There are still lights and shadows on the status of women in Europe in the field of employment. The recent Eurostat report on exclusion from the job market in 2006 revealed that the inactivity rate of women aged 25-54 amounts to 23.6%, compared to 8.1% of men. As a result, the so-called “family responsibilities” (marriage, pregnancy, child care, assistance to seriously sick relatives and lengthy holidays) affect by 50% the motivations underlying unemployment. There are however significant differences in the various countries: if in Slovenia, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark and Finland inactive women aged 25-54 are less than 15 on 100, in Italy, Greece and Ireland the figures are far above 30% (with 58.9% in Malta). As relates to young women aged 15-24 the inactivity rate in the EU at 27 is close to 60% (52.2% for men) with 30.7% in Denmark and 76.9% in Lithuania. A sharper difference is registered among those older than 55: 62,9% for women, 43,8% for men.
