Latvia: influence of the presence of children in the household on the employment of women and men

The most significant gender gap in employment rates in Latvia is recorded in households with small children (under age 6): in 2019, women’s employment rate was 75.3%, compared with 93.4% for men, resulting in a gender gap of 18.1 percentage points.

In significant numbers, more women than men take parental leave in Latvia: in 2019, men made up only 19% of parental benefit recipients, and their share has increased only slightly since 2015.

Among women with small children, 12.9% were working part-time, compared with only 1.8% of men. The gender employment gap was also evident in households with older or no children, indicating that women were more intensively engaged in part-time employment regardless of household structure.

Full article: Latvia: influence of the presence of children in the household on the employment of women and men

Article has been published in a collection of 100 stories providing up-to-date assessments of progress towards gender equality in the world: The World’s Women 2020: Trends and Statistics