Education level determines gender employment gap for parents in EU

The gender employment gap among adults living in households with children was less pronounced for highly educated women compared with those with lower levels of education across the EU in 2024.

For women with low education, employment rates decreased as the number of children in the household grew.

The gender employment gap for this group increased from 26.1 percentage points (pp) for one child to 35.8 pp for two children and 42.1 pp for families with three or more children.

Employment was higher overall at medium education levels, yet the gender gap widened progressively with the size of the family.

This disparity reached its largest point among adults with three or more children, where a 33.0 pp gap was recorded.

In these medium-educated households, employment rates stood at 58.9 per cent for women versus 91.9 per cent for men.

Even among those with higher education, women with children did not reach the same employment levels as their male counterparts.

In households with two children, the rate for women was 88.0 per cent compared to 96.7 per cent for men, resulting in an 8.7 pp gap.

The gap was relatively wider in households with three or more children, with rates sitting at 81.8 per cent for women versus 95.4 per cent for men, creating a 13.6 pp gap.

A high level of education is associated with higher employment rates and a reduced gender gap, Eurostat reported.

The presence of children in the household had a distinct impact on employment rates for women and men, it added.

The employment rate for women decreased as the number of children increased.

The presence of children was associated with a higher employment rate for men compared to those without children, the report concluded.