Mothers' employment rate, child under 3, Hesse
Mothers' employment rate, child under 3, Hesse stood at 38.7 percent in 2025, according to Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) – Digital Gender Equality Atlas. It is one of the indicators in the Gender gaps by federal state table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 2008 to 2025. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Gender gaps by federal state table
| Indicator | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All parents | 62.6 | 61.6 | 62.8 | 62.6 | 61.2 | 60.4 | 62.1 | 61.3 | 61 | 60.7 | |
| Mothers | 38.7 | 36.8 | 39.2 | 37.6 | 36 | 34.8 | 35.7 | 35.8 | 36 | 32.6 | |
| Fathers | 88.5 | 88.2 | 88.2 | 90 | 88.4 | 87.9 | 90.8 | 89.2 | 88.1 | 91.8 |
Understanding mothers' employment rate, child under 3, Hesse
Maternal workforce standing across Hesse isolates women who maintain an employment relationship while living with a child under three. The survey population encompasses female residents sharing a home with their biological, adopted, or foster child under three years of age. Classified as employed are female employees, civil servants, and independent businesswomen, as well as mothers absent on statutory parental leave who hold an ongoing contract with an employer. Women without employment ties, including unregistered job seekers, homemakers, and mothers whose young children reside elsewhere, are excluded from the count. This row distinguishes female parental experiences from Hesse's paternal indicator and from the aggregated parental benchmark.
Produced as an annual indicator, this metric smooths out intra-year seasonal hiring patterns and calendar disruptions. Evaluating year-on-year changes provides the most reliable way to monitor shifts in maternal employment conditions across Hesse. Analysts must be aware of potential series discontinuities caused by methodological updates to the microcensus, revisions in sampling weights, and updated census population estimates. When reading this series, it is important to remember that official employment includes mothers on extended statutory parental leave who are not actively working, and that the indicator does not reflect whether employment is full-time, part-time, or marginal.
Frequently asked questions
- Are mothers in Hesse who are on parental leave counted as employed?
- Yes, mothers on statutory parental leave who maintain a formal employment contract are classified as employed.
- How does this series differ from Hesse's general female employment rate?
- This metric is restricted to women cohabiting with a child under three, excluding women without children in this age range.
- Does this measure indicate how many hours Hesse mothers spend in paid work?
- No, it measures only the share of mothers with an employment contract, without detailing actual weekly working hours.