Gender differences in working conditions

Beese, Birgit

Overview

Article

Gender differences in working conditions

Published: 12 February 2009

Birgit Beese

Gender equality

The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA [1]) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBB [2]) cooperate in conducting representative telephone surveys on working conditions [3].[1] http://www.baua.de/[2] http://www.bibb.de/de/index.htm[3] http://www.baua.de/en/Topics-from-A-to-Z/Working-Conditions/Working-Conditions.html?__nnn=true

Based on a representative employee survey in 2005–2006, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health published new data on gender differences in working conditions. The data reveal that women generally have better working conditions than men, although they are more exposed to chemical substances and repetitive work. Moreover, about three quarters of men and women in full-time jobs work over 40 hours a week. Working unsocial hours is quite evenly balanced between the sexes.

About the survey

The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBB) cooperate in conducting representative telephone surveys on working conditions.

The 2005–2006 survey – BIBB/BAuA-Erwerbstätigenbefragung 2006 - Arbeit und Beruf im Wandel, Erwerb und Verwertung beruflicher Qualifikationen) – included 20,000 workers. Data tables (in German, 5.5Mb PDF) on gender differences were first published in 2007. In 2008, BAuA published a report on gender differences in working conditions and workload (in German, 128Kb PDF) among full-time workers. The following sections summarise some of the main findings.

Main differences

The BIBB/BAuA survey findings show that men are more exposed to a detrimental working environment than women. Nonetheless, female workers are substantially more affected than men when it comes to the exposure to microbiological substances and performing highly repetitive work. Some working conditions are almost evenly spread between women and men, such as standing and sitting postures, highly stipulated work tasks, disruption at work and multitasking. In total, some 17.7% of men and 16.1% of women stated that they work at their limit of performance (Table 1).

**Table 1: Working conditions of male and female workers (%)**
Working conditions	Men	Women	Total
Work in standing posture	57.5	55.1	56.4
Work in sitting posture	52.2	54.8	53.1
Awkward and static posture	16.2	11.8	14.3
Carrying or moving heavy loads	25.1	19.8	22.8
Strong vibration	7.4	1.1	4.6
Noise	30.2	15.9	24.0
Glaring or insufficient light	10.3	8.0	9.3
Handling dangerous materials, radiation	8.2	5.0	6.8
Handling microbiological substances	4.4	11.4	7.4
Smoke, fumes, vapour	17.8	8.8	13.9
Low, hot, humid temperature	27.1	13.5	21.2
Oil, grease, dirt	23.8	9.7	17.6
Wearing of protective clothing	27.4	12.8	21.0
Tobacco smoke	22.4	10.0	17.0
Job demands are highly stipulated	22.6	23.3	22.9
High frequency of repetitive work	45.1	59.4	51.4
Multitasking	58.0	59.0	58.6
Disruption at work	45.4	46.9	46.0
Requirement to deal with something not known/not learned	9.3	8.2	8.8
New job demands	43.5	33.4	39.1
Demand to improve a work process or to test something new	29.4	25.7	27.8
Work at limit of performance	17.7	16.1	17.0
Minor faults can cause major financial losses	20.0	9.4	15.4
Total number of workers	11, 255	8,745	20,000

Notes: Workers are defined on the basis of having been in paid employment for at least 15 years with a minimum of 10 weekly working hours. The data covers full-time and part-time workers.

Source: BAuA, 2007, Table TE 2, p. 203.

Findings on working time

According to the survey results, working within the time frame of collectively agreed weekly working hours is exceptional. Female full-time workers are more likely than men to work up to 40 hours a week. Yet, some 85.1% of all male respondents and 74.3% of all female respondents indicated that their working time extends to more than 40 hours a week, in the case of 33.1% of men and 16.4% of women to more than 48 hours a week (Table 2).

**Table 2: Average weekly working hours of male and female full-time workers (%)**
Weekly working hours	Men	Women
35–39.9 hours	14.9	25.7
40–47.9 hours	54.0	57.9
48–59.9 hours	19.8	10.9
60 hours and more	11.3	5.5

Notes: Workers are defined on the basis of having been in paid employment for at least 15 years with a minimum of 10 weekly working hours.

Source: Beermann, B., Brenscheidt, F. and Siefer, A., 2008, Table 1, p. 2

Despite considerable gender differences in weekly working hours, the proportion of men and women working overtime, shifts, on Sundays and on holidays is relatively similar (Table 3).

The BIBB/BAuA study reveals that the figures on shift work differ from the lower figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt, Destatis) microcensus because of the self-perception of respondents differing from the Destatis definition of ‘shifts’. For instance, about 50% of all retail workers perceived themselves as shift workers whereas according to official statistics they are not.

**Table 3: Working time characteristics, by sex (%)**
Working time	Men	Women	Total
Do you sometimes have to work overtime or to spend extra time on additional workload?	88.6	85.1	87.5
Are you on stand-by duty?	24.1	16.5	21.8
Do you (sometimes) work on Saturdays?	76.8	63.8	72.8
Do you work on Sundays or holidays?	46.6	42.1	45.2
Do you work shifts?	26.3	26.5	26.4
Do you work between 23.00 and 05.00?	30.9	19.0	27.1

Note: The data relate to full-time workers.

Source: Beermann, B., Brenscheidt, F. and Siefer, A., 2008, Table 1, p. 3.

Commentary

While the survey results reflect the strong gender segregation of the labour market, some factors affecting working time and working conditions are rather evenly spread between the sexes and the male and female-dominated sectors of the economy. However, this brief outline of the findings excludes the results on perceived work strains which highlight that women are more likely to feel negatively affected by detrimental working conditions.

Sources

Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAUA), Sicherheit und Gesundheit bei der Arbeit – Unfallverhütungsbericht 2005, Dortmund, Berlin, Dresden, 2007.

Beermann, B., Brenscheidt, F. and Seifer, A., Unterschiede in den Arbeitsbedingungen und -belastungen von Frauen und Männern, Dortmund, 2008.

Birgit Beese, Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI)

Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.

Eurofound (2009), Gender differences in working conditions, article.