Unpaid work in Europe: Which countries have the biggest gender gaps?

Gender inequality successful nan system is evident crossed Europe. It appears successful galore areas, including employment, labour participation, and pay. A cardinal driver of this spread is unpaid work. In OECD countries, women do astir doubly arsenic overmuch unpaid activity arsenic men each day. 

In 23 European countries, women do connected mean 86% much unpaid activity than men,  a small little than double. More concretely, women walk 262 minutes per time connected unpaid work, while men walk 141 minutes. This corresponds to a spread of 121 minutes , 2 hours each day.

Gaps successful unpaid activity betwixt women and men alteration wide crossed European countries. Which countries show nan highest and lowest gaps? What are nan main reasons down unpaid work? And why is nan spread particularly ample successful immoderate countries?

Gap is smallest successful Sweden and largest successful Turkey

Among 23 European countries, nan unpaid activity spread betwixt women and men ranges from 29% successful Sweden to a monolithic 349% successful Turkey. 

In Sweden, women walk 220 minutes per time connected unpaid work, compared pinch 171 minutes for men — a quality of 49 minutes. Swedish women besides grounds nan lowest unpaid activity clip among each countries successful nan list.

Nordic countries execute champion successful closing nan gap

Three different Nordic countries travel Sweden pinch nan lowest unpaid activity gaps: Denmark (31%), Norway (35%), and Finland (50%).

After nan outlier Turkey, wherever women do 3.5 times (349%) much unpaid activity than men, nan adjacent highest gaps look successful Southern Europe: Portugal (242%), Greece (173%), and Italy (134%). Spain besides ranks high, successful seventh place, pinch a 98% gap, meaning women do almost doubly arsenic overmuch unpaid activity arsenic men.

The OECD’s Gender Equality successful a Changing World study finds that “unpaid activity acts arsenic a obstruction to paid activity for immoderate women, keeping them retired of nan labour market”.

It is nary coincidence that Turkey has nan lowest labour information complaint successful 2024 astatine 37%, compared pinch nan EU mean of 53%, according to nan OECD. Italy follows pinch 42%, and Greece ranks 4th pinch 45%. These countries besides study nan highest gender gaps successful unpaid work.

Care responsibilities and societal norms

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, main of nan employment, labour markets and younker branch astatine nan ILO successful Geneva, explained to Euronews Business why Turkey and Italy rank highest successful Europe for nan stock of “persons disposable to activity but not seeking”.

“Care responsibilities and societal norms are 2 different drivers that play a role, particularly successful Turkey," she said.

"Limited entree to affordable childcare and eldercare services, on pinch societal attitudes regarding women’s roles, trim nan expertise of women to prosecute successful progressive occupation search.” As a result, she said nan female information rates present are among nan lowest successful OECD countries.

Among Europe’s 5 largest economies, Italy and Spain execute nan worst, while Germany shows nan smallest spread astatine 61%, followed by France astatine 66% and nan UK astatine 78%.

Women transcend 5 hours unpaid activity successful 3 countries

In Portugal (328 minutes), Italy (306 minutes)  and Turkey (305), women do much than 5 hours unpaid work.

This is besides much than 3.5 hours moreover successful Sweden, which has nan lowest unpaid activity time. France ranks 2nd wherever women walk 224 minutes connected unpaid work. 

Turkish men do nan slightest unpaid work: conscionable 68 minutes

Not surprisingly, men walk nan slightest clip connected unpaid activity successful nan 3 countries pinch nan widest gaps. Turkey is an outlier, wherever men dedicate only 68 minutes a time to unpaid work, followed by Greece pinch 95 minutes and Portugal pinch 96 minutes.

Most unpaid activity is regular housework

In each country, for some women and men, regular housework makes up nan largest share. In respective countries, it accounts for much than 70% of regular unpaid time. Care for family members and shopping follow, and together nan apical 3 categories correspond astir 90% of each unpaid work, according to OECD.

In Portugal, for example, women walk 253 of their 328 regular unpaid minutes connected housework, which corresponds to 77%. In France it drops to 70%, and successful Denmark to 60%.

How to trim nan gender gap

The OECD highlights nan domiciled of “norms and stereotypes” successful driving inequalities, noting that these are learned from an early age. The study calls connected countries and nan European Commission to return stronger action to constrictive nan gender spread successful unpaid work. Some cardinal recommendations beneath straight reside nan factors that prolong this gap.

• Promoting adjacent sharing of attraction and family responsibilities betwixt women and men, including by challenging gender stereotypes and norms (through consciousness campaigns, acquisition materials, etc.).

• Providing some mothers and fathers pinch individual paid time off entitlements.

• Expanding equitable entree to hybrid and distant activity by investing successful integer infrastructure and training.

• Investing successful affordable, accessible, and high-quality early puerility acquisition and care, arsenic good arsenic out-of-school hours care.

• Improving pay, occupation quality, and formalisation successful female-dominated caregiving professions, while besides encouraging men to participate care-related careers.