Women and Men in Ireland 2016

• Just over half (51.5%) of women aged 15 years and over were in the labour force (at work or unemployed) in 2016, a slight increase on the proportion from 2006 of 50.2%.

• The proportion of men in the labour force over the same time period dropped from 72.7% to 67.8%.

• More than half (54.5%) of those who were at work in 2016 were men while over two-thirds (67.5%) of people who were unemployed were men

• Nearly all of the people (98%) who were looking after home or family in 2016 were women although the number of men in this grouping nearly doubled in the ten years up to 2016, rising from 4,900 to 9,200.

• In 2006 77,300 women described themselves as retired but this number increased strongly to 177,800 by 2016.

• On average, female employees were paid 13.9% an hour less than male employees in Ireland in 2014 while the average EU gender pay gap in 2015 was 16.3%.

• Of those countries for which data were available in 2015, Romania had the lowest gender pay gap at 5.8% while Estonia had the highest at 26.9%.

• In 2015 47.9% of women in Ireland were at risk of poverty before income from pensions and social transfers was taken into account, compared with 44.6% of men.

• The at risk of poverty rate after social transfers and pensions was 16.4% for women and 16.1% for men.

• The lowest at risk of poverty rates in the EU in 2015, after pensions and social transfers, was in the Czech Republic at 11% for women and 8.5% for men.

• The highest at risk of poverty rates, after pensions and social transfers, were in Romania where about a quarter of men and women were at risk of poverty.

• The at risk of poverty rate for both men and women aged 18 and over in Ireland rose slightly between 2010 and 2015 from 14% to 15%.

• People in employment had a lower at risk of poverty rate with a rate of 6% for men and 4% for women in 2015.

• The highest at risk of poverty rates were for people who were unemployed with a rate of 39% for both men and women in 2015.

• The at risk of poverty rate for males in 2015 was 16%, a slight rise on the 2010 rate of 15%. For females, the at risk of poverty rate in 2015 of 16% was unchanged on the 2010 rate.

• The age groups with the highest at risk of poverty rate in 2015 were those aged 18-24 with about a quarter of men and women in this age group at risk of poverty.

• The at risk of poverty rate for men aged 18-24 rose from 18% in 2010 to 26% in 2015.

• Children aged under 18 years of age had at risk of poverty rates slightly above the overall rate.

• Men and women aged between 25 and 49 and those aged 65 and over had at risk of poverty rates below the overall rates.

• In all EU countries in 2016, except the Czech Republic, higher proportions of men then women aged 18-24 had left school with at most lower secondary education and were not in further education or training.

• In Ireland 8% of men and 4.8% of women aged 18-24 were early school leavers in 2016. The EU averages were 12.3% for men and 9.3% for women.

• The target on early school leavers in the Europe 2020 strategy from the European Commission is a rate of less than 10% by 2020.

• The lowest rates for early school leavers in the EU in 2016 for both men and women were in Croatia, at 3.7% for men and 1.8% for women.

• The highest rates for both men and women in 2016 in the EU were in Malta, at 23.4% for men and 15.9% for women.

• More than nine out of ten lone parents were women in 2016 and this proportion has remained stable over the period 2006 to 2016.

• The number of women living as lone parents increased by 14.6% from 115,600 to 132,500 between 2006 and 2016.

• The number of men living as lone parents rose by more than a quarter (27.7%) from 10,100 in 2006 to 12,900 by 2016.

• More than nine out of ten lone parents were women in 2016.

• The youngest child was aged under 10 for 57.1% of women living as lone parents.

• For 38% of male lone parents, the age of the youngest child was aged under 10 years and for the same proportion of male lone parents the age of the youngest child was between 15 and 19 years.

• The vast majority (98.9%) of the 40,317 persons in receipt of one-parent family payments in 2016 were women.

• Just under one in five (18.6%) of the women receiving the one-parent family payment was aged under 25 years.

• Less than a quarter (22.2%) of the TDs in the Dáil were women in 2016, the twelfth lowest representation in the EU and below the EU average of 28.7%.

• Female representation in the Dáil increased in Ireland to 22.2% after the 2016 general election (from 16.3%) as a result of new legislation on female quotas for political parties, see Appendix 1.

• Two countries had female participation of over 40% in parliament - Sweden and Finland. The lowest representation was in Hungary at 9.5%.

• Just under two-thirds (65%) of Irish civil servants in general service were women in 2016

• About three-quarters of Clerical officers and Staff officers were female in 2016. In contrast, less than two in ten (17.6%) of those at Secretary General level were women while less than three in ten (28.9%) of those at Deputy and Assistant Secretary level were women.

• A clear majority of those in the four most senior general service grades were men in 2016.    

• The middle management grade of Administrative Office was the most gender balanced of all grades.

• The number of males and females in the usually resident population who described themselves as Roman Catholic decreased between 2011 and 2016.

• In 2011 85.9% of females were Roman Catholic but this had dropped to 80.3% by 2016 while 83.4% of males were Roman Catholic in 2011 but this decreased to 77.3% by 2016.

• There was an increase in the numbers of people with no religion between 2011 nad 2016. Over this time period the number of males with no religion increased from 6.7% to 10.8% while the number of females increased from 4.7% to 8.5%.

• In the population usually resident in Ireland in 2016, 80.3% of females and 77.3% of males described themselves as Roman Catholic.

• Just over half of males (53.4%) and females (56.6%) with 'Other EU' nationality were Roman Catholic compared to more than eight out of ten Irish males (82.4%) and females (85.1%).

• Around a quarter of males (27.3%) and females (25.3%) with 'Non EU' nationality did not state their religion compared just 1.4% of Irish males and 1.2% of Irish females.

• Irish residents with non-EU nationality had varied religions - 14.4% of males and 9.6% of females described themselves as Muslim while around an eighth stated they had no religion, (12.4% of males and 13.7% of females).

• In 2016 Sport Ireland awarded grants under the International Carding Scheme to 55 male and 31 female athletes.

• Athletes aged between 25 and 29 years of age received the largest number of grants. For male athletes, just under four out of ten (38.2%) grants went to those aged 25-29 while 35.5% of grants went to female athletes in this age group.

• In 2016 the Irish Sports Council awarded grants under the International Carding Scheme to 55 male and 31 female athletes.

• The average grant allocated was €20,355 to women and €17,855 to men.

• More than four in ten (41.8%) male athletes and 38.7% of female athletes received a grant between €10,000 and €19,999.

• The Arts Council awarded 564 grants to artists in 2016. Women represented more than half (52%) of recipients.

• The average grant awarded to men by the Arts Council was €12,451 while the average awarded to women was €12,307.

• More than a third (35%) of grants awarded to women and 29% of the grants awarded to men were in the field of visual arts.

• Just under a quarter of grants to men were for Literature and 20% were for music. Around 16% of grants to women were for literature while about one in ten were for music.

• About 60% of the recipients of grants in the fields of literature and music were men while women received 84% of the grants relating to dance and 62% of the theatre grants.

• The Arts Council awarded 564 grants to artists in 2016. Women represented more than half (52%) of recipients.

• The average grant awarded to men by the Arts Council was €12,451 while the average awarded to women was €12,307.

• Close to half (46%) of the grants awarded to men were €15,000 or over while a third of the grants to women were in this category.

• The average income liable for social insurance for women in 2016 was three-quarters of men's with average income for women of €26,649 compared to €35,766 for men.

• Men were more likely to have income of €50,000 or over with 21.4% of men and 13.3% of women in this income band. Nearly half (48.5%) of women had income under €20,000 compared to 39.6% of men.

• When interpreting this table note that no account has been taken of the number of hours being worked or of the occupations being performed by men and women, (see tables 2.6 and 2.8). See Appendix 1 for further information on income liable for social insurance.

• The difference between men and women for average income liable for social insurance increased with age in 2016. The average income of women aged 15-24 was 89.5% of men's in the same age group while for the 55-64 age group women's average income was 64.5% of men's.

• When interpreting this table note that no account has been taken of the number of hours being worked or of the occupations being performed by men and women, (see tables 2.6 and 2.8). See Appendix 1 for further information on income liable for social insurance.

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