Irish Women More Likely to Have a Third-level Qualification Than Men
The Central Statistics Office has published ‘Women and Men in Ireland 2016′ which presents over 70 indicators that identify important gender differences in the activities of men and women and also presents the situation in Ireland in an international context.
Statistician Helen Cahill comments: “More girls than boys sat higher level papers in the Leaving Certificate exams in English, French, Irish, Biology, Chemistry, Art, Home Economics and Music in 2016. More boys than girls took higher level papers in Mathematics, Physics, Design and communication graphics, Construction studies and Engineering.”
She continues: “Women are more likely to have a third-level qualification than men, with over half (55.1%) of women aged 25-34 having a third-level qualification 2016 compared to just 42.9% of men in this age group. More than four out of five (82.4%) graduates in Engineering, manufacturing and construction were male in 2016 while 79.3% of graduates in Information and communication technologies were male. Women represented more than three out of four (76.4%) graduates in Health and welfare and 71.4% of graduates in Education.”
The fertility rate in Ireland, at 1.92, was the second highest rate in the EU in 2015 after France and well above the EU average of 1.58. The average age at which women gave birth to their first child rose from 24.8 years in 1975 to 30.5 years in 2014.
The vast majority (98%) of those who were looking after home/family in 2016 were women. However, the number of men looking after home/family nearly doubled in the 10 years up to 2016, rising from 4,900 to 9,200.
Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making structures in Ireland at both national and regional levels. Less than a quarter (22.2%) of TDs in Dáil Éireann were women in 2016 and they accounted for only 21.4% of members of Local Authorities. The average female representation in national parliaments in the EU in 2016 was 28.7%.
Other findings:
- Four out of every five people committed to prison in 2014 were men.
- Men work longer hours than women in paid employment. In 2016 men worked an average of 39.7 hours a week in paid employment compared to 31.7 hours for women.
- Men have a higher rate of employment. The male employment rate in 2016 was 69.9%, over 10 percentage points higher than the female rate of 59.5%.
