The number of women in employment has more than doubled since 1998 to 1,310,600 in Q4 2024, a 104.2% increase from 641,800 reported in Q4 1998, the beginning of the LFS series, while women who reported their Principal Economic Status as “engaged in home duties” decreased by 60% from 520,500 in 2010 to 208,200 in 2024.
The number of married women in employment rose by 21.5% over the five years from Q4 2019 to Q4 2024.
In Q4 2024, females accounted for 41.9% of persons in full-time employment, and 67.3% of persons in part-time employment.
Females represented over three-quarters (76.6%) of employees in the Human Health & Social Work sector, and just under three-quarters of the Education sector (73.6%).
More than six in ten (62.6%) females in employment have a third level degree compared with 50.7% of males.
Median weekly earnings among female employments rose by 32.7% between 2013 (€469.74) and 2023 (€623.22). This compares with an increase of 30.5% in median weekly earnings among male employments over the same period, from €590.63 in 2013 to €770.52 in 2023.
In the past five years, the proportion of females among the top 1% of earners increased by five percentage points from 21.4% in 2018 to 26.4% in 2023, while the proportion of females in employments with earnings in the top 10% rose from 27.8% to 30.2% over the same period.
In 2022, the Gender Pay Gap (GPG), which was measured as the average difference between male and female hourly earnings, was 9.6%, with mean hourly earnings for males at €27.73 and €25.06 for females.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a continuous nationwide survey of households in Ireland, primarily designed to produce quarterly labour force estimates that include the official measures of employment and unemployment in the state in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) concepts and definitions.
The most recent iteration of the LFS showed that the number of females in employment has more than doubled since 1998 from 641,800 to 1,310,600 in Q4 2024, an increase of 104.2% compared to an increase of 50.5% for males. The number of females in unemployment was 51,100 in Q4 2024, down 11.3% on the same quarter in 2023 (See Table QLF01).
In Q4 2024, females accounted for 41.9% (919,600) of persons in full-time employment, and 67.3% (391,100) of persons in part-time employment (See Table QES24).
The reason for being in part-time employment varied among females, with the greatest proportion of those in part-time employment citing ‘looking after children or incapacitated adults’ (32.8%) as the main reason, followed by ‘school, education or training’ (21.6%). This compares with 5.3% of men who stated their main reason for being in part-time employment as ‘looking after children or incapacitated adults’, and 38.3% who said it was for ‘school, education or training’ (See Table QES25).
The most recent Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources release showed that median weekly earnings among females stood at €623.22 in 2023, an increase of 32.7% since 2013 (€469.74). This compares with an increase of 30.5% in median weekly earnings among males in the same period (See Table NSA85).
Employments in the Information & Communication sector recorded the highest median weekly earnings among females each year since 2017. Median weekly earnings for employments among females in the Information & Communication sector have increased by 64.0% in the past decade, from €705.72 in 2013 to €1,157.11 in 2023. In contrast, employments in the Accommodation & Food Services sector have consistently recorded the lowest median weekly earnings among females over the past 10 years, increasing by 25.7% in the last decade, from €251.13 in 2013 to €315.74 in 2023 (See Table NSA85).
While median weekly earnings were highest in the Information & Communication sector, it was the Human Health & Social Work sector that had the most female employment. Females represented over three-quarters (76.6%) of employees in the Human Health & Social Work sector, and just under three-quarters of the Education sector (73.6%). The most recent Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources release showed that median weekly earnings among females in the Human Health & Social Work and Education sectors stood at €727.96 and €826.37, respectively, in 2023.
The Construction sector had the lowest female representation at 10.2%. However, the sector recorded the largest percentage increase in female employees in the past decade, rising from 6,600 in Q4 2014 to 18,000 in Q4 2024, while the median weekly earnings have increased by 44.0%, rising from €374.00 in 2014 to €538.46 in 2023. In contrast, the number of female employees in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector has risen by 7.6% over the same period, from 148,400 in Q4 2014 to 159,700 in Q4 2024 while the sector’s median weekly earnings increased by 30.2% from 2014 to 2023 (See Tables QLF07 and NSA85) .
A greater proportion of female employments were at the lower end of the earnings distribution compared with their male counterparts. In 2023, almost one in three female employments (32.1%) had weekly earnings of less than €450, compared with almost one in five male employments (19.4%).
The CSO’s Structure of Earnings (SES) 2022 release details the gender pay gap, abbreviated as GPG, which refers to the official measure of difference in average hourly wages between males and females. It is a measure across all jobs and characteristics in Ireland, not of the difference in pay between males and females doing the same job. The GPG in Ireland for 2022 was 9.6%. The mean earnings in 2022 for males were €27.73 with 35.7 mean paid weekly hours while the mean earnings for females were €25.06 with 30.1 mean paid weekly hours (See Table SES03).
The CSO’s Distribution of Earnings by Gender and County release shows that, since 2018, the proportion of females among the top 1% of earners increased by five percentage points from 21.4% in 2018 to 26.4% in 2023. The proportion of females in employments with earnings in the top 10% rose from 27.8% in 2018 to 30.2% in 2023 (See Table DEA02). Meanwhile, the Gender Balance in Business Survey shows that Irish businesses continue to increase female representation at Senior Executive and Board level. In 2023, almost one in five (19.0%) of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) were female in 2023, compared with more than 11.5% in 2019. There was also an increase in the overall number of female Senior Executives in 2023, rising to 30.4% in 2023 from 28.3% in 2019. (See GBA01).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (07 March 2025) published Women in the Labour Market for 2023 and 2024.
Commenting on the release, Colin Hanley, statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings (LME) Division, said: “This release aims to provide insights on women in the labour market, in terms of both employment and earnings, by combining and analysing statistics provided in existing releases such as the Labour Force Survey (LFS), Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS), and Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) which are produced by the Labour Market & Earnings Division of the CSO.
Employment
The CSO’s LFS presents labour force estimates, including official measures of employment and unemployment on a quarterly basis. The most recent iteration of the LFS showed that the number of women in employment has more than doubled since 1998 from 641,800 to 1,310,600, an increase of 104.2%. This compares with a 52.5% increase in females 15 years and over in the population. The Human Health & Social Work sector had the highest number of female employees, followed by the Education sector, with women representing around three-quarters of employees in both sectors.
The changing dynamic of women in the workforce is evident through several key trends. Since 2010, the number of women reporting their Principal Economic Status as “engaged in home duties” has fallen by 60%, from 520,500 to 208,200. Meanwhile, the number of married women in employment has risen by 21.5% over the five years from Q4 2019 to Q4 2024. More than six in ten (62.6%) females in employment hold a third-level degree, compared with 50.7% of males, while the number of women working at least sometimes from home has also surged by 121.1% in five years, compared with a 68.8% increase for men.
Meanwhile, the Gender Balance in Business Survey shows that Irish businesses continue to increase female representation at Senior Executive and Board level. In 2023, almost one in five (19.0%) of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) were female compared with 11.5% in 2019. There was also an increase in the overall number of female Senior Executives in 2023, rising to 30.4% in 2023 from 28.3% in 2019. At board level, one in four members (24.6%) of Boards of Directors in Ireland were female, up from 19.6% in 2019 (See Table GBA01).
Earnings
Dr Eimear Heffernan, statistician in the LME Division said: “In terms of earnings, the median weekly earnings for employments among females stood at €623.22 in 2023, an increase of 32.7% over the past decade since 2013 (€469.74). This compares with an increase of 30.5% in median weekly earnings among male employments over the same period, from €590.63 in 2013 to €770.52 in 2023.
While we see that Human Health & Social Work sector had the highest number of female employees, it was employments in the Information & Communication sector had the highest median weekly earnings among females (€1,157.11) in 2023. This has increased by 64.0% in the past decade, from €705.72 in 2013. In contrast, employments in the Accommodation & Food Services sector consistently recorded the lowest median weekly earnings among females over the past 10 years, up by 25.7% between 2013 (€251.13) and 2023 (€315.74) (See Table NSA85).
In terms of nationality groups that contributed at least 1.0% to the total earnings across three consecutive years, employments held by Indian females had the highest median weekly earnings in 2023 at €908.44, followed by employments held by Irish (€645.49) and UK nationals (€613.78). The Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2023 release noted that Indian females (€908.44) were the only nationality cohort who recorded median weekly earnings higher than those of their male counterparts (€849.68), a trend which has been observed since 2020 (See Table NSA91).
Overall, a greater proportion of female employments were at the lower end of the earnings distribution compared with their male counterparts. Almost one in three female employments (32.1%) had weekly earnings of less than €450, compared with almost one in five male employments (19.4%) (See Table DDA16). In the past five years, the proportion of females among the top 1% of earners increased by five percentage points from 21.4% in 2018 to 26.4% in 2023, while the proportion of females in employments with earnings in the top 10% rose from 27.8% to 30.2% over the same period (See Table DEA02).”