78% of part-time workers in Luxembourg are women

Audrey Bousselin, a researcher at the Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research (LISER), has released some surprising statistics. Women make up 78% of part-time workers in the Grand Duchy. Often they choose this type of employment to take care of children.

It is more difficult for men to choose part-time work. Employers are more likely to try to keep them at full-time work. And within the family, there is still a strong opinion that a man should devote more time to his career than to caring for children.

But there are positive developments in this direction. Men began to take parental leave more often. Of the 11,000 vacation requests in 2021, slightly less than half were submitted by women. Over time, this sort of equality will come to part-time employment. To fasten this, Audrey Bousselin suggested that parents talk more with their children about the equal role of father and mother in upbringing.

Michelle Cloos from the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL) also noted the economic factors associated with men’s dislike for part-time work. It is more difficult to build a career in such employment, and pensions after it are lower. Because of this, women in the country receive 44% lower pensions on average than men. This gap will have to be bridged in order to make part-time work more attractive to everyone.