Most women work part-time voluntarily – rts.ch

Only one in five working women, ages 15 to 64 with children of preschool or school age, works full time. This corresponds, according to the Swiss definition, to an occupancy rate of 90 to 100%, can we read in the press release from the Federal Statistical Office. These numbers are based on the latest Swiss Labor Force Survey (ESPA) published last year.

By comparison, half of all childless women under the age of 15 work full time, and nearly a third have an employment rate of less than 70%.

Only 13% of men work part-time, regardless of their family status.

Distribution of occupancy rate according to family status. [OFS]

Compared to EU countries, the percentages of people who work part-time, whether they have children or not, are higher only in the Netherlands than in Switzerland.

Family or personal reasons

In Switzerland and in many other countries (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Belgium and Ireland), women often cite the care of disabled adults or children as the main reason for part-time work, among other reasons. family or personal.

In the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Romania and Cyprus), the main reason mentioned most often by both sexes is not finding a full-time job.

In the Nordic countries (Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland), the indicators given by women regarding the main reason for their part-time work are evenly distributed among the various response categories: training and continuing education in addition to the category as “others” was mentioned several times.

A little unwanted part time

However, no trend appears among men. Depending on the country, the answer often given is “No full-time work found” or the “Other” category.

In Switzerland, the proportion of involuntary part-time workers is among the lowest in Europe: regardless of gender, 8% of active part-time workers in this state are against their will.

ATS / oang