The leading source of labour statistics

Menu Close
© Marcel Crozet / ILO
  • Topic

Statistics on women

Statistics on women in the labour market describe gender differences in labour market participation, employment outcomes and job characteristics. ILOSTAT data support analysis of gender gaps and segregation in labour markets.

Data catalogue

Below are a subset of the indicators available by sex. See the main data catalogue for more.

(Select up to 3)

Latest posts

Methods

Gender and the 19th ICLS

Since the adoption of the standards at the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), the ILO has engaged in an extensive programme of work to develop guidance and tools to support compilers and users of labour data on the implementation of the standards and the use of the data generated when they are applied. Below are key resources focused on the implications for gender data.

Publications

Working Paper 10 - UNECE ILO - Group of Experts on Gender Statistics
The role of communication and dissemination in fulfilling the potential of gender-relevant work statistics
April 22, 2025

The foundational resolution adopted in 2013 by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians introduced a forms-of-work framework with five forms of work (own-use production work, employment, unpaid trainee work, volunteer work, and other work activities) and new measures of labour underutilization, greatly increasing the gender relevance and the analytical value of labour statistics. However, the full potential of these new standards is only fulfilled if countries implement them in their data collection activities via robust gender-sensitive methods and communicate effectively the results. This short paper summarizes the rationale and benefits the new standards, highlighting key methodological and operational issues pertaining to their implementation, with an emphasis on the standards’ impact in improving the gender relevance of work statistics. It also briefly discusses the role of effective communication and dissemination in fulfilling the potential of gender-relevant work statistics.
Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work
June 28, 2018

This report takes a comprehensive look at unpaid and paid care work and its relationship with the changing world of work. A key focus is the persistent gender inequalities in households and the labour market, which are inextricably linked with care work.

Projects

In early 2021, the ILO Statistics Department started a three-year project to engender informality statistics, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project is running in parallel to the broader review of standards for informality statistics, currently undertaken through the ILO's Working Group on the Review of Informality Statistics. It supports integration of gender in the new standards, and the development of gender-related guidance and tools for measuring informality.
The main activity of the project is to test statistical concepts and household survey questionnaires, using cognitive interviewing in two countries in 2021 and a pilot field test in one country in 2022. The findings from those tests will support the working group in its discussions and drafting of the new standards, to be adopted by the 21st ICLS in 2023.
The project is also assessing the existing and anticipated needs for gender data on informality (data demand) and reviewing the use of data in strategy setting and policy formulation, making recommendations to strengthen the production, accessibility and use of gender statistics on informality.

UN Women logo

In 2019, the ILO partnered with UN-Women to create a series of novel labour market indicators, key to gender analysis. The main innovation resulting from this project was the inclusion of a variable on the household type in ILOSTAT, revealing how people's labour market outcomes change based on their family situation (whether they are single or not, whether they have children, the number and age of children, etc.).

Learn more
Women’s Work and Employment Partnership

In 2014, the ILO partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank under the Women’s Work and Employment Partnership, supported by Data2X, with the goal of addressing challenges in measuring work and employment to ensure that women are counted. The partnership supports research in two core areas: subsistence production and unpaid care work.

Learn more

See also

Related pages

Statistics on unpaid work

This topic page on unpaid work provides access to statistical information including data, methods, publications and more.

Skip to content