FRANCE The

Trends
Table 1: Participation rates 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2001 by age and sex
1990 1995 2000 2001
Increase 1995-2001
(percentage points)
Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women
Total 50.7 68.3 34.2 50.8 64.9 37.5 53.4 66.3 41.2 52.6 66.0 40.0 1.8 1.1 2.5
16 - 19 31.7 32.1 31.4 24.9 26.7 23.0 25.7 28.9 22.3 24.6 29.2 19.8 -0.3 2.5 -3.2
20 - 24 67.1 72.6 61.3 60.7 63.6 57.8 60.1 63.5 56.6 59.0 64.3 53.5 -1.8 0.7 -4.3
25 - 29 77.9 92.0 63.5 79.8 89.4 70.0 82.7 88.3 76.9 80.7 87.6 73.6 0.9 -1.8 3.6
30 - 34 75.9 96.5 55.2 79.3 94.6 63.8 82.8 95.8 69.5 80.7 93.8 67.1 1.4 -0.8 3.4
35 - 39 72.3 96.7 47.8 77.0 95.4 58.6 80.5 95.6 65.2 78.5 94.0 62.8 1.5 -1.4 4.2
40 - 44 67.8 95.3 40.3 74.6 95.0 54.2 78.8 95.2 62.4 77.0 93.6 60.5 2.4 -1.4 6.3
45 - 49 64.1 94.4 31.4 68.6 93.5 44.0 73.3 93.2 53.5 72.1 91.8 52.7 3.5 -1.8 8.7
50 - 54 58.4 89.2 28.7 60.6 87.9 33.9 64.0 88.4 40.3 64.2 87.9 41.1 3.7 0.0 7.2
55 - 59 49.0 76.4 23.2 47.3 71.4 24.7 51.6 76.0 28.3 50.9 74.3 28.4 3.6 2.9 3.8
60 - 64 30.4 46.8 15.5 26.9 39.8 15.1 29.3 43.5 16.4 31.0 46.1 17.4 4.2 6.3 2.2
65 - 69 5.5 7.6 3.7 4.3 5.8 3.1 4.0 5.5 2.7 4.0 5.9 2.4 -0.3 0.1 -0.7
70+ 1.0 1.4 0.8 1.0 1.4 0.7 0.6 1.0 0.3 0.5 1.0 0.3 -0.5 -0.5 -0.5
reduction is already experienced by women aged 35-39. Efforts to
increase participation rates do not have to aim only at older women,
but they also have to deal with younger cohorts. Apart from cultural
and educational reasons, policies aimed at reconciling work and
family life are necessary in Spain as activity rates among women with
children under six years of age are the lowest in the EU15 9 . The large
gender gaps among older women might also be influenced by the
need to care for elderly dependants within the family framework.
2.2. Employment rates
The Spanish employment rate has always been well below the
European average in all age groups. In 2001, according to Eurostat
data, the difference amounted to 6.4 percentage points (64.1% and
Figure 3:
percentage points
25
20
15
10
5
0
–5
Source: INE, LFS, 2nd quarters
57.7% of population aged 15-64 respectively). However, this
difference is due mostly to the big difference among women, for the
difference among men was only 2.1 points, compared to 13.0 points
for the women.
As the graph shows, this important difference in aggregate terms is
significantly reduced in the group of workers aged 55-64, where in
2001 the employment rate among older workers in Spain was slightly
higher than in the EU as a whole (39.2% and 38.8% respectively).
The analysis by gender shows, again, that this difference is exclusively
due to a higher older male employment rate, as employment among
Spanish older women is considerably below the European average.
Moreover, the difference over these ten years has increased slightly10 .
The following graph again reflects the sharp decline in male
15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 15–64
9 Source: Eurostat, LFS, in Increasing Labour Force participation and promoting active ageing.
10 At the beginning of the period, the difference amounted to 5.8 points and in 2001 increased up to 7.0 points.
142 Spring 2003 | European Employment Observatory Review