Maltese men and women are shown in a rather weak position compared to their EU counterparts where it comes to graduating from tertiary education, according to Eurostat statistics published yesterday.
They show that only 13 per cent of Maltese women aged 25-59 have graduated from tertiary education. In contrast, 23.8 per cent of women in the EU27 and 24.3 per cent of EU25 women have graduated from tertiary education.
Malta is tied with the Czech Republic in the place before last – only Romania did worse – while Finland (42 per cent), Estonia and Denmark (both 39 per cent) top the table.
Maltese men fared worse as 12.1 per cent within the same age bracket have graduated from tertiary education; only Portuguese men, at 11.6 per cent placed worse. The EU25 average stood at 23.1 per cent while the EU27 average was 23.7 per cent.
However, the gap between life expectancy of women and men was at a minimum of four years in Malta, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Sweden in 2005.
The gap is expected to narrow to three years in Malta, Denmark, Cyprus and Sweden by 2050, while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are expected to show an eight-year gap.
The Lithuanian and Latvian ladies in 2005 were expected to outlive the males by 12 years, while the EU27 difference stood at around six years, 81.5 years for women and 75.4 years for men.
In 2005, life expectancy for women ranged from 75.4 years in Romania to 83.9 years in Spain while it stood at 81.4 years in Malta. In 2050 it is expected to be over 80 years in all member states, ranging from 82 years in Romania to 89.1 years in France and 85 years in Malta.
The higher life expectancy of women is a result of women making up 59 per cent of those aged 65 years or more in the EU27 in 2005. Considering forecasts of the population structure for 2050, the share of women is expected to decrease to 55 per cent in the EU27.
As regards fertility rate, France and Ireland were the two most fertile countries in 2005 with rates at 1.92 and 1.88 respectively. Malta with 1.37 placed below the EU27 average of 1.51.
The unemployment rate for women in the EU27 was 8.5 per cent in January 2007, compared with 6.7 per cent for men. It was higher for women than for men in all member states, except Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and the United Kingdom. The rates for Maltese men and women stood at six per cent and 8.4 per cent.
Malta placed last in the employment rate for women aged 15 to 64 in the second quarter of 2006, with a rate of 34.6 per cent while Denmark topped the table with 73.2 per cent.
The employment rate for persons aged 15 to 64 in the EU27 was 57.1 per cent for women and 71.5 per cent for men. It was lower for women than for men in all member states.
Almost a third of women, 31.4 per cent, worked part time, compared with 7.7 per cent of men, in the EU27 in the second quarter of 2006. The proportion of women working part time ranged from 2.7 per cent in Bulgaria to 74.7 per cent in The Netherlands, while 22.1 per cent of Maltese women worked part time.