Women living from employment in Hesse
Women living from employment in Hesse stood at 63.7 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 people | 69.6 | 69.8 | 69.7 | 68.1 | 68.2 | 70.5 | 69.7 | 68.9 | 68.5 | 67.5 | |
| Women | 63.7 | 64 | 63.8 | 61.5 | 61.6 | 64.7 | 63 | 62.6 | 62 | 60.2 | |
| Men | 75.4 | 75.6 | 75.5 | 74.7 | 74.6 | 76.2 | 76.3 | 75 | 74.8 | 74.5 |
Understanding women living from employment in Hesse
Isolating female residents throughout Hesse, this indicator measures the percentage whose own job or independent enterprise serves as their primary financial lifeline. It includes women who support themselves mainly via wages, salaries, or self-employed profits, while excluding those supported primarily through partner income, parental support, pensions, or welfare benefits. By confining the denominator strictly to the female population, the series separates female outcomes from the broader state average and the male baseline. This distinct focus reveals how effectively female residents achieve financial self-reliance through the labor market, establishing a direct point of comparison against the male series.
Annual reporting without intra-year polling means that year-on-year evaluation offers the most faithful representation of underlying shifts in female economic autonomy. Comparing consecutive yearly results avoids the mistake of looking for seasonal movements. Readers should take care not to mistake this metric for the conventional female employment rate: women working in marginal positions or low-wage part-time arrangements who rely on a partner's earnings to meet overall living expenses are excluded here. Moreover, an expanding share of female pensioners living on retirement income lowers the total percentage over time, even if employment participation among working-age women remains steady. Periodic survey redesigns and population census rebasings can also create structural breaks between survey rounds.
Frequently asked questions
- Are women in Hesse who work part-time counted in this series?
- Yes, but only if their part-time earnings form their primary source of livelihood rather than serving as a secondary supplement to a partner's income.
- What causes this metric to diverge from the male equivalent in Hesse?
- Disparities often arise from higher female involvement in unpaid caregiving, greater prevalence of part-time work, and reliance on family income or spousal maintenance.
- Does this measure reflect the impact of maternity benefits?
- If a mother on leave relies predominantly on state family benefits rather than ongoing occupational income, she is not counted in the numerator during that period.