As in other member states of the European Union (EU), in Romania the chronological course of active life is different for women and men. Women leave the parental home earlier than men (at 25.6 years vs. 30.3 years), marry earlier than men (at 28.3 years vs. 31.6 years), have a longer life expectancy compared to men (76.6 years against 69.2 years). Despite these differences, women are just as satisfied with their lives as men, explains Alpha Bank Chief Economist Ella Callai.

On a scale of 0 to 10, women over 16 reported satisfaction at 7.6 and men at 7.7, higher than the EU average (7.1 and 7.2 respectively).

On average, women outnumber men in most EU countries, with the exception of Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Malta. In Romania in 2021, the number of women exceeded the number of men by an average of 4.5% (in the EU by 4.6%).

The difference varies with age: up to 58 years of age, men outnumber women, and after 58 the ratio reverses, with women outnumbering men. The biggest difference in favor of men is observed in the age group 0-17 years, where the number of women was lower than the number of men by 5.5% (in the EU by 5.2%). The biggest difference in favor of women is observed in the age group over 65 years old, where the number of women was 47.9% more than the number of men (in the EU it was 32.3%).

As for the level of education, differences from the EU average are noticeable in higher education (Fig. 1). The percentage of women aged 25-64 with higher education was 20%, and among men – 17%, which is significantly lower than the EU average, where this percentage was 36% for women and 31% for men.

Women find work a little easier than men. Romania belongs to a group of 13 EU member states where the female unemployment rate was lower (5.1%) than the male unemployment rate (6%) in 2021 (Figure 2).

As in most EU countries, Romania has a higher proportion of employed women (27%) than men (15%) in well-paid managerial and specialist positions. The same is true for less highly paid jobs, such as unskilled labor and trade and service workers, where 36% of employed women and 22% of employed men work (Figure 3). This distribution by occupation makes women’s wages lower than men’s wages by an average of 3.6% in 2021. This is the second smallest gap in the EU after Luxembourg (Fig. 4). In the EU, the salary of women is 13% lower than the salary of men.

Although women find work more easily than men and the gender pay gap is small compared to the rest of the EU, the employment rate among women (working population aged 15-64) is much lower than among men , 52, 5% against 71.1%. This is the largest difference recorded by an EU member state, and the female employment rate is the third lowest in the EU (Figure 5).

If Romanian women had the same level of employment as the EU average, the employed population would increase by 700,000 people. Women can have a tremendous impact on the economy if they are given the necessary support and opportunities, given that the availability of a skilled workforce is the second most important issue for companies in Romania after production costs according to the latest SAFE survey (Survey on Access to Financial Enterprises). from 2022.

Fig. 1. Distribution of the male (M) and female (F) population aged 25-64 by level of education, 2021.

Fig. 2. Distribution of employed men (M) and women (W) over 15 years of age by profession, 2021.

Fig. 3. Unemployment rate, 2021

Fig. 4. The difference between the gross hourly wages of men and women in 2021

Fig. 5. Employment rate, 2021