How much influence does employment of women have on recent demographic changes?
From the beginning of the previous century women have fought hard to become equal with men in all aspects of life. Now the status of both genders is equal. In the past decades the number of women who choose to pursue their career has very much grown. The increase in women employment rate sadly comes with some consequences. More women now choose to postpone or even skip having children. That has left its mark on natural increase rate and many other spheres.
The rate of natural increase in countries of European Union (EU 25 ) in 2010is 0.1% , while in 2001 it was 0.4% . That is a decrease of 0.3% in less than 10 years, it means that there were only 100 more people per 1000 instead of 400 in ’01. That is a steady decrease, which is most likely to continue. Along with natural increase rate falling, of course the women employment rate has risen and the employment gender gap has narrowed. In EU in 2000 gender gap (men are still in advance) was 17.1 percentage points (pp), compared to 14.2 pp in 2007. That equals a difference of -2.9pp. Employment rate of women aged 20-49 with one child under 12 is 65%, falling to 58% for those with two children, and in the end it is 41% for women with three or more children. That shows us that amount of time worked by a woman is closely linked with number and age of her kids, which is usually not case among men. Percentage of women (aged 24-54) inactive due to family responsibilities in European Union (EU15 ) is 17.6%, with its peak in Greece (33.8%), and lowest percentage in Sweden (only 1.8) . Also age of women at their first childbirth has gone from 29.5 in 2000 to 30.3 in 2008 .
On the other hand, situation in India is quite different. Although I had some difficulties finding needed data for this country I still managed to find some statistics. Rate of natural increase in India is 1.5, which is more than world’s average of 1.2. . It is also supposed to be the most populous country in the world by 2050, outgrowing China, which is currently on the first place . That indicates possible grow of natural increase rate. Percentage of economically active women, aged 15+ is only 41 .
