Full-time working mothers as often employed at managerial level as full-time working fathers

Statistics Netherlands announced today that nearly four in every hundred working women held management positions in 2014, versus nine in every hundred working men. This is partly due to the fact that most women have part-time jobs, especially when their children are young. In the small group of mothers working on a full-time basis, on the other hand, the number of managers is relatively high, in fact about the same as among fathers.

Fewer women than men in management positions

Three-quarters of women in the employed labour force are part-timers , as against one-quarter of men. It is much more uncommon for part-timers to hold a management position than for full-timers. As a result, the proportion of managers among women is much lower than among men. Women also appear to be less keen to move up to higher management or top positions than men, as the recently published Emancipation Monitor shows.

Full-time working mothers almost as often working at managerial level as full-time working fathers  

Mothers with young children are relatively often working on a part-time basis. The lower share of women managers is evidently related to the presence of young children in the household. With more than 13 percent, the proportion of managers among full-time working mothers is almost the same as among fathers. Approximately 20 thousand full-time working mothers hold management positions, as against more than 130 thousand full-time working fathers.

Part-time working mothers more often employed at management level than part-time working women without children

Part-time working mothers with young children are more often working as managers than part-time working women without children. For part-time working fathers, the situation is the other way round. Men are less often working in management positions if they have young children. Male part-timers without children living at home or own their own are generally older and have often reached a management position on the basis of their seniority.

Few management positions available in sectors with a high share of female employees

The share of women in management positions is also related to the sector. Few management positions are available in sectors with many female employees, like the public sector, care and culture, recreation and other services. In these sectors, the number of female employees is relatively high. In health care and welfare, for example, in part of the public sector and in care, four in every five employees are women. The share of managers is traditionally low (3 percent) in these sectors, but most managers in these sectors are women. In the public sector, the wage gap between men and women in management positions is also smaller than in the private sector.