Study highlights gender imbalance

Men in Ireland leave school earlier and are less qualified than women yet they earn more and are better-represented at all levels of government, the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show.

The CSO's Women and Men in Ireland 2009 report, published today, showed a substantial disparity between the sexes across a range of areas.

The study indicated men are nearly twice as likely to leave school early as women.

The early school leavers rate among women aged 18-24 in 2007 was 8.7 per cent, substantially lower than the male rate of 14.2 per cent.

The figures indicated women are more likely to have a third-level qualification, with 51 per cent of women aged 25-34 having a third-level qualification compared with 38.7 per cent of men.

Despite their better qualifications, women’s income remains only around two-thirds that of men’s.

After adjusting for the longer hours worked by men, the report showed, women’s hourly earnings remained only about 87 per cent of men’s.

The study also found women were “under-represented in decision-making structures at both national and regional levels”.

In 2009, only 14 per cent of TDs in Dáil Eireann were women, while they accounted for 34 per cent of members of State Boards, 17 per cent of members of local authorities and just 12 per cent of members of regional authorities.

The average representation in national parliaments for EU 27 countries was nearly 24 per cent in 2009.

Despite the imbalance between the sexes in education, employment and pay, Ireland is unique in EU terms in having the only “perfectly gender-balanced” population, with 100 women per 100 men in the population.

Such a perfect balance between men and women is relatively rare in population terms and results from strong differences in the age groups.

The report revealed that at younger ages, there are more boys than girls because more boys are born than girls in Ireland, while at older ages, there are more women than men as women live longer.

The data showed the ratio of men to women in the population decreased with age in 2009, from 105 men per 100 women in the 0-19 age group down to 46 men per 100 women in the 85 years and over age group.

The declining ratio of males is initially explained by emigration, especially in the 20-29 age group, but in older age groups life expectancy is the key determinant.

Susan McKay, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, said the report puts Ireland to shame.

“Today’s figures are a sharp reminder that strategies to bring about equality for women cannot be treated as luxuries - we are half the population and the Government must recognise that we cannot continue to be treated as second-class citizens,” she said.