Women and Paid Work: Key Facts

Note: The data that this fact sheet were based on have been superseded by the new ILO estimates (Women and Men in the Informal Economy, 3rd Edition, 2018). However, the general patterns described here are still generally valid. This fact sheet will be updated to reflect the new data soon.

This document provides an overview of key facts regarding women’s paid work based on available data from national labour force surveys compiled by the International Labour Organization (ILO). This creates a general picture of women's paid work and the differences between women and men in regard to paid employment. As the availability of these data show, there has been progress in the development of statistics on women’s paid work but further improvements are needed.