sector and within teaching and cleaning.
Table 1.7 Female and male sectors 1981 Sector
Women
2001 Men
Women
Men
Distribution of the sexes in per cent Agriculture, etc.
29.1
70.9
23.4
76.6
Manufacturing
31.3
68.7
32.2
67.8
Energy and water supply
17.3
82.7
22.9
77.1
Building and construction
10.5
89.5
9.5
90.5
Retail
42.2
57.8
41.5
58.5
Hotel and restaurant
62.6
37.4
56.5
43.5
Transport
17.2
82.8
22.4
77.6
Mail
36.4
63.6
40.5
59.5
Financial sector
51.0
49.0
47.1
52.9
Data processing
34.9
65.1
25.6
74.4
Research and development
48.0
52.0
48.3
51.7
Attorneys, etc.
46.4
53.6
46.5
53.5
Cleaning
62.9
37.1
58.7
41.3
Public admin., etc.
43.9
56.1
48.9
51.1
Teaching
60.0
40.0
60.2
39.8
Health and social
86.4
13.6
84.0
16.0
Renovation
55.4
44.6
50.2
49.8
SOURCE: Statistics Denmark.
25
The differences in women's and men's choice of work has thus not changed significantly from 1980 to 2000, which indicates that the labour market continues to be strongly gender segregated.
Women's and men's occupations in the DA-area There is a difference in the occupations carried out by women and men in the DA-covered area; see table 1.8.
Table 1.8
Main occupations for women and men Occupation, 2000
Men
Women Per cent
Managerial
5.2
1.7
Highly qualified level
6.3
3.3
Middle qualified level
13.1
15.0
Office work
2.4
15.0
Sales and service
7.8
24.7
Agriculture and horticulture
0.1
0.0
Skilled manual work
25.8
3.4
Processing work
20.2
16.7
Other work
18.9
20.2
Total
100
100
SOURCE: DA (2000) Wage Statistics and own calculations.
Women and men carry out different types of jobs
Among men, a relatively larger proportion carry out managerial work, work at highly qualified levels and skilled manual work. Relatively more women work at the medium-level of qualification and in office work and sales and service work. Generally speaking, men in the sectors covered by DA/LO collective agreements tend to work in occupations having a high level of qualifications.
26
Large gender segregation within the individual occupations
Within the individual occupations in the DA/LO-covered area, there are great differences in women and men's occupations. Within manufacturing and machine operator work, etc. where both many women and men work, significant differences exist in women's and men's occupations.
Within processing and machine operator work …
There is a large concentration of women within assembly and assembly-line work, while the men tend to be concentrated within trucking and bus transport and in functions where they operate machines in the metallurgical and mineral industry.
… within office work
In the occupation group of 'office work' there is a great predominance of women. This function employs about 20 per cent of the women working in DA/LO-covered jobs and about 2 per cent of the men. Over half the women hold office jobs work in data entry and general clerical work, while around one-fourth of the men work in the same function. Nearly half the men within the clerical sector are employed with registration of goods and transport, versus only 15 per cent of the women.
… and within the skilled craft trades
If one instead considers the skilled craftwork, there is also a clear division between women and men's occupations. Thirty percent of the men in the DA/LO area work within the skilled craft trade, while only 4 per cent of the women have craft-type occupations. Among the few women employed in the skilled craft trades, the majority work within painting and paperhanging, etc. and in food and confectionary industrial work. The men, in contrast, have entirely different occupations. Nearly half the men are employed in construction work, and a similarly large proportion work in mechanical and assembly jobs.
Part-time work Women more frequently work part-time
Among both women and men, the greatest number of parttime employed are found among the cohort of 20-29-yearolds. Among all employed 20-29-year olds, 40 per cent of the women and 24 per cent of the men work part-time. In this analysis, part-time work is determined on the basis of
27
supplementary pension payments (ATP), which means that students supporting themselves with part-time jobs are also part of the database. It is thus not unusual that there is a predominance of young people with part-time work. However, this cannot explain why the proportion of women holding part-time work among the 20-29-year-olds is so much greater than for men. For the employed 30-39 and 40-49-year-olds as well, there are relatively more women than men working part-time, see table 1.9.
Table 1.9
Part-time work among women and men 2000
Full-time Men
Women
Part-time Men
Women
Share of age-group in per cent 20-29 years
75.5
59.8
24.5
40.2
30-39 years
90.7
84.9
9.3
15.1
40-49 years
92.2
87.8
7.8
12.2
NOTE: Part-time is categorized according to ATP (supplementary pension) payments see also box 2.2. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark IDA-database and Coordinated Social
Statistics and own calculations.
Labour market experience There is also a difference in women's and men's individual characteristics such as work experience, job mobility and absence from the labour market; see boxes 1.1. and 1.2 for definitions of work experience and job mobility.
28
Box 1.1
Experience in the labour market 'Experience' measures the number of years in the labour market. It is measured on the basis of the employees' total payments into the supplemental pension fund (ATP) back to 1964 (the period up to 1980, however, is burdened with a degree of uncertainty), which are then re-calculated into years of full-time work. In the period up to 1995, employees paid their ATP premiums on the basis of their work income. In this way, work experience is measured only as real periods with employment, minus absenteeism in the form of unemployment, illness and maternity on sick leave pay, etc. In periods where the employee receives wages during either maternity or illness, these will count as part of the labour market experiences. After 1995, however, employees also paid into the ATP system during periods of unemployment, while receiving sick and maternity leave income and while receiving educational/retraining stipends paid to the unemployed. Therefore, on the basis of information from the Coordinated Social Statistics regarding these types of payments, the measurement of job experience is corrected for these forms of absenteeism from the labour market.
Men have on average 3 years more work experience than women
Men generally have longer work experience than do women. Whereas men have been in the labour market an average of 17 years, women have an average work experience of just up to 14 years, see table 1.10.
Table 1.10 Individual characteristics of employees in the DA/LO-area 2000
Women
Men
Labour market experience in years
13.8
17.2
Childcare leave, per cent utilizing
11.3
1.0
8.4
4.5
Other leave, per cent utilising
NOTE: Per cent utilizing leave arrangements expresses the proportion of women and men, respectively, who in the period 1995-2000 has been on leave in one of the publicly paid leave arrangements. SOURCE: Statistics Denmark (2000), IDA-database and Coordinated Social Statistics, DA (2000) Wage
Statistics and own calculations.
29
A larger proportion of women utilise possibilities for paid leave
These figures should be seen in light of the large proportion of women who utilise the possibilities for leave. In 2000, over 11 per cent of the women had taken childcare leave compared to only 1 percent of the men. At the same time, 8.4 per cent of the women availed themselves of other types of leave from work, compared to only 4.5 per cent of the men.
Men change jobs more often than women
Box 1.2
There is a tendency for men to change jobs more frequently than women. Since 1980, men have changed jobs an average of 2.2 times, versus only 1.9 times for women.
Definition of voluntary job change As used in this analysis, the variable 'job mobility' consists of the number of voluntary job changes for each employee since 1980. An employee is considered to have changed jobs when the registered work force statistics (RAS) show them working in two different firms in the month of November in two consecutive years. In the analysis, it is assumed that the job change is voluntary if the employee over the same period has not been unemployed, i.e., that the degree of unemployment in the year prior to the job change is zero. This calculation does not capture all the voluntary job changes; if a recent school graduate has taken his or her vacation on unemployment compensation and in the same period changes jobs, this job change will not enter into the mobility variable. The same is true if for example, a skilled craftsman has been sent home for a brief period. Conversely, not all job changes, which respect these conditions, will be voluntary. If a person receives notice of being laid off but in the meantime manages to find a job, this will count as a voluntary job change.
In sum, we obtain a gender-segregated labour market where women and men choose different types of educations and hence, become employed in different sectors and carry out different types of jobs.
30
Over the past 20 years, the level of women's education has approached that of men, and today women are nearly as active on the job market as are men. Despite the fact that women and men today educate themselves to largely the same degree, there is not much that indicates that the gender-segregated labour market has declined much over the last 20 years.
31
