In the European Union only 58.8% of women are employed. The employment rate for men is 69.4%.

The main reason for this lower female employment rate is that women spend considerably more time on family and household responsibilities, making it difficult for them to participate fully in the labour market.

The difference between the amount of unpaid work carried out by European men and women is huge. This is the case across all age groups, but it is particularly important for those
aged 30 to 45.

Countries that invest in policies to make it easier to have and raise children tend to have higher fertility rates and higher female employment rates than those that don't.

Western European women were having an average of 2.4 children each in 1970. That figure has fallen to 1.5 in 2013.

Nowhere in the European Union does fertility approach 2.1, the level needed to keep the population stable.

The population of the E.U. could drop from 482 million today to 454 million by 2050. In the same period, the E.U.'s working age population is projected to drop by 18% while the number of those aged 65 or more will soar by 60%.

Men are overrepresented at the upper end of the income distribution scale and there are roughly twice as many women than men among those on low pay.

In Austria women earn on average only 60% of their male counterparts. Austria is therefore one of the countries with
the highest gender pay gap
in Europe.