The Women in Northern Ireland 2023 report has been published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA).
Using estimates from the Labour Force Survey 2023, the characteristics of women in the labour market are explored.
A consistent feature of the labour market is higher employment and unemployment rates for males and higher economic inactivity rates for females. This report explores these features using estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) individual annual datasets and household quarterly datasets, in addition to other applicable data sources.
Despite making up half the working age population (16-64), three in ten women of working age are not in the labour force, while this is the case for just over one in five working age men. According to the 2023 Labour Force Survey, the main reason that women and men were economically inactive in 2023 was due to long term sickness. However, for females, looking after the family and the home came a close second and was the most common reason given by women over the period 2013-2020. Looking after the family and the home has remained the least commonly given reason for male economic inactivity.
Women who are working are less likely to be self-employed and are more likely to be working part-time than men. The age of the youngest child in the household is related to the likelihood of working part-time hours for females with dependent children. Those females with dependent children were more likely to work full-time where the youngest dependent child is secondary school age, compared to those with pre-school or primary aged children. Females with dependent children of any age were more likely to work part-time than those without, while the opposite was true for males.
Key Points:
- The employment rate for females in NI has been consistently lower than for males over the past ten years. For most of the last 10 years the number of female employees has been slightly higher than male employees (+15,000 in 2023), however, the number of self-employed males was just under three times the number of self-employed females.
- Over 3 in 5 female employees were in flexible work compared to just under half of males. Females reported lower levels of involvement in decision making (6pps lower), support from line management (5pps lower), opportunities for career progression (5pps lower) and a lower proportion with earnings above the Real Living Wage (5pps lower) than males. Females were also more likely than males to have been bullied or harassed in work (5pps more than males).
- Although the gap in male and female earnings has decreased over the past 20 years, in 2023, considering all employees regardless of working pattern, females earned 7.8% less than males in NI i.e. for every £1 earned by men, women earned 92p.
- Males were more likely to work full-time than females. Furthermore, approximately 60% of employed women with dependent children worked full-time, compared to 96% of employed males with dependent children.
- Although the female economic inactivity rate has been declining in recent years, in 2023, just under three in ten working age women were economically inactive, compared to just over one in five men.
- The most common reason for economic inactivity among women (32%) and men (40%) in 2023 was long term sickness. The biggest difference in economic inactivity between males and females in 2023 was in the number citing family/home as their reason for inactivity. For men, this was the least common reason (8%), in contrast to one in four inactive women (25%).
- Approximately eight in ten women (79%) with dependent children were economically active in 2023, compared with 94% of men with dependent children.
- The largest difference between men and women with dependent children was for those with pre-school children. The economic activity rate for women with pre-school age children (70%) was substantially lower (by 26pps) than for men with pre-school age children (95%).
Notes to editors:
1. The Women in NI publication and associated tables are available on Women in Northern Ireland 2023 page of the NISRA website
2. This report relies on two separate Labour Force Survey datasets - the July-June 2023 individual dataset and the July-September 2023 quarterly household dataset. The 2023 annual dataset is based on 10,000 individuals, while the quarterly dataset is based on 6,500 individuals. Estimates from both are subject to sampling variability. Estimates from the quarterly dataset are less precise (have larger confidence intervals around them) than estimates from the individual dataset.
3. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk
4. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
5. To keep up to date with news from the Department you can follow us on the following social media channels:
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6. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to: Responsible statistician: Mark McFetridge, Economic & Labour Market Statistics (ELMS), lfs@finance-ni.gov.uk or Tel: 028 902 55172.
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