Parents' working-hours gap in Bavaria
Parents' working-hours gap in Bavaria stood at 29.2 hours per week 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 26.9 | 27 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 27.5 | 27.8 | 28.7 | 29 | 28.9 | 29.7 | |
| Bavaria | 29.2 | 29.1 | 30.2 | 30.1 | 29.9 | 31.1 | 31 | 31.7 | 31.9 | 31.9 | |
| Berlin | 20.4 | 20.2 | 20.9 | 21.7 | 19 | 19.8 | 23.9 | 23.1 | 23.2 | 21.7 |
Understanding parents' working-hours gap in Bavaria
Recorded among parent-headed households residing in Bavaria, this statistic compares the weekly volume of employment hours supplied by fathers with the volume supplied by mothers. The indicator is computed by subtracting the mean weekly paid hours worked by mothers from the mean weekly paid hours worked by fathers. Data collection follows the household residence principle, encompassing parents who live with dependent children inside the state borders, irrespective of whether their jobs are located within or outside the state. It excludes non-employed parents, childless adults, and time spent on unpaid family care or household duties. Sibling entries in this table present counterpart figures for other federal states, provide the nationwide total, or track hourly wage disparities rather than weekly working duration.
Because this measure is compiled annually, it contains no calendar seasonality. Analysts tracking changes over time should consider potential statistical breaks resulting from structural updates to household survey procedures, revised weighting regimes, or changes in the criteria used to identify dependent children. Multi-year comparisons provide a dependable perspective on structural evolution in parental employment patterns, whereas single-year changes may be influenced by sample variance. A key pitfall is assuming that changes in this hours gap directly reflect changes in overall maternal labor force participation, since non-working mothers are not included in the calculation and do not affect the average weekly hours of employed mothers.
Frequently asked questions
- Are non-working mothers included in the Bavarian parental working-hours calculation?
- No, the metric only includes mothers and fathers who are currently employed and have recorded working hours.
- Is this working-hours series based on workplace location or residential address in Bavaria?
- It is based on household residence, including parents living in Bavaria regardless of the geographical location of their employers.
- What can cause the weekly working-hours gap between parents to change?
- The gap changes when the balance between full-time and part-time arrangements shifts among employed mothers or when fathers alter their weekly working schedules.