Working women on the rise; Middle-aged have it rough

The number of working women in the Netherlands has shown a stronger growth over the past decade than the number of working men. In the second quarter of this year there were a total of 3.8 employed women, compared to 3.4 million in 2005. The number of working women between the ages of 25 and 45 years showed a decrease however.

This is according to figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Monday. The number of working men stood at 4.5 million in the second quarter of 2015, compared to 4.4 million a decade ago. Compared to the second quarter last year, the second quarter of this year saw 84 thousand more employed women and 24 thousand more employed men. Three quarters of the women are working part-time however, compared to a quarter of the men.

The growth in the number of working women over the last year was accounted for by women aged 15 to 25 years and women between 45 and 75 years.

The number of working women between the ages of 45 and 75 years increased by 462 thousand compared to 2005. This is partly due to the fact that more and more people continue working after the age of 45 and the labor participation therefore increases. The gross employment rate in women aged 45 to 75 years increased to just over half. The gross employment rate in men of the same age is still much higher at two thirds.

The number of people between the ages of 25 to 45 with paid employment is shrinking, due to the aging population. The decrease in the number of employed women was smaller than in men. According to Statistics Netherlands, this is because the gross employment rate in women of this age group has remained virtually unchanged since the crisis, but has decreased in men.