Parents' working-hours gap in Hesse
Parents' working-hours gap in Hesse stood at 27.2 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 | |
| Hesse | 27.2 | 27.2 | 27.4 | 28.6 | 28.4 | 28.8 | 28.9 | 29.3 | 29.2 | 31.9 | |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 18.1 | 18.1 | 16.9 | 18.3 | 20.1 | 19.1 | 19.4 | 20.8 | 20.8 | 19.1 |
Understanding parents' working-hours gap in Hesse
Focusing on family households domiciled in Hesse, this indicator captures the mean weekly gap in paid working time between mothers and fathers. The arithmetic measure calculates the spread by deducting average maternal employment hours from paternal hours among individuals parenting dependent minors. The demographic scope is anchored to domestic habitation within Hesse rather than enterprise locations, distinguishing this metric from establishment-level wage statistics that tally staff at local factories and offices. It excludes adults without dependent offspring, non-working parents, and students. In contrast to adjacent table entries that document monetary pay gaps or post-retirement pension discrepancies, this series isolates the allocation of working time across working parents.
Yearly release schedules prevent temporary seasonal variations in work attendance from influencing the headline indicator. Evaluating structural changes requires observing annual movements over extended horizons, keeping in mind that occasional methodological updates to microdata collection and population benchmarks can create statistical step changes. Readers should take care not to interpret a narrowing hours differential as an automatic indicator of closing wage gaps; compositional changes, such as mothers moving from marginal to part-time roles or fathers adjusting overtime, alter average durations without necessarily shifting hourly pay parity. Cross-regional comparisons should also account for varying proportions of parents engaged in full-time versus reduced-hour contracts.
Frequently asked questions
- Are self-employed parents in Hesse incorporated into this working-hours calculation?
- Yes, the survey encompasses all employed parents residing in Hesse, including self-employed individuals, salaried staff, and civil servants.
- Does this series include overtime hours worked by parents in Hesse?
- Actual weekly hours worked typically incorporate regular overtime, capturing the full volume of paid labor performed by each parent.
- Why does this series report hours per week instead of a percentage?
- The measure tracks the absolute difference in weekly time commitments rather than a proportional ratio between parental schedules.