Working life
The page contains data on women's and men's participation in working life. There are differences between women and men, for example, in employment by industry, labour market position and type of employment relationship.
More statistical information on working life themes by sex:
Women’s and men's labour market position
A majority of both women and men aged 15 to 74 belong to the employed. Unemployment is slightly more common for men than for women and women are, in turn, in the inactive population more often than men.
There are more men in the inactive population than women in the age groups aged under 25 and aged 55 to 65. There are more women than men in the inactive population in the age groups where you typically form a family.
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Women's and men's employment and unemployment
Men’s employment rate is slightly higher than that of women. Women’s employment rate is, however, high in Finland by international comparison and is quite close to men's employment rate, although lagging a bit behind.
The ratio between women's and men's unemployment rate has varied over time. In recent years, men's unemployment has been higher than that of women.
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Fixed-term and part-time work performed by men and women
Women work in both fixed-term and part-time employment relationships more often than men. The number of part-time employment relationships for both women and men have increased since the beginning of the millennium.
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Segregation by gender in working life
This page examines segregation from the viewpoint of working life. Information on the segregation of fields of education can be found in the Education section of these pages.
Women and men by industry
Women and men partly work in different industries. Women work more often in human health and social work activities, education, accommodation and food service activities, and arts, entertainment and recreation. More men work, for example, in construction, transport and storage, agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying, and manufacturing.
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Equal occupations
The occupational groups where 40 to 60 per cent of employees are men or women are classified as equal occupations.
In recent years, around one-tenth of employed persons have worked in equal occupations. Equal occupations include, for example, teachers in vocational and polytechnic institutions, food and related products machine operators, advertising and marketing professionals, general office clerks and buyers.
From 2015 to 2020, large occupational groups (with over 1,000 employed persons), such as other transport clerks, legal professionals not elsewhere classified, environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates, senior officials of humanitarian and other special-interest organisations, protective services workers not elsewhere classified, and film, stage and related directors and producers, were removed from equal occupations.
Share of persons working in equal occupations among wage and salary earners in 2010 to 2020, %
Source: Employment statistics
* The number for 2019 was revised in October 2022.
Last updated 1 Nov 2022